Brian Maxwell Fellows

First, I want to introduce myself: my name is Silvia Lacayo and I’m currently a second year MBA student at Haas. Secondly, I want to express how excited I am to see this website go up! It is the result of a lot of hard work on Scott’s part and would not, of course, be possible without Jennifer’s dedication to sharing Brian’s memory, spirit and drive with the rest of us.

Time as an MBA student has passed much too quickly for me: in just two months, I will be graduating from the Haas School of Business. They say that the second year of business school is time you can spend relaxing because so many of your formative experiences and hard work occur in the first year. I find myself busier in many ways now than I have in the past 18 months. And I’m glad for that. An MBA grad from many years ago once told me that if she could go back and relive her business school experience, she would sleep a little less. She would have gotten involved in more activities while in school. Though I am not gravely sleep deprived these days, I feel pretty connected to my program through the many activities in which I am currently involved. It keeps me busy and it feels good.

Two weeks ago, I attended a talk at the Goldman School of Public Policy with two professors who had been on President Obama’s transition team. There we were, a classroom full of 70 students plus two highly accomplished professors, munching on pizza and sharing first-person stories about one of the most historic events in our lives and in American history. After the talk, as I was riding south on my bicycle along Piedmont Avenue, I looked to my right to catch a glimpse of the Campanile in the center of the Berkeley campus; beyond it, I could see the literal brilliance of the mid-afternoon sun going down over the Berkeley Marina. In that moment I reflected – not for the first time – on how lucky I am to have opportunities to interact with top notch faculty and enjoy a simple bike ride on a warm, sunny day in February in such a beautiful setting, all in the same afternoon. Jennifer, Brian, the other Maxwell fellows and my Haas classmates can all probably relate. I am going to miss being at UC Berkeley. But I still have two months to continue to make the best of my time here.

I look forward to staying connected to the Maxwell community through this website and look forward to the expansion of this community in the coming years.