Joining CBE As A First-Year | Tino Karakousis ‘28

Upon arriving at Harvard, you are quickly surrounded by diverse ideas and opportunities that invite you to explore beyond your main field of study. It’s easy to struggle with finding the balance between this wide exploration and a strong focus on your intended academic track.. As a pre-med oriented student, my freshman fall courses followed a standard framework to fulfill medical school requirements. My activities–hospital volunteering, research, and health policy advocacy–aligned with the same healthcare focus. While I enjoyed my coursework and extracurricular commitments, this left little room for me to engage with my growing interests in economics and product development.

Thus, I was originally drawn to CBE because of the variety of subjects that its members are

exposed to, such as drug pricing, law firm administration, global furniture sales, and humanoid robots. There are endless opportunities to delve into your current interests or discover a new one. As a member of CBE, you’re assigned to one case per semester, working with a company to solve real-world problems. The diversity of ideas in CBE exists not only across case teams but also within them. In my first semester, I researched both the science of drug development and the finance of prescription drugs. This past semester, I compared pooled procurement models while investigating chronic diseases in the Caribbean. In addition, beyond the scope of your case, there are many extracurriculars within CBE that provide you with hands-on experience in STEM research, finance, sustainability, startups, and much more. As a first-year, CBE has helped me gain invaluable insights into pressing global issues that I can apply to other activities, coursework, and professional goals.

However, most importantly, I have come to deeply appreciate the community I found in CBE. You quickly become good friends with your fellow case team members, and you meet new people every week at engagement events, community dinners, and study breaks. The upperclassmen also provide invaluable advice ranging from professional opportunities to Harvard life (like how to pay for laundry!). After spending several semesters in CBE, you end up building meaningful and lasting relationships with students across the college.

So, to the first-years and anyone thinking about which clubs to join, consider applying to CBE! No matter your interests or current commitments, there’s always something new you can learn in CBE, and there’s always a new friend you can make. On behalf of everyone at CBE, we can’t wait to meet you.