New Quarter

I think I'd be remiss if I didn't make a brief post about the beginning of the second quarter of the semester. With Marketing, Accounting, and Economics out of the way, the heart of the first-year core is halfway done. Kind of hard to believe, I must say.

One observation about the way The Johnson School programs the first part of the year: they crowd so much into seven-week quarters that students constantly feel like they might not get it all done. But, at the same time, the administration has it wired into a controlled chaos. There is ample communication between the core professors, so when a marketing case was due, for instance, there was a seemingly magical let-up in Accounting. Of course, the scenario would change only slightly on the students' end the following week, just for a different course.

Now, we shift to Statistics, Strategy, and Finance. What a change in character among the professors from last quarter. Statistics is taught by Amr Farahat, a patient, brilliant professor and researcher. Strategy offers our first female professor -- the energetic, engaging, and obviously brilliant Vrinda Kadiyali. And Finance, the single most hyped, feared, and time-consuming course that most of us will probably ever take. I can say that it is already the most challenging and mind-bending bit of mental gymnastics I've ever attempted, and I'm barely a week into it. That course is taught by Professor Roni Michaely, tough love extraordinaire.

Overall, I must remark on the quality of the professors here so far. Almost without exception, I'd give them all above average grades, with three to four out of six downright dynamite.

Right now, my overarching strategy is to plow forward; seven weeks and Christmas break is still far away, but there is a growng light at the end of the tunnel.