Well, the first week of the second semester is now over, and I've already succeeded in breaking my promise to blog 3-5 times every day last week. I guess maybe the week wasn't as interesting as I expected it to be -- and I guess that's probably a good thing. Definitely a good thing, the more I think about it.
Friday morning, I woke up and had the chance to write. And for the first time in a long time, I was doing it only for myself. The act in itself was healing, and I was glad I found the time. Then, I went snowboarding at Greek Peak until around 1, when I jetted back to Ithaca for a 2 p.m. team meeting for the strategy case on Donner Company. The day was sunny and the snow was good, so spending some time with new friends on the slopes was a welcome activity and something I never would've had time to do last semester. Of course, things haven't heated up yet, so I'm not taking anything for granted.
One thing I can say about the first week of classes is that I feel liberated by the amount of choice I have -- in the classes I'm taking, mostly. It feels wonderful to choose how I want my schedule to fall, to take classes to explore topics I might have an enduring interest in, and to choose the skills I think will help me in my future career. So, I probably wrote all of the above in some form or other last week, but liberation has been the key word this week.
After the Friday meeting, I picked up my lady, and we went to hang out with some friends for a couple hours before turning in.
Saturday turned into a day of mid-Winter cleaning, getting our apartment in the kind of livable shape we might've in August. In the evening, I had the opportunity to meet the first group of Park Fellows finalists. Now, this was an event I'd been anticipating for an entire year, since I was in their shoes. That night exactly a year ago, I made the resolution that, if I got the fellowship, I'd really enjoy the experience of pizza, beer, and bowling; last year, I was too nervous for beer or bowling, though I did scarf down a piece of pizza. And I did enjoy it -- a lot. I bowled with a vengeance, and of course made time to talk with probably 10 of the prospectives about their lives, aspirations, and thoughts about business school. I was impressed by their calm manner, and of course by their backgrounds and experiences. I look forward to three more weekends of meeting the finalists, and hopefully seeing all of them here next year, whether they get the fellowship or not.
All in all, it was a good weekend. I'm looking forward to this week, getting really into my classes, and hopefully hearing back about a possible internship with the New York Times. I'm hoping for the best...
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Relatively uneventful
Today was relatively uneventful, but for the fact that I succeeded in maintaining my exercise regimen for the first week of the semester. Also, Operations is proving to be a lot more interesting and engaging than expected, largely due to the solid teaching of Vishal Gaur, the new professor. That was the only class of the day, as Thursdays are looking to be pretty slooooowww...
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
End of Wednesday
Wednesday was an eventful one, full of activities, as usual. I heard from good friends in Argentina that they are getting married this May. Bummer! At first, I was hoping it was next May, which would give me some hope of attending, but no such luck.
After last writing, spreadsheet modeling rocked my world. We had an assessment quiz to see how experienced we are with Excel; I don't think I knew a single answer...
Then, I just held the monthly story meeting for the Cornell Business Journal, our student newspaper. The turnout was small but eager, so we're looking good for issue #2 under new leadership.
I spent all day working in hopes that I could get home at a reasonable time to take in a movie with my wife, so that's where I'm headed.
Until tomorrow...
After last writing, spreadsheet modeling rocked my world. We had an assessment quiz to see how experienced we are with Excel; I don't think I knew a single answer...
Then, I just held the monthly story meeting for the Cornell Business Journal, our student newspaper. The turnout was small but eager, so we're looking good for issue #2 under new leadership.
I spent all day working in hopes that I could get home at a reasonable time to take in a movie with my wife, so that's where I'm headed.
Until tomorrow...
BRI Meeting
I just finished SGE class, where we discussed our definitions of globalization, and how the needs of people in the established, emerging, and survival economies make for different business opportunities. We're reading Capitalism at the Crossroads by Stuart Hart, which is a great book that I'm actually rereading.
After class, my team and I met to discuss our Big Red Incubator project. We have our first deliverable due next Thursday, so we met and plotted our strategy for putting together something that will be really useful to the client.
So far, I can really recommend BRI as an extracurricular activity. My team of three has a local client (can't provide specifics due to a non-disclosure agreement) in the energy space, and we have already succeeded in shaking up the way our company looks at their eventual market entrance. We aim to help them succeed and help them manage expectations, since like many small start-up entrepreneurs, they believe they're going to take over the world by next year. As business school students, we can help take them through a proper market segmentation process and make specific incremental recommendations that will get them set up for the long-term.
Next, I have spreadsheet modeling class, which has a quiz to test my Excel skills (or lack thereof, which is why I'm taking the class in the first place). Fingers are crossed on that one.
After class, my team and I met to discuss our Big Red Incubator project. We have our first deliverable due next Thursday, so we met and plotted our strategy for putting together something that will be really useful to the client.
So far, I can really recommend BRI as an extracurricular activity. My team of three has a local client (can't provide specifics due to a non-disclosure agreement) in the energy space, and we have already succeeded in shaking up the way our company looks at their eventual market entrance. We aim to help them succeed and help them manage expectations, since like many small start-up entrepreneurs, they believe they're going to take over the world by next year. As business school students, we can help take them through a proper market segmentation process and make specific incremental recommendations that will get them set up for the long-term.
Next, I have spreadsheet modeling class, which has a quiz to test my Excel skills (or lack thereof, which is why I'm taking the class in the first place). Fingers are crossed on that one.
January 23
The semester gets me going like no other. My alarm was set for 7 this morning, and wouldn't you know it? I woke up a half hour ahead of it - "man, if I can just get back to sleep within 10 minutes, I'll be set." After lying there for 12, I decided to cut my losses.
I got up to Ives Hall around 8:30 for day 2 of my HR survey course with Professor Brad Bell. We read a good article for today called "Why I Hate HR," which was a cover story in Fast Company in 2005. It looked at all the complaints that managers and employees have about the HR field, especially how business strategy and HR, though supposedly aligned, seldom are. To me, this is one of the most often ignored issues in business -- how to help people feel connected to the company's strategy, and to develop real, replicable systems to keep them engaged and dedicated to the company's mission.
The class had a good bit of discussion, and I'm glad I chose to venture outside of the Johnson School for the first time.
I've just been in the library working on the third case (in three days) for Operations. The class is still interesting, and I am enjoying the outside reading of the operations-centric novel, The Goal.
I'm about to wrap up and head to SGE.
I got up to Ives Hall around 8:30 for day 2 of my HR survey course with Professor Brad Bell. We read a good article for today called "Why I Hate HR," which was a cover story in Fast Company in 2005. It looked at all the complaints that managers and employees have about the HR field, especially how business strategy and HR, though supposedly aligned, seldom are. To me, this is one of the most often ignored issues in business -- how to help people feel connected to the company's strategy, and to develop real, replicable systems to keep them engaged and dedicated to the company's mission.
The class had a good bit of discussion, and I'm glad I chose to venture outside of the Johnson School for the first time.
I've just been in the library working on the third case (in three days) for Operations. The class is still interesting, and I am enjoying the outside reading of the operations-centric novel, The Goal.
I'm about to wrap up and head to SGE.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Internship talk
I just had a really interesting conversation with a gentleman from MFIC, the organization that I mentioned in the previous post. Their company is expanding into Mexico, Guatemala, and Bolivia with the financial products that they currently offer elsewhere, and an internship with them would be incredible, in that I'd be able to use my Spanish and maybe even travel abroad.
The only downside is that they do their hiring later in the semester -- probably around late April. In the MBA world, where the vast majority of first-years are interviewing during January for their summer jobs, the talent pool shrinks significantly by then. But as someone who's doing a largely off-campus job search, folks like me have to be prepared to wait a while for the right opportunity. Less than the specific industry (within the few that I'm targeting), I'm most interested in finding an opportunity that doesn't require mind-numbing busy work. I'm looking for something that makes an impact, something that expands my horizons and excites me. And I've got to believe in the organization's mission, which, in the case of MFIC, I overwhelmingly do.
Overall, the discussion was exciting, but it reminded me that the job search is really less a sprint than a marathon.
The only downside is that they do their hiring later in the semester -- probably around late April. In the MBA world, where the vast majority of first-years are interviewing during January for their summer jobs, the talent pool shrinks significantly by then. But as someone who's doing a largely off-campus job search, folks like me have to be prepared to wait a while for the right opportunity. Less than the specific industry (within the few that I'm targeting), I'm most interested in finding an opportunity that doesn't require mind-numbing busy work. I'm looking for something that makes an impact, something that expands my horizons and excites me. And I've got to believe in the organization's mission, which, in the case of MFIC, I overwhelmingly do.
Overall, the discussion was exciting, but it reminded me that the job search is really less a sprint than a marathon.
January 22 -- second post
I've just spent the last 2 and a half hours in the library, reading articles for SGE and HR classes, formally dropping Financial Statement Analysis, and I also bought some coursepacks for upcoming classes that haven't met yet.
Now, I'm going to head home and get ready for a phone interview I have with a company I'm talking with about a summer internship. The company is called MFIC (Microfinance International Corporation), and is one that I had a personal connection to from my time as a writer. I wrote a story about them and how they are expanding the world of remittances (the money that immigrants send back to their home countries), and providing financial services to populations that are often ignored by mainstream institutions. In the process of writing the story, I became enthralled by their business model and their forward-looking methodology.
So, I'll be going home to eat lunch and get ready for that at 3:30. Then I'll get started on the next Operations case that's due on Thursday. And I'll probably do a bit of research for my BRI project, which is on bringing a renewable energy technology to market. More on these things later.
Now, I'm going to head home and get ready for a phone interview I have with a company I'm talking with about a summer internship. The company is called MFIC (Microfinance International Corporation), and is one that I had a personal connection to from my time as a writer. I wrote a story about them and how they are expanding the world of remittances (the money that immigrants send back to their home countries), and providing financial services to populations that are often ignored by mainstream institutions. In the process of writing the story, I became enthralled by their business model and their forward-looking methodology.
So, I'll be going home to eat lunch and get ready for that at 3:30. Then I'll get started on the next Operations case that's due on Thursday. And I'll probably do a bit of research for my BRI project, which is on bringing a renewable energy technology to market. More on these things later.
Tuesday, January 22 -- First post of today
I woke up this morning at around 7:30 primed to start the semester off right -- I have succeeded in fixing my schedule so that it doesn't start until 10:10 on Tuesday and Thursday. My personal exercise regimen had fallen apart last semester, so I'm building it in for the spring. Got up and went to Noyes, which is a 6 minute walk from home for some bike and situps. Then came home and read the NY Times for a while about Obama and Hilary from last night's debate. It sounds like it's getting crazy, and I have the feeling that Obama has more to lose than Hilary -- he has to be careful not to get dragged into a negative campaign now, which will be easier said than done.
Finished up the first Operations assignment and showered and was up at sage by about 10:00 to get a good seat in class. The course introduced us to production concepts like Throughput time, cycle time, capacity, bottleneck resource, economies of scale, and direct labor content. These are concepts that many of us have probably heard, but they were illustrated adeptly by Professor Gaur today.
Finished up the first Operations assignment and showered and was up at sage by about 10:00 to get a good seat in class. The course introduced us to production concepts like Throughput time, cycle time, capacity, bottleneck resource, economies of scale, and direct labor content. These are concepts that many of us have probably heard, but they were illustrated adeptly by Professor Gaur today.
Blogging as a sport
I'm about to start a new blogging experiment: to blog between 3 and 5 times a day for the first week of classes. My previous posts seemed to be more along the lines of a column, as opposed to a true blog. So, I'm going to give all the nitty gritty of my first week of second semester, and all the incorrect grammar and not sexy (but necessary) decisions that week entails.
Of course, I'm already a day late. Yesterday, I had my first day of class -- 8:40 a.m. at the ILR School (School of Industrial and Labor Relations) for a semester-long survey course in HR Management. Professor Brad Bell was down-to-earth and engaging, and the pace of course (read: manageable) will be a nice change from the core over here at Johnson. I was joined by 5 or 6 other Johnson students, as well as study abroad students from Ireland, students from the CIPA program, and some HR folks from various depts. on campus.
Then, I had Operations Management, the next-to-last core course. New professor Vishal Gaur (previously at Harvard and NYU) was engaging and good, I think. Got a good case team, with our first opportunity to choose our own.
Then, SGE (Sustainable Global Enterprise) with Mark Milstein. I decided not to take the SGE immersion after a lot of hemming and hawing, but the class seems great - -another one with folks from all over campus.
Then, lunch and some decisions about what else to take -- Financial Statement Analysis, from what I hear won't be the most useful thing to me, as a non-finance person. So, I decided to go and see what Managerial Spreadsheet Modeling was all about. Seems challenging but like something that is so useful as to be worth it.
So that was day 1. After a meeting about the Cornell Business Journal and how to raise revenues, I was home to my lady for a bit of relaxation --= something I know won't last long, but I'm trying to ease into the semester.
Overall, I'm quite pleased with the ability to choose my own courses finally.
Next post: this morning.
Of course, I'm already a day late. Yesterday, I had my first day of class -- 8:40 a.m. at the ILR School (School of Industrial and Labor Relations) for a semester-long survey course in HR Management. Professor Brad Bell was down-to-earth and engaging, and the pace of course (read: manageable) will be a nice change from the core over here at Johnson. I was joined by 5 or 6 other Johnson students, as well as study abroad students from Ireland, students from the CIPA program, and some HR folks from various depts. on campus.
Then, I had Operations Management, the next-to-last core course. New professor Vishal Gaur (previously at Harvard and NYU) was engaging and good, I think. Got a good case team, with our first opportunity to choose our own.
Then, SGE (Sustainable Global Enterprise) with Mark Milstein. I decided not to take the SGE immersion after a lot of hemming and hawing, but the class seems great - -another one with folks from all over campus.
Then, lunch and some decisions about what else to take -- Financial Statement Analysis, from what I hear won't be the most useful thing to me, as a non-finance person. So, I decided to go and see what Managerial Spreadsheet Modeling was all about. Seems challenging but like something that is so useful as to be worth it.
So that was day 1. After a meeting about the Cornell Business Journal and how to raise revenues, I was home to my lady for a bit of relaxation --= something I know won't last long, but I'm trying to ease into the semester.
Overall, I'm quite pleased with the ability to choose my own courses finally.
Next post: this morning.
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