January 14, 2009
Winter A.
A little bit of everything is going on -- Winter A has begun, and I've taken on the "suicide load" of 5 classes, recruiting is in full swing, and MAP assignments are being generated somewhere out of sight, and we've achieved our first sub-zero temperatures (at least while classes are in session).
In brief, we're currently planning the following:
1. Spring Break
2. MAP
3. Summer internship
4. The rest of our lives.
To say it's stressful is a huge understatement. We all know the economy is bad and some companies have decided not to sponsor internships this summer (I had an interview canceled just this morning). I personally came here to do non-profit/social enterprise work, but the flood of other applicants being turned away from the likes of banking and consulting has made the competition for this usually self-selecting arena much more fierce. Many of us are feeling the pinch and are dealing with daily unease, wondering what the worst case scenario is and hoping that, one month from now, we'll feel silly to have even worried about it.
But -- to happier thoughts. MAP selections were due last Sunday and the assignments will come out next week. I personally selected WDI projects -- one with the Acumen Fund in India, another with a hospital in Uganda, a non-profit in the Dominican Republic, CEMEX and Hershey in Mexico (separately!). My domestic choices were all in Chicago, which, while not entirely exotic, still very appealing in their own way.
OH -- and I forgot to mention that the new building has opened! It's only been a week and a half and we seem to be taking it for granted already. It's large and glorious; classrooms have large bright windows, sophisticated AV thingamabobs to play with, there's a bunch of comfy seating and a brand new gym for working out when we're short on time. Most people are pretty happy in the new space (there are some of us, though, who sneak back to the old building for some new-found peace and quiet in the emptiness).
Monday is a holiday from school (those are truly rare), and president-elect Obama becomes the full-fledged commander-in-chief on Tuesday. Even with the bleakness and the freeze, there are still many things to look forward to!
Posted by betdavis at 01:29 PM | Comments (0)
December 22, 2008
Winter break is heeeere!
There were times during Fall B when I just didn't think it would get here. But here we are, smack dab in the middle of a 3 week break from school. I finished up my last final and hopped right on a plane to San Francisco, where I hung out with some old friends from undergrad and one of my new best friends from Ross. I had never been to SF before -- it's a nice place!
But more ON topic -- there's a lot of Ross stuff going on. Closed lists are starting to come out (wish me luck), a ton of resume drops are happening January 1st, and today, just TODAY, we received the list of MAP projects for 2009. We can't register until January 7th but there are so many options that it's good we have plenty of time to peruse the list and decide which ones would be best for us.
On another front, the Net Impact Forum will be happening at the end of January. I just happen to be on the steering committee for this forum, and so, even during break, we're very busy getting everything in order. If you're going to be on campus January 29th or 30th (or both), I strongly you encourage you to come check it out. Even if you don't know if Net Impact is your kind of thing (though I bet it is!) rest assured we always put on a good event and you'll have a good time and get to meet some current students.
That's all for now -- more to come, I'm sure, before Winter A even starts!
Posted by betdavis at 11:29 PM | Comments (0)
November 21, 2008
Brrrr!
It's cold! It just started to get this way, with snow flurries a daily occurrence. It's a nice snow, though -- like a snow globe being shaken up all day long.
Fall B is half over already which is pretty hard to believe. It's busy, but a lot less stressful than last term (at least for me). I'm settled into Ann Arbor, I don't miss New York, I've made some great friends, and math isn't beating me in the head for several hours a day.
Of course, with Fall B comes recruiting. More recruiting than I had expected as I scheduled a presentation here and there in Fall A. In case you're wondering, there are several forms recruiting can take: First, we have corporate presentations, in which reps from the various companies and firms (usually Mich alum) come and give us a general overview (and they usually have a sign-in sheet, which makes this very important); secondly, we have office hours, which last anywhere from 10-20 minutes of one-on-one time (or sometimes two-on-one) with a rep in which you try to convince them that you're smart, good-looking, and a perfect fit for their firm. There are other events -- workshops, lunches, etc, which pop up from time to time, as well.
All this means two things: you're very very busy running from event to event, and you're wearing a suit a lot of the time.
Which brings me to "something I wish I had thought more about before b-school": clothes.
Buy a lot of dress clothes. I have two suits, and about 4 dress shirts that I can wear under them, but it just never seems to be enough (big drawback to having been able to go to work in jeans and t-shirts in my past life). There just isn't enough adequate shopping in Ann Arbor to make last minute decisions when you need something new. And if you're like me, you hate to iron, so you need to have an arsenal of fresh shirts lined up in the closet.
Posted by betdavis at 12:36 PM | Comments (0)
November 03, 2008
Fall B has begun.
It's November 3, a day sandwiched between two very important events: Ross's annual Halloween party, which was Saturday, and the presidential election, which is tomorrow.
Pertaining to the former, I have to admit I've never been a Halloween person, mostly due to the fact that by the time I think about a costume (around 3 pm on Halloween), it's entirely too late to acquire or make one. That said, I found myself talked into attending the Halloween party this past weekend, with about 499 of my fellow classmates, (both MBA1s and MBA2s), and just this once I'll admit to having fun. I didn't really have time for a costume, but I found that if I distracted folks by asking about theirs they didn't bother to give me grief about it.
Now, about that second one. Ann Arbor, I am told, is a bright blue spot in what can sometimes be a red or pink state. For that reason, Obama's supporters and volunteers have been hitting us pretty heavy since August, registering voters and leaving tokens of propaganda on our apartment doorknobs. Several bars downtown are hosting election day parties. I, for one, cannot wait!
Posted by betdavis at 11:01 AM | Comments (0)
October 19, 2008
Fall Break!
We finished our strategy paper and a bottle of wine at 4:30 am, I was in bed by 5, woke up at 6:30, was on my way to the airport at 7:30, and touched down at JFK by 11:30. Noon found me in a cab, bound for Manhattan, perched on the middle seat between two classmates, wondering to myself how New York managed to make itself so clean and shiny and wonderful since I'd stormed out on it in mid-July.
This evening, I caught up with old friends at the Parlour on 86th. The Michigan v. Penn State game was on the television; there was a Ross alum wearing an Erb Institute t-shirt (her son was also wearing a "my first wolverine tee" shirt). We chatted briefly about the school and fall break, and about how our football team was having a bad season.
Today began my first visit back to New York since I left in July and moved to Ann Arbor on August 1. I was just shy of my 10th year anniversary in the city, and I was more than ready to leave. I had been struggling financially through 5 years in the publishing industry, paying market rents in one of the world’s most expensive cities. I didn’t love my job, wasn’t sure I loved publishing, and had an interest in international development. I had the short-term goal of consulting with a long term goal of moving into this development sector.
Fast forward to October 20th, when Fall A, our first 6-week term, is over. I studied Microeconomics, Corporate Strategy, Business Statistics, and Financial Accounting. I have to admit, it was a little brutal. Not only was I an English major in college and hadn’t taken a quantitative class since 1997, all of my jobs in publishing were pretty regularly 8 hours a day, and I had plenty of free time to do what I wanted in the evenings and weekends. Getting back into the routine of a full-time student (which I loved as an undergrad) was not easy, and either was the coursework (some folks here have studied these things before, but I, for one, had not). But it’s over now, and I just had a massage, and I’m almost ready to tackle Fall B. Or rather, I should be ready by the end of the break! And I think I’m setting my sights on an internship and post-Ross job back in New York.
Tomorrow I head to DC to meet up with a bunch of folks from the Emerging Markets Club for the 2008 career Trek. We have 2 full days of meetings with various companies and organizations that work with emerging markets around the world. On Tuesday we even have a cocktail reception with local DC alumni. Should be fun! (Incidentally, the Emerging Markets Club is awesome – more to come on them in future blog entries).
Posted by betdavis at 08:37 PM | Comments (0)