MBA and Beyond

Question:  Who has just completed MBA orientation and their first official week of business school?

Answer: ME!

Well, put a fork in it...my first week of business school is done.  Where do I even begin?  Let's begin with orientation week, shall we?  In retrospect, orientation week was a wonderful experience.  When we were told that we would be busy for an entire week from sun up to sun down, I was incredulous.  What could we possibly do for an entire week that could be classified as orientation?  Well, they managed to keep us busy, that's for sure.  There were information sessions, happy hours, chats with the dean, happy hours, team building exercises, happy hours, case studies, happy hours, community service, and did I mention happy hours?  All in all...I had a great time.  The 2nd year students/orientation leaders were awesome and I got to meet the extraordinary group of men and women that I can now label as "classmates".

As far as academics are concerned, I absolutely love my schedule.  I have classes 3 days a week and they start at 11:10 am.  Do you know what this means for me???  That means that I can get up at 5 or 6 and get a workout in and have plenty of time to get to class or I could skip the workout on any given day and get in a little extra study time.  Either way, I'm a happy boy. 

The professors here (or at least the ones I've encountered so far) are very knowledgeable about their areas of expertise and they're actually passionate about it.  I mean, come on...who can be enthusiastic about accounting?  But my accounting professor seems like she loves it.  The course work seems relatively rigorous, but manageable.  I haven't been in a classroom in 7 years, but I'm finding it a pretty easy transition.  The only concern is time management.  I'm finding out that a big hurdle in B-School is time management because you are so inundated with classes, studying, group work, seminars, career panels, meetings, etc...  I'm sure there will be times during this year where I'll wish I could inject myself with pure caffeine and find the ever so elusive 25th hour.

What advice do I have at this very infant stage of my business school experience?  1)  Make it a point to meet as many people as you can.  These people will be with you for the next 2 years and they usually have a lot to offer.  2)  Get involved in as many activities as your schedule and energy allow.  After all, business school is all about the networking.  3)  Learn to manage your time.  4)  Try to have some fun.  You'll meet tons of interesting people, be invited to so many social events, and perhaps even have opportunities to travel...so enjoy it!

Now, if you'll excuse me, my presence has been requested at  happy hour.

PS:  I'm buying a new digital camera this week, so tune in again for some pictures of me and my SMU family.