Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The First Day

Today was the first actual day of my MBA program. Following about 18 months of GMATs, essays, school visits, interviews, nervous hours waiting on acceptance notification, down-time, and a whirlwind orientation, we finally got down to business. I think I speak for all my classmates when I say, let's get started!

We had been given some pre-work for certain classes...read this book, do these problems, etc. I think everyone was fully prepared, which led to lively discussions and learning interesting things. If the rest of the program is like this, I'm pretty excited! Of course, then the real work was assigned. I think as soon as classes were done, my learning team assembled in a study room for the next few hours and started hammering through the assignments for Thursday and Friday. Accounting and Quant seem to be giving people the most headaches right now.

All in all, it was a good first day. Wednesday is also donut day, we the lounge was filled with boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts and coffee, and I think everyone appreciated the opportunity to take a break in between classes and enjoy a snack. It's back to the grind tomorrow. My team is already planning on meeting tomorrow morning, to make sure we're ready to go on that days assignments (and to possibly avoid having to meet three times in two days!)

Sunday, August 23, 2009

And So It Begins!

Greetings all! It's been awhile since I last wrote anything. Honestly, I didn't think I'd keep blogging once school started. But, after some encouragement from my new classmates, I figured what the heck!

So, what's been going on with me since June? I stopped working at the end of June, went to Vegas for a few days, relaxed around the house, paid way too much money to fix various things on my car, packed up my few possessions and headed to Winston-Salem on August 6th. I mostly just set up my room in the house and tried to meet as many of my new classmates as possible. Good times were had by all, and on Thursday of last week, orientation officially began.

Five days of orientation may seem like a lot, and I figured it would drag on. Surprisingly, it's been better than my expectations. Donovan Campbell, our first speaker on Thursday, was awesome. I never expected an opening speaker at an MBA program to be so emotional! I think all 400 people in the room were deeply moved. I've ordered his book, Joker One, and I look forward to finding some free time to read it!

Friday, we got our free laptops, section and team assignments (go team ten!), and learned more about how the next two years will go. Yesterday was team building...for seven hours. I went in with an open mind and had a good time. I definitely came away with a better appreciation for my new teammates! All I can say is, we got eleven people through a hula-hoop in 5.7 seconds.

There's still two more days of orientation...Monday is more information sessions, Tuesday is Community Plunge, where all new students make a splash in the community by volunteering. Classes start Wednesday, and I'm already under a load of assignments to be completed!

I'll definitely try and keep up with blogging during the school year, and I'm also on Twitter. I look forward to sharing this journey with everyone!