Reflections from a year and a summer

Its a bit strange, when you get caught up in things, you do them without realising why and if they even make sense. B-school, for some, may be something like that. I've had some time to reflect this summer - during my internship, during my time off in the evenings and during this break from Fuqua.

What I've realised though is this - most people come to B-School thinking these 2 years are going to be the best ones of their lives - because thats what they've been told by their friends who went to b-school, whose friends' friends went to b-school and so on (you get the drift..). And in that quest to make it the BEST 2 years of their life, they go all out, thinking these 2 years don't even matter in a way. That in itself though is a idiocyncricity - if you can define 2 years as the best of your life, and you still have to live the rest of your life, how do you know these 2 years were the best ones? :)

My problem though, at a larger scale with B-school (not Fuqua specifically, B-schools in general) is this - why do people fall in the rat race? 90% of the people you run into are running the rat race - it starts off with who fits in best, the orientation parties, the 'best section', the 'best team', the 'best courses'..and as days and terms go on, it becomes the race for 'the best resume', the best mock interview, the best closed list notifications (how many did you get? as if number is a reflection of one's ability!), the best internship. Even today, mainstream schools don't recognise untraditional fields such as social entrepreneurship or non-profit organization management, as ones that require MBAs. The attitude may be changing but it still has a long way to go.

For the prospectives and first years just starting b-school , let me say this...these 2 years DO matter. Its impossible to be best friends with the people you meet at orientation parties on the 1st day and think you have so much in common with. Truth is, you probably won't run into them again for the rest of the 2 years! Networking is not a skill, talent or ability - its really a mindset. Either you agree with it or you don't. If you don't, don't try to make yourself agree with it.

Think over things that you end up doing and how you're spending your time too. I thought proms, luao parties and themed parties were meant for an age when you're still trying to prove yourself (high school? college?). At graduate level, it just seems stupid. To some, at least.

So - to b-school - and to thinking though your choices. Don't get me wrong - the academics, program and professors are amazing - but don't fall into the trap of thinking this is the best thing you're going to do with your life....you'll hopefully do much better!

First year @ Fuqua over...

Wow...

my first year at Fuqua is officially over.. damn!  But..it has been a truly great year.. and the best part is, this year has led me with many opportunities. To have the ability to dream, and see opportunities - I feel - is one of the luckiest feelings one can have!

I thought I would dedicate this post to my internship search and how it progressed. I feel like I did some things right and others wrong. But in the end, I think it paid off... To give you an academic calendar of my internship search , here's how it went:

August: School started, no idea what this whole internship search stuff involves.

Sept: Started attending company presentations after company presentations. Wisdom # 1: Do NOT attend the company presentations you really don't give a damn about. It doesn't matter if they hire ' a lot of internationals' or that they pay so well. If you're not interested, thats that.

Oct: Again, just trying to follow the crowd. Not sure why I went to all those presentations at this stage, and what I achieved from it all.

Nov: Missed out on the Week-in-Cities. Thought I was "too cool" to follow the herd, and go network by going on a 'Week in Cities' networking trip. Instead, I took it easy.

Dec- Jan: Didn't have any luck in the on-campus internship search. Finally realized why everyone said you need to 'network' (and what is that exactly? For next time) to get an internship.

Jan - Feb: Started thinking about which companies interest me, and how I am going to go about doing my off-campus internship search. Off-campus means that these companies do not come to Duke to recruit for internships, rather I have to contact them on my own, make an impression, and learn about the internship process.  Harder? Yes.  Less competition? Maybe, maybe not. Does having Duke / Fuqua alums in those companies help? Yes, but its not a pre-requisite. 

Feb - April: Started doing an aggressive internship search. Sending out emails to prospective employers, Fuqua alums, trying to learn more about the opportunities present, how they related to my past experience, where I wanted to be going ahead et al.

May - received my 1st internship offer: for a non profit in NYC. :) Work sounded great!

May - received another internship offer: for small and medium business consulting in Phillipines.

May- received the offer I finally decided to accept - headed to Bloomberg for this summer in NYC! Yay! Bloomberg sounds like a great place, and excited at the opportunity!

Lessons learnt from my subjective experience....

Don't give up hope. Stay positive. Be yourself in interviews. Be natural. Be genuinely excited about the work, company, culture. The markets are definitely better this time, compared to last year. Numerous, and i mean many many of my "international" students friends at Fuqua have gotten amazing summer internships. Its been a great year for all of us.

Ain't nothing but a Summer Jam...

This ain't nothing but a summer jam....bronze skin and cinnamon tans....ohh...

Man I love that song (yes i know it's gotten old, but every summer i still feel like listening to it!!). And so it's June already - the *almost* peak of the summer. I'd say mid June - mid July starts off the worst time - the unbearable heat, the stifling heat, the long afternoon naps that are so hard to resist. But with the heat, the sweat, and the passing of another season, something good does come. And not just good, but heavenly good. I'm talking about the mangoes.

Man, I could write a whole blog series on the mangoes. The mangoes of the sub-continent are famous for their rich aroma, their addictive sweetness, the soft pulpy flesh, and the varied kinds that exist. So that's what summer signifies for me.

On other fronts, my MBA preparations are still going. I'm learning to cook the food's I'll miss most. I'm expecting a CD in June, which will have a pre-course work program (Math and stuff) we're all supposed to do before starting Fuqua. So, yea, looking forward to that - i really need to get used to this study routine! After such a break from studies, getting used to the work routine, I'm wondering whether it will be easy to adjust the back-to-school (studying) life. Hm, well only time will tell.