Weekend Recap

Friday: Was the kickoff of our CMA projects, mine is evaluating global entry for Kitchenaid brand. Very exciting stuff! My team had a little meet and greet to discuss questions we wanted asked and then we met with the other team working on the project to have a conference call with our project manager at Whirlpool. We have lots of information, and we can't wait to get started, too bad we have those pesky interviews in the way! After CMA I volunteered at the snack shack for the Kelley Women's Case Comp. I got to hang out with some classmates and attempt to do homework so not a bad gig. Although I didn't get to leave campus until 7, though. Then it was off to Target to get thank you notes for this week.

Saturday: All day spent studying and doing homework. At 5, headed to campus to watch Operation Thunderbolt with my KIP classmates. Then off to the IMU for the Case Comp awards dinner where Kelley took home 3rd and one classmate took home honorable mention for her part of the presentation! Good job ladies!

Sunday: More of the same, lots of accounting, lots of reading for our KIP. Also a little interview prep, but not too much as one of my favorite second years reminded me that I know what I am doing. Let's hope she is right. Charlton had a group project at 7, so I packed my bag and watched trashy tv and was in bed by 9:30.

Don’t know why I feel so on top of everything today? Is it because I spent 4 days on the couch reading, when I wasn’t coughing my brains out or watching Say Yes to the Dress?

Today I got a walk in with Addie in the morning, seemed more awake in class than usual, met with my peer coach, tweaked my resume, sent out loads of networking emails (to get GREAT responses!), got the NYC trek nailed down, started two quant problems for the assignment next week and then created charts for all my ops simulation data. In the words of NBA Jam, “She’s on fire!”

Tomorrow should be another jam packed day: with an informational interview, diversity conference prep, team meeting, and GA study session for quant. Here’s for keeping it up!

Yes, I know I have been MIA, and no, I haven’t died. But after 4 weeks of midterms, a girl just needs a break! So week 7 ended with a quant assignment, a marketing memo and an accounting ROE assignment. Then we had to turn in 19 pages of our take home midterm for finance so we could take the 7 question in class portion.

Afterwards I was just dead. Charlton and I headed to Chick-fil-a and then headed back to Kelley for an interview info session (with awesome pizza from Aver’s, which I ate anyway can we say stressed!?) Then we headed to interview slam sessions. I was pretty nervous as I wasn’t really prepared and the second year I was paired with used to work where I hope to be, and I didn’t want to be a total goof ball. It went really well so ended the afternoon on a high note.

Then it was back to the apartment so I could make some calls to get some prospectives to come check out Kelley Women’s Weekend. Then I applied for an internship, and then it was time for the fun to begin!

Another day closer to the end of week 7 and I am exhausted. Just woke up from falling asleep here at my laptop working on some Accounting homework. Now I have no idea if it is right, but I don’t have the time or the energy to go back through it. Will just have to hope I don’t get cold called tomorrow.

Today was another full day of classes, with informational meetings, resume reviews and a mock interview prep session (I downgraded it to a prep session because I didn’t feel ready for a real mock yet) And if that wasn’t enough, throw in a info session on classes to register for next semester, since that is less than 2 weeks away.

We got an exam and an assignment back today, and I was my usual below standard self. I have been having a real hard time reconciling with the fact that I am not the head of the class, let alone average. All the second years say everyone gets a B, and no one fails out and grad school is HARD, but don’t worry you’ll be fine. Just hard to believe it at this point. Most people seem to be doing considerably better than me, although I found a small pocket that seem to be in my neck of the woods. So does that mean we will be the exception? Will have to wait to January to find out.

It’s been a long day of studying…I got a lot done; almost all of the Econ reading and a hefty chunk of Marketing. However, got an email later today that one of the prompts in our Finance exams was wrong so I have to redo a few problems tomorrow morning, fun!

The plan tomorrow is to finish up the readings, redo the Finance exam, hopefully go on a drive around town to see the leaves, go out to dinner (we’re thinking Snow Lion), hit up Target to get my homecoming outfit ready and then work more on my CARs. Lots to do but only one more week until Academy week so just got to push through!

It’s been a long day of homework, and haven’t experienced the above yet thankfully! Just don’t have the time for naps. My portion of Quant is done and I am plugging right along through the take home portion of Finance. Haven’t even looked at what the readings are for the week, that will have to come later.

Today will be a lot of working on my CAR statements (Challenge Action Result) when I am not studying, working on the finance take home exam, or prepping for our accounting assignment. I need to have some ready for our Academy day session, and I really have dropped the ball. I have a feeling my brain will turn into applesauce by the end of the day. So good thing I revised my resume yesterday!

Manic Monday

The thing about business school, it doesn’t warm up, doesn’t let you get back into the swing of things. It’s GO, GO, GO! Yesterday was no exception, 2.5 hours of finance with an hour and 15 of accounting bright and early. Then there was an econ huddle, and team homework to keep me busy until 5. Spent an hour or so sending out emails to arrange our NYC trek at Thanksgiving and some networking stuff, while scarfing down my dinner before I had to head back to campus. This time it was for a trek leader meeting so we could get all of our dates straight. Minneapolis is a go for the first week in January and I may try to tag on a trip to the Bay Area. We will have to see how it all shakes out. Then back home for some homework, a phone informational interview and more homework. I finally crashed at 12:30 and again had a rough time getting up today. The scary thing is that this is just the ramp up to the worst week of the Core per all the second years…week 7!

Weds Whining

I can’t believe that the week is halfway over, where did it go? Oh that’s right I had meetings up the wazzoo, networking, reading, and studying. If I didn’t have outlook I wouldn’t have a clue what month it was let alone the day.

Monday was a full day of class, then followed up with a marathon of Operations homework with my team. Then I had to write up all of our answers then head back to school for the next installment of the Diversity Conference Prep series. I showed up late, and was promptly put in a group for a practice interview, fun! I did learn a lot but I was super discombobulated for the first few minutes.

Tuesday was more class, then office hours with Target (swoon) I stayed for 2 hours talking with their buyers and HR and learned a lot. Really keeping my fingers crossed. Then we headed home to get some reading done for class, then back to the Godfrey Center for the Marketing network night with Bosch, Ecolab, Nestle, Target and more. They had some good presentations and it allowed us some more networking time. We didn’t go to the happy hour put on by Nestle and got home at about 8:30 but it felt like 11. We stayed up working on classwork until 11:30ish and then headed to bed.

The alarm was set for 5:30 and I turned it off and went back to sleep for “5 minutes” 5 minutes turned into an hour and 45 and we were this close to being late to class. I was pretty impressed that we were able to get out the door with everything in 30 minutes. After class Charlton had a Lost in Translation meeting and I headed downstairs to the lounge to catch up on some blog reading and find out where to get an extra ticket for the football game for my brother. We then headed to the arena, picked up his “student” ticket and then went to the bookstore to finally get some non Kelley IU gear.

We’re finally back at the house atPost Options 2:45 and we are just sitting down to lunch. Welcome to Weds!

Today we treated ourselves to a much needed flu shot and a Ben Folds concert (♥ Charlton for taking me)

Other than it was Critical Thinking, Finance, Ops and Accounting reading with a little Mad Men break thrown in during lunch.

One more weekend has come and went, now its on to week 5…please be gentle!

Another weekend, another new restaurant (we have been trying to experience B-Town when we can!)

We woke up leisurely, Charlton having a rougher go of it than me, as he was really sore from the game last night. Breakfast was cereal on the couch catching up with Top Chef and Project Runway. Then we attempted to get some studying done while watching IU lose to Michigan. After all the distractions were gone we finally got some hard core studying in. I only was able to finish reading for Econ as we had a ton of reading assigned for one class session.

We then set out for some basic shopping and to get our flu shots. It was a bust on the shots as they had packed up for the day but we got all of our shopping done and then met our friend up for dinner at the Bakehouse. I had heard great things about it and it did not disappoint. I got their creamy tomato basil soup and Charlton got their BBQ sandwich combo with fries and cole slaw while our friend tackled their all-you-can eat BBQ sandwich meal (he got down 6!) Was a cool little place and conveniently they have one near our house, so we wont have to go all the way into the square. I still need to try their famed granola but we still have plenty of time.

Once back at the house was time for me to tackle some critical thinking. Feel like I hardly got anything done so far this weekend. Going to have to power through tomorrow though!

Ugh! Lovely accounting (and this comic actually references it and the other midterm I this week, Quant) Sorry I have been MIA as of late but we had a major Quant assignment I had to work on over the weekend, loads of reading, and a meeting with my peer coach to have the first review of my resume and companies I need to target. Also throw in a training meeting for SAC and you’re all caught up with my life for the last few days.

This is where everyone says it starts to get ugly. We should find out how bad it was after I get my accounting back next week and how I do on the Quant test on Friday. Almost halfway through with week 4, just got to keep powering on.

Goodbye Week 3

The last two days have been crazy, but it would be hard to find a day that hasn’t been since we arrived in Bloomington in the beginning of August. Since I have got home tonight, I have just sunk into the couch. Not going to get up anytime soon.

Yesterday started with a full day of class, then quickly picked up speed. Right after finance, a classmate and I sat down for a little informational interview about her previous position in retail. I learned a lot and will definitely continue to research opportunities in the industry. Had to microwave some soup really quick and run upstairs for our team’s weekly recap meeting. 3 hours later, the team adjourned and I headed to Kraft’s office hours. This was my first office hours I successfully attended and I was really happy I went. Got a lot of face time with their reps (8 1st years to 3 reps) Once that rapped up, ran over to GE’s company presentation. It was incredibly crowded and Charlton and I had to share a chair (worst idea ever!) Then we trucked home where I scarfed down a lean cuisine before I had to head back to school for Kraft’s company presentation. It was a lot of fun, and I learned about Oscar Mayer’s unique culture in their Madison office. They totally hooked us up too! Weinermobile jump drive, Bacon, Toblerone, Wheat Thins, etc. Crawled back home at 9:30ish and was up until 1 taking care of some internet housekeeping.

You know you have had a long day when you forget to take your phone off silent. Oops! I only woke up in time because Charlton had an alarm set. I ran around the apartment like a crazy person, and Casey and Addie didn’t make it any easier for me to get out the door. Got to school at 7:45 just in time for breakfast with GE. Got to find out a little more information about their ELCP program and hang out with a lot of the Kelley Women members. Once that finished up, headed to a LPCD Diversity presentation. It was much better than the one during orientation and even better than the session last week. Then I grabbed a quick lunch and then my team got together for 3 hours to work on our Quant homework. We didn’t finish but we got a lot done. We adjourned to attend a network event and then we headed to the lounge to relax before heading to the International Business Society’s Cooking Event. They had 4 dishes prepared from different countries that all included tomatoes. It was a lot of fun and the food was awesome! Brushetta, Thai Spicy Mung Bean Noodle Salad, Tamales and Nigerian Tomato Stew, delicious! Then it was time to head home, a little more than 12 hours since I arrived. Fun!

Since getting home, we have watched some Mad Men and Martha Stewart and I caught up on my email. I promise tomorrow I will start on my homework!

Is it really only Tuesday?

It seems like the week has flown by, but I guess when you have “official” class 4 days a week, 2 days down is halfway through. Today was Econ, Finance and Ops and the cases we had weren’t discussion heavy. I think it is the calm before the storm though, I know week 4 (where the *%^$ hits the fan is coming!)

After class I had an informational interview with a second year that interned at Jewel-Osco. He had an amazing intern experience and it was really interesting to hear about what they had him work on. Then I came home to have to deal with the apartment’s maintenance guy painting our ceilings. Then I had another informational interview with a category manager at Jewel to get a little different perspective on their culture and structure. Super informative!

Then it was back to school, for the 2nd session of the Diversity Conference Training. Another informative presentation that once again scared me beyond belief about the conference in October. Hope I am able to prepare and get in gear by then.

Then back home for dinner, some Mad Men, a run and lots and lots of ACCTG and Finance. Watch out Weds here we come!

**In other news…I have made the Student Admissions Council! I am over the moon, really excited to be the point of contact for prospective Kelley students and tell them about what makes us special**

A Case of the Mondays

Today marks the beginning of week three, and it was painful. I attribute the difficulty getting through the morning to not spending as much time as I should have on the homework. Just felt a little lost, and I didn’t come out of class feeling like I gained any additional insight. Looking at the calendar, some midterms are coming up and that is really worrying me.

Charlton had another academy interview today and when he was done we came home, talked to the apartment’s management about our place and then got straight into homework. I am starting to crank some stuff out so that makes me feel a little better. I have a full couple of days coming up, so definitely need to get a jump on all the work this week. Now back to the grind, there is more finance to do!

In other news: I decided to get back on the bandwagon and start recording my food and exercising. Want to lose the 5 lbs I gained on the trip by next month. So hopefully calling myself out will help me stay with it.

Sunday isn't my Funday

After getting nothing done on Saturday, I had a ton of homework to tackle yesterday. Way too much that anyone can actually get through. Had a few tears and a lot of head pounding, but hopefully I got enough done to get through the day. We’ll see…

When the weekend hits...

It seems like all plans and schedules go out the window. It is crazy that through the week I am so regimented and focused and can just go from one thing to the other. Then Saturday shows up and I feel like there are so many things pulling on us that I get behind.

Charlton had a few things at school so he was in and out and I hung out at my makeshift desk…the couch and tried to get some work done. Didn’t get to any of the problems for class but I finished my write-up for the goal and read for a few classes.

After we got back home from his academy interview, we watched a little Mad Men and ended up falling asleep. We woke up just in time for our friends’ Girls/Guys Night Out. It was a bunch of the MBA couples and the guys stayed in and played poker and watched football while us girls went out for sushi. It was a lot of fun, but another late night with no homework done after 6 PM.

Today I NEED to be all business

There is a lot going on today:

• Tailgate
• Football Game
• Girls Night Out
• Homework
• Homework
• Homework

I think the last three things may leak into the others…may have to miss this game as well

Painful Powerpoint

Yesterday we had an 8 hour Powerpoint presentation scheduled for us by the LPCD. Everyone was confused on why it needed to be 8 hours, aren’t Powerpoints supposed to short and succinct? Regardless on our expectations and questions we arrived at the auditorium at 8:00 for what we thought would be a Powerpoint for Dummies presentation.

A few minutes in, we learned that the presentation was not about using Powerpoint, but how to make a presentation. While many of us had similar classes in undergrad, it felt like a waste of 8 hours. The presenter didn’t really understand the needs of the audience and it was run like a mad house. I think he lost most of us about an hour in, and many of his stories about Michael Douglas still couldn’t bring us back. It was a rough day. Unlike many of my classmates I hadn’t brought any homework with me so I didn’t get caught up at all during all of our downtime.

I did get a coffee break at Sugar and Spice and had lunch at Laughing Planet so I guess the day wasn’t a total wash.

We came back to the apartment after, to just the dehumidifier. They finally took the fans, we are getting that much closer to normalcy! Hopefully they will take the dehumidifier soon as well. After a short nap, we headed back to campus for a Meet the Faculty reception. After some appetizers we headed back home to have dinner with our friends/classmates. We ended up hanging out until the wee hours of the morning, and had to pull the boys away from Digital Trivial Pursuit. Was a great way to end a not so good day.

TGITh (Thank God It's Thursday!)

So week 2 is coming to a close, we have a powerpoint information session scheduled for all day tomorrow, but our real classes are done for the week.

We had a 2.5 hour management block first thing in the morning, where I got to be scribe (take notes of who is participating) While the scribe role alleviates some of the stress of participating, it is hard to keep track of everyone’s comments. It did help a little in learning people in my cohort’s names.

And with a 2 week build-up…we finally had marketing! I was really excited to have my first graduate level class of it especially since I am transitioning into the field. The class went really well, and although I know the information we covered was really basic today, I was on top of all the material.

Then after the quickest lunch ever, my team had our first Core recap session. We each were responsible for 2 classes and had to explain the material and go through any issues our teammates had. It was a great review, I learned more by having my teammate explain the journaling and t-accounts than trying to teach myself (again!) I led the finance section too, so helped reinforce my background.

With an hour or so before I had some presentations, I came home and let Addie out (where she attacked our neighbor’s dog!) and had a snack before heading back to campus. First up, was the Diversity Conference Information Session to help us prepare for all the MBA conferences coming up within the next few months. It was really informative and the second years offered up some great advice. Then it was off to the Kelley Marketing Club (KWC) where we got to meet the leadership team and find out about some of the events being held. I am looking forward to helping lead a trek out to Minneapolis to visit Target and General Mills. So we’ll see.

There is no homework due for tomorrow, I think we are going to just take it easy and maybe knock out an episode or two of Mad Men (can I call that research!?) Then maybe I will try to go to bed early, or at least before 1. TGITh!