first impressions
So far I have been through eight cases and I am currently working on preparing two for tomorrow. And so far I can confidently say that I wish that my education up until this point had been entirely case method. (Except for film school, I’m not sure how that would have worked…)
Being in a classroom for 80 minutes where there is a perpetual ping-pong of conversation going on between prof and student, and also between student and student, has kept me so much more focused and alert than I ever have been during a class before.
So you can tell I’m liking it so far?
The class experience has been different from anything I’ve ever done. From what I can tell one of the other big differences from my past educational experiences is in the preparation for class. I spend lots of time preparing, with the same anxiousness I would have had in high school about making sure my homework was “right.” Except that now that doesn’t matter any more. I can bring in a balance sheet, and if it doesn’t balance, it doesn’t matter (insofar as I’m not going to lose points for it)… as long as I understand the concepts and can reason my way through an argument in class, I’m fine. This is a weird paradigm to get used to.
I finally made time to go to the gym today, and I felt really good afterwards. Think I need to get into the habit of doing that more often.
The people here are beyond amazing. Everyone in Analytics has a wild story about something (whether it’s work, their education, their personal interests…). I’ve had more fun just meeting people in the last few days than I’ve had in a while.
Someone said to me the other night that they’ve heard b-school described this way (and I’m starting to agree):
Where undergrad was a lot of people who looked similar on paper (impressive GPA or extracurriculars, etc.) but were vastly different in terms of personality and aspirations, the b-school crowd seems to be much more similar in terms of personality (no, everyone’s not the same, more on this later) and aspirations and wildly different on paper (in terms of work experience, home country, etc.).
I hope to be able to go into more detail about some of these things soon, but at the moment I wanted to squeeze in an update between case prep and my learning team meeting tonight.
the calm before the storm
After a few days of break from the internet, I’m returning. On Friday, I made the 16 hour drive from Chicago to Cambridge. It was a relatively smooth drive and I was exhausted when I got to the house. The last three days have been spent cleaning, floor to ceiling the new place, unpacking all the stuff I dumped here in July, and getting ready for class to start on Wednesday.
Analytics (aka “Math Camp”) begins at 8am Wednesday morning. There’s a full schedule of events that day which will take us right up until 11pm Wednesday night. I’m excited for things to get started, I’m just hoping I can last the whole day. I’m not used to intensity starting so early and ending so late. Hopefully the last few weeks of rest will pay off.
Tonight is the first big social event. A lot of the people going to this program on Wednesday are meeting up for drinks and I’m looking forward to finally meeting some of the other people here. Tomorrow will be a day of rest, relaxation, final errands/chores, and hopefully some Olympic-viewing…
on the summer’s second coming (see also: the dark knight)
My brother returned from Spain on Sunday, so I finally went to see The Dark Knight (I had agreed to wait until he returned to see it).
All in all, I thought it a good film. I think that Nolan put together a great story, a great script, and great character development. I also think the film was shot really well (for the most part).
Unfortunately I’m not jumping on the “best movie ever” bandwagon though. I will probably see it again, but in the meantime, here are a few initial disappointments:
(****spoiler alert****)
WHERE WAS BRUCE WAYNE?
One of the most interesting things about Batman Begins, was the Bruce Wayne character arc. This was completely lost in TDK.
the finish line and the vacation
More than four months after being admitted to school, I have FINALLY completed all of my prematriculation requirements. I will be happy if I never have to write the word “prematriculation” again. Today I learned about heteroskedasticity. It’s a much more enjoyable word to write.
To recap, this marks the end of two full courses in Finance and Accounting, and three online modules in Finance, Accounting, and Quantitative Analysis.
Next week, I’ll be driving out of IL, bound for Cambridge for good. As one other prematric requirement, I have to attend “analytics” (read: math camp) for two weeks before classes start. Everyone who I’ve talked to says that it’s actually a really great experience, and that a lot of interesting people go to it, so I’m looking forward to it, but it’s hard to believe I’ll be in classes in 2 weeks.
Right now I’m just looking forward to vegetating for the next few days. And ticking off the list of miscellaneous to-do’s.
san francisco treat
I arrived in San Francisco on an early flight from Chicago this morning. Every time I come to this city, I find myself liking it more and more. Maybe it’s the weather (it’s beautiful), maybe it’s the scenery (it’s beautiful), maybe it’s the fact that one in three people on my flight had an iphone.
I downloaded the wordpress for iPhone app today. So it’s possible this post is just an excuse to play with that. Ya.
taking a break
Yesterday I completed the HBS finance tutorial. And I passed. Glad to have that out of the way. There were a few concepts on it, like levered and unlevered betas, which I found complicated. I thought maybe I was not made for finance, and then my friend from New York arrived last night and told me he had to do levered and unlevered betas on the CFA level 3 in June. I thought my module was supposed to be introductory. The CFA3 is pretty complicated. Oh well.
I’m spending the next two nights in downtown Chicago with the buddy from NYC. Looking forward to a break from suburbanity. Next week a friend from DC visits on Monday, and then I head out of town on Tuesday. Will be racing the clock to finish the QA tutorial for school, but I’m less worried about that than the finance one.
Summer vacation is great.
Sidebar - why is it that people always “can’t wait til summer,” “can’t believe summer’s halfway over,” “can’t believe summer’s going so fast,” etc.? I guess it’s the weather, but I know a lot of people who love cold/winter, and I never hear them say these things about winter. Just a thought.
move. check.
So, I’m done moving to Cambridge. Everything went smoothly (although I do believe I have more stuff than I should… definitely still a packrat, despite having thrown away about 12 bags of stuff). The Penske truck was completely pain-free and actually had a iPod jack… who knew?
I got all my stuff into the house up there, unpacked a few essentials and booked it back to nyc yesterday for one last night in the Big Apple. Now I’m sitting at LaGuardia waiting to fly to Chicago for a few weeks. (And hopefully acquiring an iPhone later today).
Two lessons I learned while moving:
1. Girls have lots of stuff too. But their boxes are labeled with things like “Shoes 1″ and “Shoes 2″ and “Shoes 3″ and “Purses.” Weird.
2. Mt Kisco, New York is not a good place to stop for food while driving between New York and Boston. While attempting to make a rare appearance at Burger King (because who eats Burger King in nyc? do they even have Burger King’s in nyc?), we followed a road sign that said there was a Burger King at the Mt Kisco exit. Well…. literally 3 country roads, 18 minutes, several miles, and a pass thru DOWNTOWN MT KISCO (which is, in fact, nowhere near the interstate), we found the Burger King. It was so far away from the highway that we took a different route back to the highway than we took getting off the highway.
Anyway. Lessons learned.
Looking forward to spending the next few weeks at home. Looking less forward to finishing the Finance and Quantitative Analysis modules for HBS in the next few days, but that’s not so negotiable.
the long goodbye comes to an end
I feel like I’ve been on a Frank Sinatra career-closing farewell tour for the last two weeks. And it’s been nothing short of fantastic. I’ve just gotten rid of my cable boxes and am now stealing wi-fi from some neighbor who doesn’t understand how to WEP a router…
In 24 hours (barring catastrophe), I will be piloting my penske truck full of my stuff and one of my housemates’ stuff up the interstate to Cambridge, Massachusetts. The looming change can only lead one to reflection… 8 years in New York City has been a wild ride. Coming here at the age of 18, attending film school at one of the best in the world. Flexing my creative muscle in the most creative place in the world. Watching 9/11 happen, literally, in front of my face. Looking for a job. Finding a job. Becoming an adult, over and over. Drinking, sometimes heavily. Making new friends, again and again. Covering Katrina. Visiting the White House. Losing a parent. Playing with Facebook, as part of the job. Traveling - to hurricanes for work, to ski slopes with friends, in a hot air balloon for work, to the Hamptons with friends.
8 years will teach you a lot. Where you come from. Who you are. Who you’d like to be. Who you wouldn’t like to be. But it won’t tell you where you’re going… and I guess that’s part of the excitement.
So, while I’m barreling up 95 tomorrow, I’m sure this will be one of the thought lines running through my head. Along with: is everything still in the truck, is the gas gauge right?, why is gas so expensive?, and are we there yet?
New York, it’s been fun. I’ll miss you. But I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again soon. There’s always the Acela, right?
packing
I got back late last night from a great weekend upstate with friends. I’ve spent most of today packing boxes of my stuff in my apartment. It’s beginning to get a little crowded with boxes in here. Friday is the big moving day, so I feel pretty well on top of things, I’ve probably got another 6 or 7 boxes + clothes to go… Penske called today to confirm Friday’s truck rental. Fingers crossed for that…
so long for now…
have just finished the last day of work, very sad to leave. i hate mass emails, but did one anyways, text below:
Short of elementary school, my affiliation with ABC News has been the longest of any in my life, so you’ll have to excuse the sentimental nature of this note. Today marks the end of my (current) journey with you.
If someone had told me as a kid, that I would someday have the opportunity to go to Buckingham Palace with Charlie Gibson or the White House with Diane Sawyer, I would have laughed. But I did. As a kid, I used to break my mom’s kitchen appliances because I liked pushing buttons, so I’m not sure how I was ever allowed to set foot in a network television control room. But I was.
My time here has afforded me some incredible professional experiences and some amazing personal friendships. It has been a privilege to work side by side with so many talented people every day. I do sincerely hope that our paths will cross again some day, but in the mean time I look forward to keeping in touch.
Until next time,
Brad
