St. Patrick's Day, or, the Week that Case Write-Ups Took Over My Life

Monday morning I meet up with my Supply Chain teammate to finalize our case write-up on Laura Ashley’s strategic alliance with FedEx.  After a couple of hours of editing and fine-tuning we’re finished.  It feels good to have it done early so that I can focus on my Finance and Statistics case write-ups from here on out.

After class my Finance group meets with our section’s tutor to verify that we are moving in the right direction with the case write-up. He gives us hints and corrects some of our thinking. While I’m grateful for the help, this means more work for my team.

At work that afternoon I learn that the Northeastern Full-Time MBA program has been ranked 56^th by US News and World Report! I’m elated, especially considering that we’re up 6 spots from last year. This, combined with our ‘56’ ranking in Business Week is just proof that Northeastern is on the rise. I’m so proud of my school!

Later that day I receive an e-mail that my Indian visa cannot be processed due to insufficient proof of residency. Ugh! I guess this is what happens when you have a permanent address in California and a temporary address in Boston. I need to fix this ASAP, since I’ll be leaving in just seven weeks!

Among my e-mails is also one regarding my executive mentor.  The Executive Mentor Program is an optional, though highly recommended, opportunity available to all first year students.  If you participate, a mentor is carefully selected to work with you; usually someone from an industry you are interested in or within your concentration.  This mentor will help guide you throughout the remainder of your time at Northeastern.  I have been paired with the CEO of GateHouse Media, Inc. and the former president of the Boston Globe!  In fact, you may remember that I met my mentor previously during an executive luncheon. We exchange a few e-mails and schedule our preliminary meeting for next Monday! He’s requested that I jot down some of my thoughts on my career path, questions, etc. for the meeting. I’m very glad to see that my mentor is willing to be involved in the process. I really want to take advantage of this opportunity.

Tuesday morning I turn in my Supply Chain case write-up. Let’s hope my group mate and I do better than last time. We also have a guest speaker today - this time it’s the president of American Shipping Group.  It was fascinating to hear about supply chain management from his perspective. He brings up such current topics as the expansion of the Panama Canal and the creation of even larger shipping vessels and how these will impact his company. It’s extra neat to hear his perspective because one of my classmates will be working with him this summer for her co-op!

After class my Statistics team and I head to our professor’s office hours to review our progress on the case write up we have due on Thursday (yes, another one). Ugh! I feel like these cases will never end. Our professor corrects us on our faulty assumptions and we leave the long line of students awaiting his advice facing a re-work of a number of calculations. Lesson learned my friends: start work early so you have time to review and re-work. While it may seem like a hassle, if it gets me from a B+ to an A-, I think it’s well worth it.

I’m up late tonight because I’ve decided to take a different direction on my Finance case- yes, this revelation came to me at about 9:00 pm. I was nervous to proceed against what my group had come up with, not being all that confident in my Finance skills, but I decided that now would be a perfect time to work on that ‘thinking creatively and analytically’ goal for my LD 2, which is due in just a few weeks.

I round out the night by submitting an application to VFA, Inc. for a marketing corporate residency. VFA, located in Boston, provides capital planning software to firms. I know a second year who had her co-op there and seemed quite pleased with her experience.

Wednesday in Operations, we get back our second Boston Globe project with a disappointing ‘B’ scribbled across the back. However, we are given the opportunity to re-write it so that’s positive.

I also turn in the Finance case that I was up until 1:00 am reworking. I hope my intuition didn’t lead me astray. We had to submit this case to both our Finance professor and a writing coach (something we often did in Marketing last semester). Our grade will be based on an average of the two. Since I e-mailed my assignment last night, by the time class gets out I already have my score from the writing coach. I’m thrilled to say that I got an A- on the ‘message’ aspect of the write up, but less so with my ‘B’ on the writing portion. With the re-write option, I’m hoping to improve that. Plus, I still have to see what our Finance professor gives me.

At 3:00 pm, after work, I meet with my group to finalize our Statistics case that’s due tomorrow. You can tell we’re all exhausted from the several deliverables this week, but we plug along and I agree to do a last review before submitting it tonight.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!! I can’t think of a better city to be for this most boisterous of holidays. The streets are alive with green and costumed co-eds. However, there is an unfortunate side to the festivities. We were supposed to have our first casual Strategy lunch with our professor today at Conor Larkin’s, a bar across the street from Dodge Hall, however, when scheduling, he didn’t realize that it would be on St. Patrick’s Day. As the class and our professor gather around the window to watch a party bus pull in front of our anticipated lunch place and hordes of people rush through the door, he decides to reschedule for next week. That seems fair.

That afternoon I’m notified that Transparent Language, a language-learning software company in New Hampshire, saw my resume and wants to interview me! I feel very honored and think it would be a good fit. I’m just waiting for my interview date to be set.

I also learn that my resume has been sent to Au Bon Pain! That would be a great co-op as well. Perhaps things are starting to look up for me?

That night I attend my last restaurant week of the spring. This time it’s at Tremont 647. Because of the holiday we manage to snag seats at 7:00 pm with just a few hours notice. The food is fabulous and I’m glad to leave on a high note after my unfortunate dinner at Lucca. I order the carnitas appetizer, pork chop entrée with sweet potato bisque and for dessert, white chocolate and blueberry bread pudding. We even split rosemary French fries and each enjoy a festive drink.

After dinner my friends and I are berated with text messages from classmates; they are all heading to Lansdowne Pub for some St. Paddy’s Day celebrations. We pull up to the bar an hour later only to see a huge line wrapping around the block. Luckily, several classmates have already staked out a location at the front and we get in within minutes. I have never seen a bar this packed. It was insane. A sea of sparkling green and lights and roaring Dropkick Murphys music playing in the background. Guinness is, of course, strewn all across the floor. But we find what seems like half of our class clustered around the bar and the rest of the night is spent dancing, singing and partaking in some Irish beverages.

After a late start on Friday morning, I meet up with a friend to study at a local coffee shop: Espresso Royale. I had never been and was pleased to see that it gave off much the same vibe as the Seattle coffee shops of my undergraduate past. I really enjoyed the environment and we spend the next several hours plopped down at a large wooden table with our books.

After we satisfy our academic quota for the day, we spend the rest of the night shopping and having dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in the Prudential.

I do not leave my house on Saturday. Instead I become a certifiable homework rockstar.  Not only do I finish my Finance assignments for Monday, but Wednesday as well. This includes two chapters on forecasting, homework problems and a case. I also complete my Supply Chain homework for Tuesday. Since we have our first Operations exam on Wednesday, I’m sure I’ll be devoting all of my time to studying for that during the week. I also have that pesky Finance case re-write to attend to.

Sunday is spent indoors, hashing out a rough itinerary for my pre-IFS trip week in India. 

My itinerary will hit Jaipur, Pushkar, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer over the course of 10 days.

I also begin studying for Operations and finish a novel that was assigned by our professor called ‘The Goal’. I don’t think anyone besides me has read it yet, despite the fact that questions regarding it will be on our final exam.  I guess it’s easy to forget a non-fiction book in light of all of our work.

Well all, the admitted students Open House is on Friday, March 25. I plan on being there and if any of you attend, I’d love to meet you in person!

*The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Northeastern, its staff or affiliates.