Tuesday morning I meet my Operations group to hash out our next Boston Globe project that is due tomorrow (I know, last minute). Upon working our way through each section we realize we are lacking some vital information and so call up our contact at The Globe. We are so lucky to have as responsive a contact as we do. He immediately sends out an e-mail answering all of our questions. We divvy up the work before heading to our morning Supply Chain class.
In Supply Chain today we have another set of awesome guest speakers; this time two representatives from Staples spend the next couple of hours breaking down their supply chain and logistics practices.
After class the majority of the program makes its way across campus for a massive review session hosted by our Statistics professor.
After two hours I excuse myself because I have a 4:30 pm phone interview with Transparent Language for a marketing corporate residency! I’m so excited and nervous. It’s been a while since my last interview and I hope I’m not too rusty.
I feel like it went well and the opportunity sounds amazing. I’m told to expect a response for a second interview sometime next week.
I also received my Indian visa in the mail today! I’m so excited and relieved that I have one more thing checked off my to-do list.
That night, though, is one of the worst I’ve had in business school. I spend hours finalizing our submission to The Massachusetts Horticultural Society and doing the final edits for not one, but two Operations assignments. Just to give you an idea, it’s around 11:00 pm when I hop on Google Chat with my team to try and solve our efficiency equations for our Assignment #2 rewrite. It is 12:30 am before I can even look at my homework that’s due tomorrow.
That night I crash, upset at all the work, exhausted and unable to complete my assignments for tomorrow even if I stayed up all night.
I greet Wednesday knowing it is going to be a rough day. I’ll admit that besides the Operations deliverables I have not prepared anything for class. I grab a double latte, print my Operations assignments and await a long day. After class, where I do receive an A- on my Operations exam, it’s off to work before studying for a few hours for Statistics and then the mentor reception.
The mentor reception turns out to be much better than I anticipated. The students meet their mentors at the Varsity Club at Matthews Arena. After my mentor arrives we grab a drink at the bar and some delicious hors d’oeuvres and set about catching up since our first meeting a couple of weeks ago. While we have been communicating via e-mail since our first meeting, I fill him in on some recent developments in the residency arena. We socialize for about an hour before the event ends and I head home to cram for my Statistics exam tomorrow.
For most people, the mentor reception was the first time they met with their mentor. I was pleased to see a good turnout at the event and heard many positive comments the next day from my classmates. It seems as though most people genuinely enjoyed their time that evening.
The rest of the night is not as fun and I stay up past 1:00 am working out practice problems.
The exam Thursday morning is rough. Not a single person turned their papers in before the cut-off time and our professor was even forced to give us some extra time. We head into Strategy that day dazed and confused to say the least.
In between classes I receive an e-mail informing me that I have an interview with Au Bon Pain next Wednesday! This is for a market analyst position. I’m thrilled and think it would be a perfect fit. Things seem to be looking up. But as we all know, that never lasts long…
Noticing the state of our the class as we filter into Strategy, our professor decides to conduct class in a slightly different way in hopes that it will keep us all awake and involved. He breaks the class into two teams so that we can have a lively debate regarding the assigned case. Unfortunately, this is the part where everything goes wrong. As my side of the room confers together, we quickly realize that not a single person has read the case or book chapters for today. After some debate on whether or not we should say anything to our professor, we decide to face the consequences of our actions and tell him we are utterly unprepared. It would have become quite apparent anyway when our side had nothing to say during the debate. Understandably upset, our professor asks the class how many had completed the case and book reading. Only five students had read the case (out of 35) and none of us had read the book chapters. Our teacher cancels class because, in all fairness, we would just have been wasting his time. He leaves the room and tells us to expect a new assignment within the hour. Embarrassed, we all just sit in our seats silently for a minute after he leaves. I am so ashamed. Dejected we filter out and begin the catch-up process on our reading.
But my section is not alone. I find out later that day that the other section behaved no better than we did. Though they have a different Strategy professor, I learned that half of the class skipped lecture to study for the Statistics exam. The consequences for their actions will be weekly quizzes to measure participation. I can only imagine the repercussions that await all of us when this makes its way to the administration. Sigh.
I feel like, despite my best efforts, I'm just slipping academically. I need to shake myself out of this - even if it means a continuous stream of energy drinks and coffee to get me through it.
I feel like, despite my best efforts, I'm just slipping academically. I need to shake myself out of this - even if it means a continuous stream of energy drinks and coffee to get me through it.
That night, in dire need of something to look forward to, I join two friends in Cambridge for an amazing Mexican dinner at Olé. It is heaven and their homemade guacamole is just what I need.
I go home that night still feeling upset by the events of today. I’m really embarrassed, especially since this professor is one of the nicest we have. I can’t help but think that if we had pulled something like this in the real world, we’d all be sending out resumes for a new job.
The stress of this semester has gotten to a lot of people. That being said, my learning team dynamics are beginning to deteriorate. While we had planned for a sort of intervention and airing of grievances today, the events of Strategy found everyone dispersing before we could. We decide to conduct a preliminary e-mail correspondence, an open discussion, of each member’s concerns. As I dread confrontation, I do not look forward to this added stress.
Friday morning, still drained from the week, I meet a friend for breakfast at Espresso Royale. We each order up one of their delicious breakfast sandwiches and spend a casual morning chatting over coffee. When we’ve had our fill of café culture we make our way to Fenway to visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. I love the student discount ($2 with your ID) and the beautiful courtyard rich with Indian and Asian architectural influences.
I bid my companion adieu by mid-afternoon and, while I had the noble intention of doing homework, I just can’t face it. The work is so overwhelming that it somewhat panics me to even begin. So, in a not-so-wise move, I log onto my Netflix account and spend the evening watching the life drama of actors in a place far away from Boston.
On Saturday I meet my friend at Espresso Royale again, this time for some homework. We spend the next 4 hours reading our Finance chapters for the week. We part ways around 2:00 pm and I head to the library where I run into some classmates and put in another good 2-3 hours of work before dragging myself home.
Again, the night is filled with homework. While the Strategy incident was not pleasant, it has put even more of a motivational fire under me and I try and suppress my guilt by reading 50 pages of our Supply Chain textbook.
Sunday morning is again spent studying, this time I’m pounding the keys of my computer as I write my Living Document 2. I send out a survey to my Marketing Club consulting team asking their input on some elements of my managerial style and set about pulling quotes and charts for the 20 page paper.
At 1:30 pm it is time for a break and so I meet a friend at the bus stop and we head to Union Bar and Grille for a late brunch. I order up some huevos rancheros and their famous garlic chips and try to spend the next hour unwinding. We part ways around 3:00 pm and I’m right back at my desk, this time preparing for a Statistics write-up that’s due on Thursday and submitting my extra assignment from Strategy.
I fall asleep around 1:00 am to anxious thoughts of ways I can manage everything that needs to be done in the next few weeks.
*The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Northeastern, its staff or affiliates.
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