Goodbye GE!

WEEK 27 (December 12- 16)

Sigh…it’s my final week at GE Aviation and it’s going to be a crazy one. Here's a little overview (and it’s abbreviated) of what I have to do in the next six days:

• Finish co-op at GE. This involves a big final report-out, processing-out documents, wrapping up all projects, etc. 
• Submit final paper in my Market Research class(this is worth 34% of my grade)
• Attempt to finish 40-page Living Document 3 before leaving for my trip 
• Buy all holiday gifts for family and ship them to California
• Pack all necessary items for trip
• Fix broken tooth
• Physical therapy (x3)
• Errands, errands, errands

....I’m already exhausted. 

Monday I’m in the office and off running. I have to leave early today to get my tooth fixed (it broke very glamoursly on an Au Bon Pain sandwich) and do a two-hour physical therapy session so I wanted to make up as much work as possible.

I barely stop for air as I make final edits to my proposal process checklist, folder mapping of 1,000+ documents and more. Nearly 20 people are invited to my report-out tomorrow so there is definitely no room for error on any of the above items.

I take a small break for a special Team Time meeting focusing on safety before running out the of the office at 3:00pm.

Once I factor in how lost I get, it takes me more than an hour and a half to get to my dental appointment. Luckily, the procedure is quick (try 30 minutes) and moderately inexpensive. I get out of there with just enough time to run to my physical therapy appointment (much to my knee's chagrin).

The session lasts more than two hours tonight and I don’t manage to limp home until 8:30pm. I quickly eat (I haven’t had anything since 11:30am), make final edits to my TRU Chocolate final paper for Market Research and crash around 9:45pm (don’t judge).

Tuesday is the big day: My final report-out to several managers in the LTTD department on my efforts at streamlining and organizing the proposal process. I get into work and spend all day making final edits, doing a dry-run of my presentation and more. I only stop for a joint goodbye lunch with my Women in Technology Mentor and my Northeastern Buddy at Panera.

When I return from lunch I have about two hours to put the finishing touches on my proposal streamlining pitch. I practice in the conference room, write up note cards and more.

When all is said and done my 45-minute report went as well as I could have hoped. While many individuals were unable to attend due to some pressing issues with another international campaign, I ended up getting about 10 people who took time out of their busy schedules to sit in. What was even better was that many were quite forthcoming with suggestions and questions- which I love because it shows me that they actually care!

That night is, again, filled with errands. From a visit to the post office and CVS to attempting to pick up coursepacks for next semester (they are, of course, not ready) to printing out final trip itinerary stuff I am busy well into the night. When I get home I crank out a third blog post for the week (oh yeah, I’m that good) and work on my Living Document 3 before ending my night with some physical therapy exercises.

Wednesday feels like a light day compared to what I’ve been used to. I get into work and set about filling out all of my processing-out documents. At GE these are quite extensive and include updating my resume, filling out about 20 pages of forms, organizing and transferring my computer files to my boss and more.

I break at about 10:30am to do go over my final process appraisal workflow with my boss. We play some musical chairs around the office but finally manage to review the entire document by around 11:15am. While my boss and I had just recently gone over my Northeastern review, I always welcome constructive criticism and insights into my professional performance so I really enjoy the session. 

Right after we wrap that up, it’s off to my farewell lunch at Red Rock Bistro (the go-to nice lunch place here at GE Aviation). I spend an hour chatting with several people I've worked with during the past seven months and in during the course of lunch that inevitable nostalgia kicks in.

The rest of my afternoon is spent finishing up all of my processing-out documents and beginning the organization of my paper files. 

After work I head home for a quick dinner before it’s off to my last physical therapy session before I leave for my trip.

I’m up late that night as I do the final edits to my TRU Chocolate project before passing out at 11:30pm.

Thursday is busy with wrapping up. Among my tasks is cleaning out my desk, handing off important papers to the appropriate person and last project wrap-ups. I also attend my last PM council meeting *sigh*. It’s all becoming so real… Am I really leaving tomorrow?

At noon I receive notification that my Market Research group has submitted our final paper (all 81 pages of it! Yikes!). While it was a bumpy submission, involving several different versions being sent to different people, I’m glad to have it finally done. Another big hurdle in my path to vacation has been cleared!

That night I hit up the Laundromat and clean my apartment. I also receive my Christmas box from my family. I got quite the haul including cases for my camera and Kindle, gift cards and some nice ‘travel fun’ money. Awesome! Good thing too because these fun items keep me going through another late, but necessary, night.

Friday I’m a bit sad coming into work. I try and enjoy my last bus ride in (though I won’t miss getting up at 5:00am every morning to catch it!). When I get into the office I continue to clean out my stuff. I only have until 11:30am to get everything done before I have to turn in my computer, badge and process out.

After all that 'official' business is done I make my rounds and bid everyone adieu while trying not to tear up in the process.

Luckily, my cube mate and I have been invited to a holiday event for part of our department taking place immediately after we process out. We will be hitting up Salem Beer Works for lunch followed by a private tour of the House of Seven Gables. What a great way to end my tenure at GE!

Around noon my cube-mate and I head up to Salem to meet the group. We all enjoy some delicious food and beer at Salem Beer works (I opt for one of their beer samplers and the Mako shark skewers with mango salsa and raspberry vinagrette). To make the event even more fun, my boss gives me a heart-warming tribute and a verifiable bushel of GE swag. Score! My favorite take-away: a poster of a F414 engine signed by everyone I worked with. Love!

The House of Seven Gables

After that we all head over to the House of Seven Gables for our private tour. I haven't been to this historic location since I was 12-years-old so it's super fun (and surreal) to be here 13 years later with my GE co-workers. 

Perfect New England scene from the House of Seven Gables

After we've had our fill of history and Nathaniel Hawthorne several members of the group walk to a local coffee house, Jaho Coffee. I definitely order up a heaping slice of Boston cream pie and savor the last few moments I have with my team.

And so, faithful readers, ends my corporate residency at GE Aviation. It was an amazing experience and one I never expected to have. I went from knowing nothing about aircraft or engines to working on some of the most successful military jet engine lines in history. I started talking the talk (GE alphabet soup, that is) and somewhat walking the walk with a final report out and several projects throughout my seven months that I was pretty proud of. I worked with some of the leading minds in the American aviation industry and made fabulous connections. I can only hope that, if you decide to join me at Northeastern, you manage to make your way into a company like GE for your co-op. 

With those parting words, Living the Northeastern MBA will be on a three-week hiatus while I jet set across Portugal, Spain and Morocco (tough life, I know). But rest assured my friends, I will return ready with posts and (literally) thousands of travel photos.

*The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of GE Aviation, Northeastern University, their employees, staff or affiliates.