First Week of Class
(January 9-16)
Greetings all! It is officially my first week back in school and also the start of my last year in the Northeastern Full-Time MBA program (*sniff*). Below is my schedule for this semester, including classes and work. I would like you all to note the lovely 'Friday' column. That's right: it's completely free! Hooray!
Well, to get started, I am happy to say that my first week back as a full-time student is off to a pretty leisurely pace. I spend my Monday morning getting settled from my trip and running errands. I head to campus around 10:00 am to face my looming Living Document 3, which is due this Friday. I didn't get nearly as far with it before my trip as I had hoped and now must pay the price. Ugh!
After a solid three hours of work it's time for my first class (remember, classes this semester are in the afternoon and evening). First up: Global Management. I'm pretty excited about this class because it was the same one I attended for a class visit way back when I was a prospective student visiting Northeastern.
Fortunately, our professor is very engaging. We spend a good while doing the whole introduction thing, paying particular attention to everyone's diverse backgrounds and travel experience before digging right into our first case assignment on a Bulgarian entrepreneur starting a feta cheese company in the United States. We had to submit our case preparation charts for the Malincho case by 8:00 pm last night. Considering that my classmates and I tend to work on a 'midnight' time schedule, that early cut-off is going to be a bit rough to get used to.
After class lets out at 4:15 pm I have more than three hours to kill before my Brand and Advertising Management course at 7:30 pm so it's home for some early dinner and more Living Document 3 work.
At 7:30 pm I'm back in class for Brand and Advertising Management. I think it should be pretty good as well. Our professor actually comes from a technical background so she should offer an interesting spin on analyzing markets and managing a product. We'll also be working on a re-branding project for a company of our choosing throughout the course of the semester
As much as I enjoyed class I'm thankful when we are let out early. I take this opportunity to go home and sleep.
Tuesday is my first day of work back in the Marketing Department of the Northeastern Graduate School of Business!
I spend the morning beforehand working on my Living Document 3 and then come into the office (conveniently located in Dodge Hall) at 11:30 am. I'm really excited because I have been give double the hours I worked last year which means I should be able to contribute more to projects. I'm already off to a good start as I spend my day researching marketing touch points for the recently admitted classes of our graduate programs.
In the three hours between work and my Entrepreneurial Finance class I follow up with a employer contact (a guest speaker from my Market Research course last semester) to see if we can meet up for an informational interview. I told myself I would hit the ground running with networking when I got back so I'm determined to do so!
I also book my flight home for spring break, which this year is thankfully in March. I feel so jet-setter as I pay only $10 for the round-trip tickets to California using miles I've accumulated from all my travels.
Duh, Duh, Duh (that's supposed to be ominous music)...7:30 pm rolls around and it's time for my first Entrepreneurial Finance course! Yikes! But why, you ask, is an obvious marketing student with zero financial acumen taking a finance course of her own accord? Good question. You see, I am aware that analyzing financial statements is not my forte and that is precisely why I am using one of my free electives to take a finance class. I'm nervous, but also excited. I'll tell you in a few weeks whether or not I'm crying over this decision.
Luckily, and unexpectedly, I love the class and my professor. Dare I say it has been my favorite so far! Blasphemy! After getting the run-down on the course and how our professor believes in a more practical and applicable study of finance we are sent home. I make sure to go up to him after class and let him know about my handicap and, to my surprise, he's very supportive and tells me to come see him whenever I need.
What's more, when I arrive home I am greeted by a giant basket of Lindt & Sprungli chocolates! I won this prize through Twitter (of all places!).
Wednesday morning is filled with more Living Document 3 writing before my second required core course of the semester, Innovation and Enterprise Growth at 1:45 pm. This class was very entertaining and our professor seems to be another prime example of someone who cares more for applicable, realistic knowledge than textbook answers. Love it! Our first exercise? Well working in group to build as tall a tower as possible with marshmallows and spaghetti, of course.
After class lets out a friend and I head to a relatively new bar on Dartmouth Street: Lolita Cocina & Tequila Bar. I indulge in a rose sangria and we share an obscene serving of chips and guacamole.
At 7:00 pm we make the quick walk over to City Table to meet up with another friend who is still on co-op for dinner. I order up their slider variety plate (with crab cake, braised short rib and Kobe beef burger sandwiches) and spend a lovely evening catching up with them.
I also hear back from my networking outreach! I have an informational interview set up for next Wednesday with the guest speaker from my Market Research class. So excited!
Thursdays are going to be long days for me this semester. I head into work for an eight-hour shift from 8:30 am-4:30 pm and spend most of it continuing my research on marketing touch points.
In the 50 free minutes I have between work and class I manage to grab some food.
At 5:20 pm it's time for New Product Development. I'm beginning to realize that I have a very 'innovation'- heavy course load this year (Innovation and Enterprise Growth, Entrepreneurial Finance, New Product Development) and I like it. I'm looking forward to the challenge of supporting my creativity with sound financial knowledge and business practicality.
In class I learn that my New Product Development professor is ALSO from a technical background! Interesting! Since it's week one of class we are let go early and I head home to work on my Living Document 3 (I have less than 24 hours to complete it!).
Despite it being my 'day off' from school and work, I'm up early and at the library before 9:00 am on Friday. I somehow manage to pound out the remainder of my paper, get it printed, bound and dropped off before 2:00 pm. The final result: a whopping 38 pages of glory! While I do think that the three-part Living Document process was a valuable tool, I'm a bit relieved that this is my final deliverable of the year-and-a-half long assignment.
Saturday, Sunday and Monday are so wonderfully lazy I would be embarrassed to spell it out in detail. Let's suffice it to say I was actually bored! Several movies were watched, errands were run and (some) homework was completed. I even managed to fit in a fab take-out Chinese dinner with a classmate (the grubhub iPhone app is a godsend, by the way). As I don't delude myself at all into thinking this can possibly last beyond this week, I savor every moment.
*The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Northeastern University, its staff, employees or affiliates.
(January 9-16)
Greetings all! It is officially my first week back in school and also the start of my last year in the Northeastern Full-Time MBA program (*sniff*). Below is my schedule for this semester, including classes and work. I would like you all to note the lovely 'Friday' column. That's right: it's completely free! Hooray!
Well, to get started, I am happy to say that my first week back as a full-time student is off to a pretty leisurely pace. I spend my Monday morning getting settled from my trip and running errands. I head to campus around 10:00 am to face my looming Living Document 3, which is due this Friday. I didn't get nearly as far with it before my trip as I had hoped and now must pay the price. Ugh!
After a solid three hours of work it's time for my first class (remember, classes this semester are in the afternoon and evening). First up: Global Management. I'm pretty excited about this class because it was the same one I attended for a class visit way back when I was a prospective student visiting Northeastern.
Fortunately, our professor is very engaging. We spend a good while doing the whole introduction thing, paying particular attention to everyone's diverse backgrounds and travel experience before digging right into our first case assignment on a Bulgarian entrepreneur starting a feta cheese company in the United States. We had to submit our case preparation charts for the Malincho case by 8:00 pm last night. Considering that my classmates and I tend to work on a 'midnight' time schedule, that early cut-off is going to be a bit rough to get used to.
After class lets out at 4:15 pm I have more than three hours to kill before my Brand and Advertising Management course at 7:30 pm so it's home for some early dinner and more Living Document 3 work.
At 7:30 pm I'm back in class for Brand and Advertising Management. I think it should be pretty good as well. Our professor actually comes from a technical background so she should offer an interesting spin on analyzing markets and managing a product. We'll also be working on a re-branding project for a company of our choosing throughout the course of the semester
As much as I enjoyed class I'm thankful when we are let out early. I take this opportunity to go home and sleep.
Tuesday is my first day of work back in the Marketing Department of the Northeastern Graduate School of Business!
I spend the morning beforehand working on my Living Document 3 and then come into the office (conveniently located in Dodge Hall) at 11:30 am. I'm really excited because I have been give double the hours I worked last year which means I should be able to contribute more to projects. I'm already off to a good start as I spend my day researching marketing touch points for the recently admitted classes of our graduate programs.
In the three hours between work and my Entrepreneurial Finance class I follow up with a employer contact (a guest speaker from my Market Research course last semester) to see if we can meet up for an informational interview. I told myself I would hit the ground running with networking when I got back so I'm determined to do so!
I also book my flight home for spring break, which this year is thankfully in March. I feel so jet-setter as I pay only $10 for the round-trip tickets to California using miles I've accumulated from all my travels.
Duh, Duh, Duh (that's supposed to be ominous music)...7:30 pm rolls around and it's time for my first Entrepreneurial Finance course! Yikes! But why, you ask, is an obvious marketing student with zero financial acumen taking a finance course of her own accord? Good question. You see, I am aware that analyzing financial statements is not my forte and that is precisely why I am using one of my free electives to take a finance class. I'm nervous, but also excited. I'll tell you in a few weeks whether or not I'm crying over this decision.
Luckily, and unexpectedly, I love the class and my professor. Dare I say it has been my favorite so far! Blasphemy! After getting the run-down on the course and how our professor believes in a more practical and applicable study of finance we are sent home. I make sure to go up to him after class and let him know about my handicap and, to my surprise, he's very supportive and tells me to come see him whenever I need.
What's more, when I arrive home I am greeted by a giant basket of Lindt & Sprungli chocolates! I won this prize through Twitter (of all places!).
 |
| Yay Chocolate! |
 |
| Behold the glory! Maybe I should become an engineer instead? |
At 7:00 pm we make the quick walk over to City Table to meet up with another friend who is still on co-op for dinner. I order up their slider variety plate (with crab cake, braised short rib and Kobe beef burger sandwiches) and spend a lovely evening catching up with them.
I also hear back from my networking outreach! I have an informational interview set up for next Wednesday with the guest speaker from my Market Research class. So excited!
Thursdays are going to be long days for me this semester. I head into work for an eight-hour shift from 8:30 am-4:30 pm and spend most of it continuing my research on marketing touch points.
In the 50 free minutes I have between work and class I manage to grab some food.
At 5:20 pm it's time for New Product Development. I'm beginning to realize that I have a very 'innovation'- heavy course load this year (Innovation and Enterprise Growth, Entrepreneurial Finance, New Product Development) and I like it. I'm looking forward to the challenge of supporting my creativity with sound financial knowledge and business practicality.
In class I learn that my New Product Development professor is ALSO from a technical background! Interesting! Since it's week one of class we are let go early and I head home to work on my Living Document 3 (I have less than 24 hours to complete it!).
Despite it being my 'day off' from school and work, I'm up early and at the library before 9:00 am on Friday. I somehow manage to pound out the remainder of my paper, get it printed, bound and dropped off before 2:00 pm. The final result: a whopping 38 pages of glory! While I do think that the three-part Living Document process was a valuable tool, I'm a bit relieved that this is my final deliverable of the year-and-a-half long assignment.
Saturday, Sunday and Monday are so wonderfully lazy I would be embarrassed to spell it out in detail. Let's suffice it to say I was actually bored! Several movies were watched, errands were run and (some) homework was completed. I even managed to fit in a fab take-out Chinese dinner with a classmate (the grubhub iPhone app is a godsend, by the way). As I don't delude myself at all into thinking this can possibly last beyond this week, I savor every moment.
*The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Northeastern University, its staff, employees or affiliates.
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