Monday
My new week starts off with my first ever Marketing presentation. Eeek! My group had to develop a marketing plan for the Best Western hotel chain in their Northern Europe market, taking into account market research on customer satisfaction. I think we feel pretty good about our ten-minutes in front of the class (even the rigorous question-and-answer session afterwards).
In economics today I get a very pleasant surprise. Our textbook pricing papers are returned. As I flip to the last page I see numbers I never thought I would on an economics paper: 100%. What is this?! I am thrilled, plus, it doesn't hurt that the paper is worth 25% of our grade.
To add to my pleasant day, I find out my networking efforts were well served. The Career Center is helping me schedule an informational interview with the Executive Vice President of Marketing at Collette Travel. I’m so excited and nervous at the same time. I need to make sure I have some stellar questions to ask.
I’ve also been working on scheduling some Marketing club meetings. We are all set to meet with the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in a couple of weeks and with a representative from the Marshfield Fair the week after.
Finally, I’ve officially decided it’s getting cold out. Since my walks to school often see temperatures in the 40s, I sit down to my computer and order some winter attire.
Tuesday
I am sad to report that, after yesterday’s success in economics, I am now faced with my first academic failure. I get my Human Resources case analysis back only to see a note explaining that I received “no grade” on the assignment. Ugh! Fortunately, our professor is giving us a chance to do a rewrite if we are not satisfied with our grade. I feel frustrated, but lucky as well because in the real world, there are no rewrites.
Wednesday
I wake up this morning and check my e-mail (in fact, that’s the first thing I do every morning) and as I scroll through the 9 or so messages I received between the hours of 12:30am and 6:30am I come across one from my accounting professor; our grades for the test are up. Oh no….
Luckily, it’s not a as bad as I thought and I come out of it with a B+ (88%) which is just a hair below the class average of 88.7%. I’m relieved.
Today is also my first executive luncheon - and with Rick Daniels, the president and CEO of Gatehouse Media and former president of the Boston Globe nonetheless! I’m super nervous and pester any and everyone I know about how their luncheons went. I hear “awkward”, “good food but not comfortable eating it in front of the executive” and “they just talked the whole time”. These comments are not helping me at all.
After class my lunch mates and I meet Mr. Daniels at the Alumni Center on Columbus Avenue for our luncheon (where we had our fancy orientation dinner). I can see we are all applying the etiquette skills we acquired during our breakfast a couple of weeks ago (the boys even wait until all us ladies have taken our seats before sitting). I am thrilled to say the lunch was fabulous. It was not awkward at all, in fact, we ended up spending nearly 2 hours with Mr. Daniels as he explained his very impressive work history, life lessons (he had just given a commencement speech in May) and even personal anecdotes and funny stories. Plus, the food was delicious. Overall it was such an insightful experience for me, especially considering that he is a media veteran and I want to get into media marketing.
I leave lunch and rush home to complete my thank you letter (we have been instructed by the Career Center to send them out within 24 hours), change into some gym clothes and out of my suit (mind you, I only own one and it has been getting quite the workout) and head to the library to finish my accounting case before making it to the Marino Center.
That night is spent sending out emails for Marketing club projects, research my apple-picking trip, and trying to think up a gift for my boyfriend’s birthday. I wanted to send him some lobster tails from Mikes Pastry (see pictures from 2 weeks ago) only to discover the shipping cost is $100! That’s $100 for $20 worth of pastries! I decide my meager student budget can’t handle that and go about finding some more creative solutions.
Thursday
Today I meet with my Human Resource professor to discuss my unfortunate case analysis (remember? the one with “no grade”? I know, I tried to forget too). He gives me some new insights and book chapters to review and gives me 2 weeks to complete it.
Friday
Today in Career Management we have a supply chain panel of about 7 people from that career track. These include executives from Fidelity Investments , Raytheon, W.R. Grace and more.
Now, I’ll admit that I initially wasn’t very interested in this panel (I am, after all, a marketing concentration) but it was actually very enlightening. Through the questions and answers I was able to get a better grasp of what supply chain actually is. After class we were able to mingle with the panel and do some networking. I am able to speak with Gina Rendar, who is currently the Vice President of IT Services - Procurement at State Street Bank and Trust. She was the only female on the panel and a very empowering example of a strong woman in a role traditionally held by men. She offered great insight on not just her career in supply chain, but the benefits and struggles of being a female executive as well.
At around 5:30 that evening I come to the sudden realization that I have to do laundry this weekend and will not have time tomorrow or Sunday. I pick up the phone and dial my laundromat to see when they close. While I’ve only been there twice since moving here, the man who answers the phone recognizes my voice and says I have time to head over. How strange, but nice of him, I guess. I definitely close down the place that night, making it out just before the clock strikes 7:30 pm.
Saturday
I head to Snell Library early today with some classmates to do homework. I work on our first marketing case memo that's due on Monday. As I trudge through the pages of exhibits I’m so glad I didn’t procrastinate on this project. What I anticipated would take a few hours TOTAL ended up taking 5 hours on calculations alone. I know what you’re thinking: marketing and calculations are not meant to get along, but that’s what Northeastern's MBA program is great at; integrating all elements of business and teaching us that you simply cannot have one without the other. Here, we were looking at launching a new drug, how to price it compared to the industry, where to spend our marketing dollars.
Afterward we hit the gym and grab another classmate on our way to Target. I don’t think I’ve seen any of us this excited the entire program. While we only have an hour there because of Zipcar time restrictions, we end up with more than a shopping cart full of cleaning supplies, toiletries and random two-for-one deals. You know you’re getting old when you meet three of your friends around the back of a Zipcar to excitedly discuss the deal you found of Charmin toilet paper and Betty Crocker cake mix.
NOTE: If you don’t plan on having a car in Boston, I suggest signing up for Zipcar. It’s a service that allows you rent cars by the hour with gas and insurance included. We found a Prius for $7 and hour.
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| Photo courtesy of Sophia Moon |
Sunday
Yay! It’s apple picking time! I get up early and dress cozily (it’s a bit drizzly out) to meet a group of girls at Dodge Hall for our adventure to Honey Pot Hill Orchards in Stow, Massachusetts. It’s officially the last day of apple-picking season.
After a beautiful drive into the more rural parts of the state we pull up to the orchard. Honey Pot Hill boasts apple orchards, pumpkin patches, barn animals, a hedge maze, hayrides and, most importantly, a store that sells delicious jams, cider and, drumroll please….apple cider donuts! Heaven!
Two of the girls native to Massachusetts laugh at the rest of us as we rush down the rows of trees marveling at the fall foliage. We all chip in to buy an apple picking bag for $22 that allows up to 5 people into the orchard. We have two varieties of apples to choose from in the first orchard: Empire and Spencer. We opt to take the $1 hayride to another orchard down the way that has Mutsu and Janagolds. The hayride is beautiful and bumpy as we get pulled along by a tractor sitting on hay bales. in the back
We all have a field day at the store, buying pumpkin butter, squashes, jugs of cider, jams and of course, the apple cider donuts (which, I’ll be honest, do not last me through the end of the day).
This excursion was a welcome relief and a much needed change of pace. But I will admit, I pay the price for a day of fun when I stay up past 1:00 am to finish my marketing case memo. Whatever, it was SO worth it.
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