Photo Shoots and Car Shopping

Spring outside Dodge Hall

Eleventh Week of Class
(March 19 - 25)

Monday morning I'm up early for a 9:30 am meeting with a professor for the class I might try and petition called "Design Thinking for Market Driven Innovation". The meeting, held over in Ryder Hall, goes well and he even shows me the final projects from last year's class. The process books look very professional and the projects seem highly involved. While the class looks neat, I'm a little concerned about the level of commitment required since I'll be working full-time by them. I decide to contact someone I know who took the course last year and ask their opinion.

After we wrap up I make a beeline to my second home (Snell Library) and plug along on homework, send some e-mails, etc. before my 1:00 pm meeting with my partner for the New Product Development process audit project. We convene in the grad lounge and after much back-and-forth trying to come up with an 'innovative' company we realize that one has been in front of us all along! Northeastern University's College of Business constantly update classes, create new majors and updates requirements and therefore is the perfect company to use for our audit. I immediately set about emailing the Associate Dean of the College to see if she might be able to meet to discuss the school's current innovation process.

My teammate and I break at 1:45pm for our Global Management class where we discuss L'Oreal's acquisition of two Chinese makeup firms to expand into the Asian market.

After class she and I continue our work until our Brand and Advertising class that night where we get a special treat: a guest speaker! Our visitor for the evening is Kelley Kassa, an expert in social media. She provides some great insight (including resources for our consulting project with Henniker Brewing Company).

Tuesday morning I'm up early working on homework before an 11:00 am meeting with a guy renting out a parking spot near my apartment. After seeing the nice paved spot behind a South End brownstone I decide to sign the lease for three months (yes, they have leases for parking spots in Boston). It feels a bit silly to rent a parking spot before I even have a car, but with the competitive market for parking in Boston, you have to make a move when you can.

After signing the contract, I rush to my Zipcar rental and make the drive out to Marlborough to test drive a couple of used cars. The dealership has a couple of good options and is a much less stressful experience than my last go at car shopping last weekend.

I get back  just in time for a couple of errands before my 5:15 pm meeting with Six Flags innovation group. After a couple of hours of group work I break for my Entrepreneurial Finance course. Due that night was my topic paper on 'non-traditional inventories in the service industry'. Among other subjects that night, we discuss our upcoming financial statements which are due next week (Yikes!).

Getting the star treatment - photo courtesy of Megan Pollock/Chris Navin

Wednesday morning I'm up early to rush to the doctor for a  9:15 am appointment before meeting my former boss for the drive out to Waltham. What's in Waltham, you ask? Why, my photo shoot for Northeastern's new ad campaign of course! We make the drive out to Christopher Navin's impressive studio and spend the next couple of hours shooting professional poses that even include costume changes (I feel so fancy!). It was a really cool experience and I look forward to seeing the actual ad in April.

I get back to campus with just enough time to steal some slices of pizza from the grad lounge for our traditional third Wednesday pizza parties before my Innovation and Enterprise Growth class at 1:45 pm.

Noche for Restaurant Week

After class I manage to keep my focus for a couple of hours of homework before I meet up with two friends for my first Restaurant Week session of the year! On tonight's menu: Noche. I am happy to say it did not disappoint! In fact, despite it's a little over-the-top club feel, the latin-inspired food is just the right amount of spicy. I get the lobster and shrimp enchiladas for my appetizer, the Diablo chicken with corn bread stuffing as my entree and an amazing platter of fresh churros with dulce de leche dipping sauce for dessert. All of this deliciousness for $33.12 because of restaurant week. Does it get any better? 

Thursday starts with some major work on my forecasting assignment for New Product Development. We have been tasked with forecasting the potential demand for a new pizza product by TruEarth (a company focused on healthy food alternatives). Since I'm having some trouble figuring out some of the required numbers, I drop by my professor's office hours hoping she can provide some guidance. While I'm grateful for her suggestions, they mean reworking almost all of my formulas. Ugh!

After reworking the assignment for what feels like hours I have to break for a focus group I'm participating in at Dodge Hall. My former boss has asked members of the first-year Graduate Marketing Club to assist in suggestions for re-designing our Full-Time MBA brochure. The session generates lots of interesting insights that will make our new brochure even more helpful to prospective students.

Friday morning I'm up early for a guest lecture during a make up class for Global Management. Our visitor for the session is Stacie Berdan, an expert in international careers. The lecture is super informative and it is very impressive to hear about the 50 countries that Ms. Berdan has lived and worked in during her career (talk about being a jet-setter!).

After the two hour lecture, I meet up with my Market Entry team to work on our project. During the next couple of hours we manage to divide up the remaining portions of our paper and finalize the company we are going to use for entering Hong Kong (hint: it's HauteLook, Inc.)

After that session, it's on to another group meeting, this time for my Brand and Advertising Management project on Henniker Brewing Company.

After that wraps up, I have just enough time to finish and submit my one-page write-up on Ms. Berdan's lecture and clean my apartment before Nick arrives for the weekend.

When the boyfriend gets here we, of course, make a beeline to New York Pizza, followed by drinks at Parish Cafe (I'm really enjoying this routine!).

Saturday morning I'm up early for my first "Persuasive Communication with B2B Customers" class. I'm happy to say that I really like it and am glad to have a fellow student in the class with me. I'm particularly impressed with how well the professor can keep the class's attention for the four-hour period.

On top of my good class, I love that Nick meets me outside Dodge for our brunch date (I could get used to him being here on the weekends!). We head to one of our faves (The Other Side) for our requisite juevos rancheros and Tex Mex tango platters. Yum!

After that we hop in Nick's rental car and drive out to another car dealership for some more car shopping. Nick and I spend several hours at Ira Nissan test driving cars and meeting with sales representatives. While I don't leave with a car that day, I do leave with a signed agreement from the dealer to bring a car from another location for me (and it's the exact one I wanted!). Hooray! It's such a relief to have this handled with just a week to spare before work begins.

After a successful shopping session, Nick and I head back to Boston, watch some movies and relax.

Brunch at Eastern Standard

Sunday Nick and I make our way to Eastern Standard for brunch. Their brisket hash and sweet bread basket are just what I wanted. Unfortunately, Nick soon has to leave to drive back to Montreal and I'm left with a 2:30 pm meeting for my Innovation and Enterprise Growth team.

I spend the remainder of my weekend with the group, working through our heuristics, assigning innovations to each person to write up and working out the correct balance of our portfolio of innovations.


*The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Northeastern University, Ocean Spray Cranberries, either entity's staff or affiliates.

My Second St. Patrick's Day in Boston

A trio of Irish items

Tenth Week of Class
(March 12-18)

Well friends, while spring break was amazing, it's back to the grindstone and with my recent hire I have much to do to prepare!

In true MBA form, I start my Monday back from spring break running. I'm at Dodge Hall at 8:30 am to help during an admitted students event. I always enjoy helping out at these gatherings, talking to prospective students and giving them an idea of what life at Northeastern is like. I was particularly happy to be seated next to several liberal/fine arts majors like myself! It nice to show them that, even without a business undergraduate degree, you can thrive in an MBA program.

On a personal note, it was so amazing to get such great support from the Northeastern administration when they learned of my recent job offer at Ocean Spray Cranberries. It always impresses me how much this school really seems to care about me and how happy they are for my successes. 

After a brief breakfast, I leave the admits to their information session and steal a room in the Career Center to call Ocean Spray and officially accept their offer of employment. I discuss start dates with the Human Resources representative and am very grateful when they agree to give me three weeks to get ready before starting part-time. I will commence full-time employment on May 7th. This means I have a TON to do in three weeks (read: buy my first car, secure car insurance, a parking spot, etc.). Phew! It also means that I better do as many class assignments as possible before my start date, since once work commences I will have less time to work on my projects.

I then make sure to call the other employer that I had interviewed with for a temporary assignment and let them know of my decision. They are very kind and wish me the best in my new career (how cool does it sound to say that? career).

Once I get off the phone I head to, where else, the library to start on that goal of getting work done early. I have an optional case write-up due tonight (we can pick one of three to complete for the remainder of the semester) but since this is the first one due, I opt to finish it right away so I don't have to worry about any more case write-ups for Brand and Advertising Management.

After a couple of hours of work, I head back to Dodge Hall for lunch with the admitted students. I truly enjoy chatting with them and am happy to hear that some of them have already confirmed their enrollment. It's weird to think that I will have graduated before the Class of 2014 even starts.

Once I finish up my sandwich I rush off to Global Management where we discuss the issues German-based Volkswagen faced with trying to implement new supplier information management software in Japan.

After class I head back to my second home (Snell Library) and put the finishing touches on my Brand & Advertising case write-up. I had to determine which of four new ad campaigns Pepsi-Lipton should be used for a multimillion dollar Super Bowl spot. I hit submit around 7:00 pm that night (just in time for class!).

When I get out of class, I head to the library (yes at 9:30 pm) to send off my signed offer letter to Ocean Spray. When I get home close to 11:00 pm that night I spend a little time researching potential car options before passing out, tired but content with my day.

Tuesday morning I head into work at my normal time. My boss expresses how happy she is about my new career path and tells me that I don't have to come into work anymore if I don't want to. I'm very grateful to have the extra 15 hours a week to work on homework, search for a car and generally prepare for my new job. I still stay for the rest of my day and tie up loose ends, finish up some assignments and bid farewell to the marketing department *sniff*.

After work, I head to the library and receive an e-mail from a professor at Northeastern who teaches "Design Thinking for Market Driven Innovation". You see, since I will be working full-time during the summer, while still taking classes at night, I wanted courses that started as late in the evening as possible (so as not to interfere with work). I was given the option by my academic adviser to petition this course to count as a marketing elective since it starts at 7:30 pm. The professor offers to meet up and has sent me the course syllabus to give me an idea of the class content. It sounds like a great class, and one that could draw upon my past experience designing newspapers.

I also get an e-mail from my lovely executive mentor congratulating me on my new job. I am truly overwhelmed with all of the support I've received lately.

At 7:30 pm I head to Entrepreneurial Finance where we get back our business plans that we submitted before Spring Break. I am so happy to see that A- scrolled across the bottom of the last page! Among other things, we also start to discuss our next deliverable for the business plan: the dreaded financial statements. Yikes! We are tasked with creating three years of pro-forma financial statements for our company (including income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements).

Wednesday is a busy day! I spend my morning looking for cars, figuring out financing, and doing homework. I break at 12:00 pm for the second session of the Career Center's job search series. While I already have a job, I still think it's important to take advantage of every opportunity to learn. This session on case interviews is particularly interesting to me since I've encountered those tough questions more than once in interviews. The session is great and the Career Center even hands out free case interview books. Sweet! (super dork alert).

As soon as the session lets out it's right to Innovation and Enterprise Growth where we discuss, among other things, our impending innovation project. While my group has spent considerable time generating innovative ideas for Six Flags amusement parks, we have, thus far, done little in terms of analyzing and refining them. The project is 40% of our grade so we better get going....

After class lets out, I have just enough time to grab some dinner before a group meeting with my Brand and Advertising team to work on our consulting project for start-up brewery, Henniker Brewery Company.  After getting several of our tasks in order, we all head to our make-up class. I will say, while I understand the reasoning behind all of our make-up classes, that doesn't make them any less difficult to cram into my busy schedule.

Thursday I wake up and head to the library. I will say, it's odd not to be heading into work this morning but I am happy to have the spare time to work on my Financial Modeling with Excel assignment due this Saturday (I admit, I haven't even looked at it yet). I meet up with a classmate who has also been afflicted with 'Saturdayclassitis' due to an early-start job and we do our best to utilize all of the snazzy formulas we learned from two weeks ago to completed the deliverable.

After that, we move on to preparations for our New Product Development class. Sometime during those hours of work, I get an e-mail from my former boss asking if I'd like to be featured in Northeastern University's new print ad in a GMAT test prep newsletter. She says I will have my photograph professionally taken and a short blurb written about my time at Northeastern. I'm honored and a bit abashed about accepting. I tell her I will first have to get permissions from current and former employers but that I'd be happy to help. Who would have thought that my MBA program would involve so many professional photo sessions (first Boston Business Journal and now this!)?

In New Product Development tonight we discuss the results of the Zaarly survey we designed (and that a student and I edited/created!). The results are interesting and we got enough respondents (roughly 120) so that we could use statistical software to analyze correlations, etc. 

There is no rest for the weary as I wake up bright and early Friday morning for a team meeting with my Global Management group to work on our market entry project. We secure a room in Snell and work away from 9:30 am to about 12:30 pm.

After our meeting I do some more individual work and call to inquire about some listings on a parking spot for my yet-to-be-purchased car before heading downtown for my drug test for my new job.

When I get home I have just enough time to clean up my apartment before my boyfriend arrives in town for the weekend. I'm super excited that he will be here for his first ever Boston St. Patrick's Day!

Once he arrives we do our ritual rounds to New York Pizza and Parish Cafe before heading to bed early (remember, I have class at 8:00 am tomorrow morning).

Saturday I begrudgingly get up at 6:45 am and grab my Dunkin' Donuts coffee on the way to my second, and final, 'Financial Modeling and Analysis with Excel' class. I managed to submit my assignment in time and try to take copious notes on all of the great shortcuts the professor provides.

Lansdowne Pub - already busy at 2:00 pm!

At 1:00 pm I head outside to meet Nick for the start of our St. Patrick's Day festivities. We walk to The Lansdowne Pub in Fenway to meet up with a friend of mine for a traditional Irish breakfast. Despite the nearly hour-long wait, we all agree the live music by Dublin Free Press and hearty breakfast paired with Guinness were well worth the wait. All the energy at the pub and around the city makes me realize that there is really nowhere else in the United States I'd rather be for this holiday than Boston.

Our Irish-themed cupcake duo from Sweet

Nick and I part ways with my friend (for now) and head to Sweet for some Irish-themed cupcakes. Fortunately for us they are featuring Irish coffee and a Guinness/Bailey's flavored cupcakes today.

After stuffing ourselves even more, Nick and decide that a relaxing movie is in order. We hop over to Regal Fenway for an afternoon showing of 21 Jump Street.

Amazing BBQ at Sweet Cheeks

Since Nick and I haven't eaten enough for the day, we meet up with my friend again for dinner at Sweet Cheeks. The three of us devour an amazing dinner of hush puppies, homestyle mac n' cheese and pulled pork sandwiches piled high on grilled Texas toast that would put all other sandwiches to shame. Plus, I simply adore that my beverage was served in a mason jar.

After we've had more than enough BBQd meats to last a lifetime, the three of us head to An Tua Nua in Fenway for some more St. Paddy's Day festivities. We snag a window seat and enjoy some Irish beverages, fun music and each others company.

Sunday morning Nick and I are up early to go visit a couple of car dealerships. Alas, despite stopping by two separate locations, we strike out. I get a bit frustrated and nervous that I will have to deal with slimy car salesmen throughout this whole process. Ugh! I had really hoped to get a car this weekend.

After several hours of frustrated car shopping, Nick heads back to Montreal and I head the library to hit the books.  At least  I can take comfort in the fact that my second St. Patrick's Day in Boston was even better than the first!

*The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Northeastern University, Ocean Spray Cranberries, either entities' staff or affiliates.

The Job Offer

Hearst Castle's famed pool

 Ninth Week of Semester
(March 2 - 11)

So...Spring Break was supposed to be relaxing. Yeah, I should have known it would be hectic! Luckily, it's hectically filled with tons of visits with family, friends and, oh yeah, lots of food!

On Saturday morning I stop by say my old house to say "hi" to my Dad and pick up the monster truck I will be driving for the next week (only a slight exaggeration).

After that, Nick and I grab lunch at Sea Casa for some long overdue Mexican food before stopping by his parent's house for a quick visit.

Chipotle Battered Tiger Shrimp at The Cave

 That night, we meet up with some of our friends for dinner at Ventura Wine Co.'s restaurant and wine tasting bar, The Cave. We partake in the fun wine sampling machines and indulge in the restaurant's equally amazing food. I get the chipotle battered tiger shrimp and a delicious Caesar salad.

Keeping it classy at Golf N' Stuff

Our amazing dinner is followed up with, what else, mini golf! The four of us have a blast in the uber-kitchy Golf N' Stuff. What a great night!

Sunday is a relaxing day. After lounging around for most of the day and fitting in a few bits of homework, Nick and I head over to dinner with my family at my Stepmom's house, along with Tivo'd episodes of Saturday Night Live.

On Monday I wake up early to go shopping for groceries and get my cooking on! You see, I have fallen victim to that disease known as Pinterest and have wanted to cook tons of things on the site for months. Alas, as we know, my micro studio does not have an oven and so I want to take advantage of my boyfriend's large kitchen.

A picture of the ACTUAL Mexican shells I made. Please, hold your applause.

First up: Mexican stuffed shells! They turn out pretty well considering I usually can barely microwave my dinner. When Nick gets home for lunch I serve them up and get his seal of approval. Look who's miss Suzy homemaker over here! When he returns to work I head off to meet an old friend from an art history class I took years ago.

My friend and I chat, grab coffee and stop by another of our friend's home to visit her new baby.

Katrina: Master Chef

When I get home that night I decide I simply must bake a cake from a Pinterest recipe (see, I told you; It's a disease). I spend more than two hours coloring cake layers in different shades of pink. This was also a great success. Note my makeshift piping from a plastic bag.

Tuesday I'm up early again (what's with the no sleeping in?!) and make the drive to Pasadena to see one of my best friends from High School (can you believe it's been 8 years since I graduated High School?). She's living in So-cal now and in her second year of Law school so we completely commiserate with one another on the stresses of school, looking for a job and those hefty student loans. We spend the whole day chatting, getting pastries and coffee at Euro Pane Bakery and watching episodes of Gossip Girl (don't judge) before joining her boyfriend for a late lunch at Daikokuya, a famed noodle house in Monterrey Park.

I don't leave my friend's apartment until 7:30 pm that night and head straight to Orange County to meet my Mom. After arriving at my Mom's house in Costa Mesa, I'm exhausted so I don't last long  before falling asleep at 9:30pm.

More pictures of food...

 The next morning (Wednesday) I get up early for brunch at one of my favorite Orange County restaurants: Plums. I order up a new item from the menu, a chocolate waffle topped with bananas, salted caramel, toasted hazelnuts and an abundance of whipped cream. You know, just a light meal to start the day.

After that my Mom and I watch Hugo at home, shop at TJ Maxx, take a nap and go to my favorite restaurant of all time: Wahoo's Fish Tacos. The place of wonders (my soul food) is home to my #1 Shrimp Taco Combo and total gastronomic happiness.

I leave Orange County at 5:30pm for dinner with my University of Washington friend who I studied with in Rome. We meet up at Manhattan Beach Post in Manhattan Beach for drinks and their amazing cuisine (see, I told you that I would eat my way across Southern California).

Thursday morning I get up early to prepare for my phone interview with the employer interested in placing me in a co-op/temporary position at their firm. The interview goes well (I think/hope) and the position sound very interesting! Plus, a classmate of mine is currently on co-op in this same position and I know everyone working there loves it. I'll keep you posted on what comes of this potential opportunity.

After I get off the phone I meet my Stepmom for lunch at Sharky's for more Mexican food (gotta make up for lost time!) and catching up on the past several months. I can't believe I haven't been home since September.

After lunch we grab a coffee at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and she leaves me to my hours of homework. Ugh! I suppose it was unavoidable...I plug away at it for the next 5 hours before meeting my Dad for dinner.

We meet up at The Oaks shopping center (the 'hub' of tiny Westlake Village) for some Japanese food at Buddha's Belly (one of my Dad's faves). We catch up for more than two hours and I fill him in on my job search, school, etc.

On Friday I'm up early to work on some more homework while Nick is as work. I try to get as much done as possible before he gets home around 11:00am for our mini-vacation to Cambria and Hearst Castle.

When he gets home we grabs our bags and spend the next four hours driving up the coast, taking in the beautiful scenery, grabbing lunch at Dukes in Ventura and ice cream at Doc Burnstein's Ice Cream Lab in Arroyo Grande.

However, all that California coastline takes a backseat to the news I receive at 4:00 pm that afternoon.....DRUM ROLL PLEASE....I, Katrina Graves, receive a job offer for an Assistant Marketing Manager position at the company I have been interviewing with for the past month! In verifiable shock it's all I can do to gather the necessary information and thank the HR representative who translated the great news to me.

After I get off the phone I just look at Nick with my mouth agape. I honestly cannot believe it. How did I, the girl who applied to what felt like hundreds of co-op positions, get a job this early in the game? I spend the next several hours shivering in excitement, crying and smiling like a crazed person. I can't believe how lucky I am! The position is amazing and I am so excited to be working for a  consumer goods company (and one in the Boston area at that!). I literally got everything I could have asked for in this job and more.

That night, after Nick and I check into Pelican Inn & Suites, we have a celebratory walk on the beach for sunset and dinner at The Black Cat Bistro.

Only slightly larger than my studio

On Saturday, Nick and I are up early for breakfast and our 10:00 am tour of Hearst Castle. We take the 20-minute ride up the hillside to the palatial estate. It was a truly impressive home and the weather couldn't have been better. So happy I finally got to visit this historic site.

Gorgeous indoor pools at Hearst Castle

After our tour, Nick and I make the four-hour drive home just in time for dinner at Mastro's with his parents where I indulge in my favorite restaurant dessert of all time: butter cake.

Sunday is a LONG day of travel, cancelled flights and horrible customer service at United Airlines (like, seriously horrible). I finally manage to make it home around midnight that night. What a hectic end to an eventful spring break.

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

A Glorious Leap Day

Eighth Week of Class
(February 27-March 2)

Monday morning I spend working on my business plan for Entrepreneurial Finance and my India country update for Global Management due later today. I also stop by my Finance professor's office to clarify some things regarding my business plan report. Unfortunately, I leave feeling like he wants an even more in-depth outline of costs than I initially prepared. Ugh!

I plug along on my assignments until 1:00 pm when the rest of my Country Update team joins me for 45 minutes of practicing our presentation. In our Global Management course, teams were each assigned a different country to present throughout the semester. The country presented on any given week is directly correlated to the case discussion for the day. Our case today was on Nokia (a Finnish company) and a crisis management situation they had in India.

Some photos from my India presentation

Our presentation goes quite well and I think people enjoy the personal touch gained by incorporating my own travel photos of India taken during my International Field Study trip last May.

In Brand & Advertising Management tonight our class is structured around a group discussion of individual team projects. These semester-long projects entail each group analyzing a company and working to either re-brand or create a new brand for them. My group has been fortunate enough to be working with an actual company (a Brewery in New Hampshire) as they develop their brand and get ready for a summer launch. How exciting is that? We might actually have a significant impact on the development of a brand! Anyway, the discussion goes quite well and we get lots of valuable feedback from the class, particularly related to the brewery's logos.

Tuesday I'm at the library by 8:00 am, working non-stop on my business plan for Entrepreneurial Finance. I've developed an idea for an online travel service that would allow the independent traveler all the convenience of a planned tour, without having to join a large group or be restricted by a tour operators pre-planned itineraries. While it's a ton of work I actually enjoy the process and before I know it I'm encroaching on the 15-page mark (and this is just part one of the project!). Later I will have to develop complete financial statements for the  company. Yeah, I'm more than a little nervous about that part.

I break at 11:30 am for work, followed by my Finance class that night at 7:30 pm where I submit what turned out to be an 18-page business plan.

Leap Day snow!

Happy Leap Day! Wednesday is the first semi-relaxed day I've had in weeks. I get up at the leisurely hour of 7:30 am and spend my morning doing some homework, getting a manicure, paying bills and generally do all of those 'house keeping' items that I've been just too darn busy for lately. Plus, Boston gets some Leap Day snow. Hooray!

On Wednesday I was also supposed to have my second class of the Career Center job search series, this one titled "Harnessing the Power of LinkedIn". Unfortunately, it was cancelled due to lack of interest. Luckily for me, my career adviser sent me the presentation slides so I still feel like I got some nice insight into the topic.

At 1:45 pm I head to campus for a meeting with my Innovation & Enterprise Growth team and our professor. Our professor has cancelled class for the day so that each innovation team can have one-on-one time with him to discuss our projects. My team is working on generating innovative solutions for Six Flags amusement parks. We spend our 20-minute session going over our nearly two dozen ideas with our professor. He gives us some great insight and helps us to reduce our idea list to the most plausible options.

After the meeting, I go to CVS, get a haircut and start to pack for my spring break trip to California. As if I wasn't feeling accomplished enough, I even manage to submit my Brand & Advertising case-write up on the stylistic properties of advertisements with a whole day to spare (that hasn't happened nearly all semester!).

I close the night by chatting with a prospective student about Northeastern's MBA program, scheduling numerous lunch dates with friends for when I'm home in California, watching Netflix and chatting with the boyfriend. What a glorious Leap Day!

Thursday I'm up early for my full work day. I manage to edit several employer interview videos before my New Product Development class at 5:20 pm.

We spend the two hours of class learning about Zaarly, a new company that allows local buyers and sellers to post and fulfill requests for anything from a new sofa to daycare services. The class then develops an actual survey to be sent out to our friends and family during spring break. We will even analyze the results when we return to class in two weeks. Fun!

Also, in an interesting turn of events, I get a call from a Northeastern co-op employer asking if I would be interested in a co-op at their company from June to December of this year. This provides some interesting issues. Since I would already have graduated by August, I would not be allowed to do a co-op per se, but could work as a temporary employee for the six months. I agree to to call tomorrow to further discuss the opportunity.

Just minutes before getting kicked off the plane....

Friday is the official start of spring break! I breath a huge sigh of relief. I get up early to pack, clean the apartment and take care of incidentals before my 1:51 pm flight. Alas, what started as a 1:51 pm flight quickly turns into a much later one. You see, after boarding the plane the airline representatives come on board and ask for two people to get off the plane because of weight limits! What!? This has never happened to me before. When it was obvious no one would volunteer, and with my already narrow connection time getting smaller, I volunteer to take a later flight in exchange for a travel voucher. When all is said and done it takes me roughly 12 hours to get to California. Ugh.

In between all that waiting around, I get an e-mail from the company I'm interviewing with saying they will have a decision to me by next Friday! This anticipation is killing me! Fortunately, I have spring break to distract me (I hope).

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

Beta Gamma Sigma, Saturday Classes and a Whole Bunch of Homework

Seventh Week of Class 
(February 20-26)

Because of the President's Day holiday, my school week starts on Tuesday and what a Tuesday it is! I'm up early to prepare for my phone interview with the Director of Marketing at the company I am interviewing at. We chat for about half an hour. I think/hope it went well and am told to expect a follow-up from Human Resources soon.

After my phone call I review a ton of new information from Henniker Brewing Company, the start-up brewery that my team is developing a marketing plan for as part of our Brand and Advertising class. My teammates all went up to New Hampshire to visit the company while I was in Montreal so now I have to catch up by reading floor plans, marketing materials, etc. You can read an article about the brewery here.

Unfortunately, I don't have too much time for catching up before heading to work until 4:30 pm.

After work it's dinner and off to Entrepreneurial Finance where we discuss the first major deliverable of our business plan. The market and product portion of the paper is due next week. Yikes. No more putting that hefty assignment off...

Luckily, that evening I get a nice little e-mail regarding my Living Document 3. Apparently my Critical Skills Development professor really liked my paper and asked if he could use it as a sample for future classes. I'm thrilled and would normally have jumped at the opportunity, however, I didn't feel comfortable enough with the sanitized document to ensure that all names, companies, etc. were completely anonymous so I had to decline. Still, I assume this means I got a good grade so I'm happy.

Wednesday morning I get an e-mail from my New Product Development asking for a formal SWOT analysis (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threats) for our case on Orange Read & Go, a European e-reader. Not one to pass up the opportunity for a grade buffer I resolve to fit that in somehow, somewhere before tomorrow's class.

In my Innovation & Enterprise Growth class later that day I get a call from a number I recognize as coming from the employer I'm interviewing with. It's all I can do to wait until class lets out and rush out of the room to listen to the message. It is from an HR representative asking if I would be interested in interviewing for a second, different, position in addition to the original one I am interviewing for. I call back but, alas, just miss her as she has left for the day. I'm pretty much jitters and useless for the rest of the day.

But, I have to meet with a teammate from my Brand & Advertising Management class immediately after to get the in-person run-down on how the team's visit to Henniker Brewing Company went over the weekend while I was away.

After I'm all caught up I grab some food and head to my Brand & Advertising Management make-up class being held at 7:30 pm tonight to make up for the Monday holiday. It's quite fun to be in smaller class size (only about half the class attending this make-up session) and discuss ad campaigns and their hidden meanings. I feel like I'm back in undergrad analyzing the visual rhetoric of films for my Cinema Studies major. Fun! Plus, we get to critique an Absolut Vodka ad shot by David LaChapelle, a photographer I love for his vibrant use of color and insanely over-the-top sets.

On Thursday, while at work, I get a call back from the company I'm interviewing with. The HR representative and I manage to schedule another interview with a Marketing Manager for tomorrow morning. Fortunately, they were very generous in allowing me to interview in Boston at a nearby Starbucks so that I didn't have to rent a car and drive to their office.

The rest of the day at work is spent in anticipation of my interview tomorrow. I also try and consult with my academic adviser about registering for Saturday classes. You see, to even be able to take the second position I'm being considered for would mean I have to start work full-time before graduation. This means I have to cram in an extra three credits before summer. In order to do that I'm looking at enrolling in three separate Saturday courses, each worth one credit. While the prospect of waking up for an 8:00 am class on Saturday and sitting in class for four hours is not thrilling, it will be totally worth it if I get the job.

I end up enrolling in Financial Analysis and Modeling with Excel.  I'm still debating on what the other two courses will be. I'm looking at Persuasive Communication with B2B Customers and Financial Statement Analysis but have not yet committed to them.My first class is this Saturday! Yikes!

At 5:20 pm I head to my New Product Development class where I hand in my extra credit SWOT Analysis and we discuss whether Orange's Read & Go e-reader is a good product to enter the market with.

Normally I would have Spanish after class  but tonight I am delinquent and ditch in favor of a Brand and Advertising Management group meeting at Panera. We spend the next several hours pouring over our Henniker Brewing Company paper until we are eventually kicked out of Panera at store close.

I get home well past 10:00 pm but a sliver of cheer awaits me in the mailbox: my acceptance into Beta Gamma Sigma, a business honor society for those in the top 20% of their MBA class! It was a personal goal of mine to make it into this society since day one of the program and I'm so happy to see that large envelope in the mail.

Friday I'm up early and dressed in my business best for my interview. I meet the Marketing Manager at a Starbucks in the South End. She tells me about the position and asks me some interview questions. The position sounds amazing and they would be looking for me to start as soon as possible! I'm so excited and can't wait to hear the final verdict next week.

After the interview I'm back home to change into 'library clothes' and hit Snell for several hours before my 2:30 pm meeting with my Brand & Advertising Management team. We spend a solid amount of time editing our paper and laying out some PowerPoint slides.

So...yeah, I have class on Saturday morning's now. I am taking three, one-credit Saturday classes (each two sessions long) instead of one of my three credit electives in an effort to finish coursework earlier.The first two weekends are for Financial Analysis and Modeling with Excel. While the class is quite long (8:00 am-1:00 pm) I actually find it very helpful. In fact, I wish I'd taken this course sooner!

After class lets out at 1:00 pm I manage to grab some food from the Currey Student Center and rush back to the grad lounge to meet up with my Innovation & Enterprise Growth team to work on our innovation project on Six Flags amusement parks. We complete our innovation heuristics (a fancy title for a matrix used to grade business ideas). I'm pretty impressed with how fast we get through the two heuristics and welcome leaving campus at 2:30 pm, though the homework awaiting me at home is not welcome at all....

Sunday I get up at 7:00 am specifically for the purpose of doing laundry; if that's not pathetic I don't know what is! I even read a case while waiting for the dry cycle to end. *le sigh*

As soon as I'm done with that it's off to my second home, the library, for several hours of work. I chip away at a Brand and Advertising Management assignment requiring me to analyze three ad campaigns for beer companies, my Entrepreneurial Finance business plan, slides for my presentation on India for Global Management, etc., etc., etc.

At 6:00 pm I meet up with my mentee at Espresso Royal to see how she's been doing since the Career Fair. I'm happy to hear that she has secured a corporate residency at Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare! I'm so stoked for her to have snagged such a great company for her residency and so early in the game.

When I get home that night around 8:30 pm, I somehow manage to sneak in some Academy Awards viewing with the boyfriend over the phone (the joys of a long-distance relationship) though he creams me in our Oscar ballot competition.

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

The Executive Mentor Panel

Sixth Week of Class
(February 13-19)

Monday I'm back at the library early working on miscellaneous homework assignments before meeting my Global Management team to practice our presentation. As you might recall, my team has been tasked with analyzing the business opportunities/risks of a U.S.-based members-only retailer entering one of three countries (France, Spain or Hong Kong). Since we are going first and presenting in front of a panel of judges, we definitely want to make this good!

Overall, I think the presentation went well. We seemed to cover all of the critical aspects of our decision while staying within the strict 10-slide maximum. We even managed to find a broadcast news story that supported our decision to enter Hong Kong.

In between that class and my Brand & Advertising Management course I grab some dinner at Au Bon Pain with my team and then take over a study room in Snell Library to work on my elevator speech for Entrepreneurial Finance.

In Brand & Advertising Management we go over the Mountain Dew case, watch some fun commercials and review upcoming make-up classes. Unfortunately, due to the plethora of Monday holidays this semester we have to make up all of our missed Brand & Advertising classes at other times.

When I get home it's back to homework before hitting the hay at midnight

My lovely orchid

Tuesday is Valentine's Day! And how does an MBA student celebrate this most mushy of holidays? Why in the library, work and class of course! I get in some solid reading of my Finance textbook and Innovation book (I admit, I'm a bit behind...) before heading to work. Luckily, I have a nice little surprise to cheer me up: a gorgeous Phalaenopsis orchid from my boyfriend!

After work I have a few hours to kill before Finance so I further refine my elevator speech and begin work on my New Product Development assignment which is due Thursday. The assignment requires me to interview a wine drinker about a revolutionary new wine bottle closure called the MetaCork (I can think of more than a few people who fit this bill).

These didn't last long...

I get home late, but fortunately, there's a fun little surprise from my family waiting for me: Sour Hearts from See's Candies. Thank goodness for Valentine's Day to make an otherwise long day a little more cheerful.

Wednesday I have an early morning doctor's appointment followed by the first class of the Career Center's series focusing on our impending job search. At 12:00 pm I head to Ell Hall for some free pizza and an overview of 'Launching My Job Search Strategy'.  It's quite informative and I enjoy the more casual, discussion-based feel. The class also really sets a fire under me to to start properly mapping out my job search plan.

We finish with just enough time for me to hop over to Dodge Hall for Innovation & Enterprise Growth at 1:45 pm.

After class lets out I have some time to finish up my MetaCork case write-up and contribute some innovation ideas to my Six Flags Amusement Park Google document.

Thursday at work I get to be part of a webinar on the Full-Time MBA program! I'm so excited! I spend an hour helping explain to participants what Northeastern University has done for me and how awesome the program structure and offerings are.

After work I have New Product Development where we discuss the MetaCork case which outlines a revolutionary new way to seal and open wine bottles. Our assignment for the day involved interviewing a wine drinker on how they perceive the MetaCork. It was interesting to hear how a seemingly 'great' product was so ill-received by the people we interviewed and the market in general. The class provided proof of how important focus groups and research with prototypes is. Gardner Technologies, the maker of the MetaCork, could have saved millions of dollars by doing the proper market research before launch.

Friday morning is off to a hectic start as I finish packing, head to Budget car rental by the airport and rush back to campus in time for the Executive Mentor Panel at 10:30 am. I was so happy to be invited to participate in the panel and am glad to share the amazing mentor/mentee relationship I have. It was also great to see the large turnout of second year students, alumni and their respective mentors. How cool that some of the Northeastern MBA alums are still in contact with their executive mentors several years after graduation!

After the Mentor Panel gets out at 11:30 am I hop in my rental car and make the six-hour drive to Montreal to visit Nick. I've been so lucky that he was designated the contact for his company's Montreal project. I get to see him twice as much as I did during my first year of the program.

I make it to Montreal in record time (less than six hours!) and am able to give Nick some belated Valentine's Day chocolate that I purchased during my Taza Chocolate Factory tour a few weeks back. After we devour the vanilla and rose flavored chocolate disk and dark chocolate cherry bar we head to the hotel bar for some drinks and then an early bedtime.

Breakfast poutine at Faberge. It was even better than it looks!

Saturday is Nick and I's make-up Valentine's Day. We start out with an amazing brunch at Faberge where we both agree they make the best hollandaise sauce ever.

Habitat 67. I die!

We follow our meal up with a visit to Habitat 67, a famous apartment building built for the Expo of 1967 by architect Moshe Safdie. After learning about it in a modern art history class several years ago I've always wanted to see it in person.

Next, Nick and I head to the Montreal Science Centre and have fun tinkering with all of the exhibits amidst swarms of young children. We also take in an IMAX movie on tornadoes. Nick has endless amounts of fun teasing me about how 'into it' I was. I'm terrified of twisters so the movie was just fascinating to me.

Moody lighting at Stash Cafe

After the movie we have a Valentine's Day dinner at Stash Cafe, a Polish restaurant in Old Montreal. There we gorged ourselves on a ton of amazing food including placki, peirogis and more.

Sunday is our 'relaxing day'. We watch movies, get dinner at a nice Italian restaurant called Portovino and relax. I also make sure to call my Dad on Skype for his birthday! I love Skype for making international calls free.

Monday is President's Day and I have the day off from school so after breakfast at the hotel I see Nick off to work and make the drive home.  I make such good time that I even manage to meet my Six Flags Amusement Park group at 5:00 pm that night to work on our Innovation & Enterprise Growth project.

Now, I shall end this post with an interesting turn of events. Monday afternoon I get a call from the company I have been interviewing with. My stomach turns as I imagine it must be some big news (whether good or bad news, I can't tell). Instead, it was the company asking if I would mind interviewing with the Director Marketing tomorrow! Of course I said 'yes' but now I had to make sure to go home and prep like crazy. What could this mean? I'll keep you posted.

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

The Career Fair as a Second-Year

Fifth Week of Class
(February 6-12)

Monday starts off with some early morning case work on Red Lobster, reading for Innovation and Enterprise Growth (I am, admittedly, a few chapters behind) and a 12:45 pm meeting with my Global Management team to work on a market entry paper and presentation which is due in just a week to a panel of judges!

While working on the content of our project, my Global Management group also finalizes some questions to ask two guest speakers visiting our Global Management course today. The speakers are international business consultants and will help guide us with our project.

Besides rubbing elbows with international business consultants in class, we also discuss a pretty fun case called the 'Ikaros Project' which involves an entrepreneur trying to set up hotel reservation kiosks in Greece. Any time I get to study travel and the tourism industry I'm happy.

In my spare time before Brand & Advertising Management I e-mail my former job references to forewarn them of my impending full-time job search. They all graciously agree to be listed. I also buy some snazzy resume paper to print my updated resumes on for tomorrow's Career Fair.

In Brand & Advertising management we discuss the repositioning of Red Lobster, paying particular attention to whether or not a rebranding strategy to position the restaurant as 'upscale' would even work.

Tuesday morning starts out at work for a few hours but come 11:30 am it's time to get my suite out and resume ready because it's the Career Fair! While decidedly less exciting than last year when I was a first-year undergoing co-op interviews, the event is still a perfect place to reconnect with employers and hand out my resume. It's also a blast because GE Aviation is there so I get to catch up with my old co-workers.

After the fair I head back to work to complete my hours for the day. In between work and Finance I head home, make dinner and send out a plethora of thank you notes to employers I spoke to at the fair.

In Entrepreneurial Finance tonight we get our case follow-up assignments for Marine Supply Company back and I get an A-! Woot! I'm stoked, particularly because I was sure I had messed up my numbers.

Later that evening I also receive an e-mail from my executive mentor introducing me to a friend of his who is considering the Northeastern Full-Time MBA program. I get super excited and offer to answer any questions he has. He also tells me that his friend might be able to make the mentor panel that my mentor and I will be on next Friday.

As has probably become apparent, even on my late start days I'm on campus early. Wednesday morning is no exception as I snag a spot in the grad lounge around 8:45 am and wait for my teammate to arrive to write our New Product Development company proposal. The assignment entails a new product development process audit of a firm. After racking our brains for a while, not satisfied with the access or scope of all the companies we've come up with, I suggest Northeastern University. Why not? They offer many majors and courses (products) and are constantly updating the curriculum, concentrations ,etc. Genius! We both agree this is a perfect company.

After we wrap up I head to a doctors appointment and sneak in some homework before heading back to the grad lounge for the MBA program's ritual second Wednesday pizza party. I love being back on campus and being able to take advantage of these fun, free food opportunities. As usual, the lounge is packed with students, faculty and staff. But this pizza lunch is a bit more lively as first years are all abuzz about their potential co-ops. Many have received offers already from yesterday's Career Fair and are trying to decide which to go with. How exciting! I definitely remember this time last year when my phone was glued to my hand as I anxiously awaited a decision.

After pizza I have Innovation & Enterprise Growth. In class we discuss the strategy of Panera Bread and how it can maintain its success as a mature product.

After class I do what I like to call 'interview reconnaissance work'. I stop by two convenience stores and a Shaw's to take note of the company I'm interviewing with's shelf space, placement, and product line. I even buy two types of their product to try out. When I get home I prepare some more, researching my interviewers, the company, competitive landscape and more.

I end the night with a case study detailing the innovation process of P&G versus Google.

Thursday is my long day. I get to work at 8:30 am and continue my research of competitor schools and the marketing materials they use. We're working on re-designing our Northeastern Full-Time MBA marketing collateral and so I've been tasked with scoping out the competition. It's amazing to see what technology has done for them! One school even has an interactive brochure with embedded videos! Crazy!

After work I have just enough time to scrounge around for food before my New Product Development class where we discuss the crowdsourcing phenomenon of generating innovations from outside the firm. P&G's Connect + Develop site is famous for gathering ideas from around the world and from sources as varied as large companies to individuals.

While I love my Spanish class through NUCalls, I'm glad when I get an e-mail this evening saying it's cancelled for the day. I will definitely use the extra time to work on my market entry scenario for Global Management and prep for my interview tomorrow! Eek!

Friday is the big day! I grab my Zipcar and make the 40-minute drive to my interview at the company's headquarters. I'm nervous, totally excited and more. The interviews last from 9:00 am-1:30 pm and I get to meet with five different people. Everyone is so nice and provides great insights into the company and why they love working there. I'm told to expect a decision next week. Keep you fingers crossed for me!

When I get back to the city around 3:00 pm you'd think I would just want to go to sleep, but alas, this is not in the cards for me. I head straight to campus, business suite and all, for four hours of work on my Global Management group project. We are preparing a report and presentation for Monday. We must determine which of three countries (Hong Kong, France or Spain) a U.S.-based members only online retailer should enter (say that five times fast!).

When I get home that night around 8:00pm all I want to do is eat dinner and plop down in front of Netflix.

Pumpkin Pie Pancakes at the Pour House

Saturday I'm up early to meet a friend for brunch at the Pour House. Apparently most places are only open for brunch on Sunday so our choices were a bit more limited. Luckily, it was awesome and super cheap (like $20 for both of our entrees, sides and drinks cheap). I, of course, opted for the most opulently sugary item they had: pumpkin pie pancakes which were nearly indiscernible beneath a blanket of whipped cream (yes!).

One of the Mountain Dew Campaigns I Analyzed

The rest of the day is spent at the library (a 5-hour stint) as I work on that Global Management project and a case write-up on Mountain Dew for my Brand & Advertising Management course.

Sunday is another long day at the library. After forcing myself to learn more about Mountain Dew than I ever thought possible, I reward myself with a little manicure before heading back home for more homework to close out the weekend

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