India or Bust!

After my three hour night I’m up early on Monday morning.  I head to the library to fine tune my Marketing case memo and Economics analysis before printing them.  The rest of the day I’m exhausted, counting down until class is over and I can head home for a nap (which I actually hate that I’m doing more of).  However, just as I’m getting ready to head home, I suck it up and join a group at the library to work on my accounting case.  Little did I know it would take me more than five hours to complete, even with all of us working together.  We try and confer with our classmates scattered around the library’s second floor, but it looks like everyone is having trouble.

By 6:30 pm we’re done and cross the street to Conor Larkin's Grill & Tap for some grub and a drink.  I am happy to say that I am sound asleep by 10:30 pm that night.

Tuesday I am a zombie! I think my several three-hour sleep stints are catching up to me.  A classmate even approaches to ask if I’m O.K.  Yes, I say, just the collateral damage of an MBA program.  After class I meet up with the Marketing Club to finalize our consulting group projects. I’m anxious to get the ball rolling on this. We have eight people on the Massachusetts Horticultural Society team.  I’m also in charge of the Club’s holiday party so I make an appointment to meet with our student activities advisor and confirm all of my event requests.  After the meeting I head home to start studying for the Accounting test on Thursday. I just keep telling myself that I’ll be home in two weeks…

On Wednesday, Information Resources is cancelled.  Thank goodness because my group still has a lot of work to do on our final presentation for the class on Friday; a presentation that will be made to the entire class (not just our Section).  After Marketing we head to the library for a few hours and meet with our Information Resources professor to get confirmation on our idea and that we are not totally heading in the wrong direction with it.  The assignment is to come up with a new way to digitize records. We’re thinking of digitizing the personal shopping experience.  The presentation is only five minutes long which, trust me, is worse than if we had 15 minutes, and a one page paper covering a slew of topics.  If there’s one thing business school is teaching me it is this: how to write concisely. 

By 2:00pm we call it quits to go home and study for our final Accounting test tomorrow.  I’m totally freaking out because I don’t feel as though I’ve followed along in class as well as the first half of the semester.  I guess we’ll see if I’m right tomorrow.  I force myself to sleep by 1:00 am.

I’m actually feeling pretty confident about the Accounting quiz by the time I leave class on Thursday, but I’ll let you know in a week how that goes…

Afterwards I meet with one of my learning teammates to work on our Information Resources paper.  We’re designing a mock newspaper with the title article being the launch of our new product: C.A.R.E (Customer and Relationship Enhancer), a digital platform that records all your shopping preferences and purchases to suggest outfits, styles and sizes that you, the shopper, might like.  I’m having a blast doing it and wish all papers were this fun.  It reminds me of the good old days designing newspapers during my journalism classes at the University of Washington.



Information Resources Presentation
Photo courtesy of Prashant Sable

Friday morning I’m up early to print our presentation slides and paper and e-mail everything out to our professor.  When we get into the presentation hall, with all 71 one of us, I notice that we have a panel of three judges from outside of our program that will evaluate our performance.  One is even from MIT.  Oh boy, this’ll be fun.

Surprisingly, my team places in the top 4 of 14 in our entire class! Plus, my professor LOVED our mock newspaper so I’m hoping this translates into a good grade.

To add to the good news, the official rosters for the International Field Studies were announced today and, drum roll please….I’ll be in India in exactly 5 months!!! Eeeek! I’m so excited! Now all that’s left to do is some trip planning.  Interestingly enough, we ended up getting at least 13 students to join the group.

That night is the MBA Connections holiday party at Market in the Financial District. I make my way over to a friend’s house to get ready before heading to the restaurant Church for some delicious cocktails and drinks.  The drink menu is so fun! They have a drink named after each of the seven deadly sins and a menu called “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”! I get a tequila-based beverage with agave nectar and strawberries called “Conquest”. Yum!



MBA Connections Holiday Party
Photo courtesy of Jennifer Mosely


We arrive at Market to a bunch of our classmates dressed up in cocktail dresses and button up shirts.  I spend the next several hours dancing and chatting with friends.  I even see my first Boston snowfall through the window! It’s only a flurry but I run outside in my chiffon dress in excitement.  I’m still waiting for the first time the snow sticks.

Saturday is perhaps my most indulgently lazy day the entire year.  I literally spend it sleeping, watching movies and relaxing.  I know I could be working on a lot of things, but I just don’t have it in me.

Sunday I spend on errands and working on our High Performance Organization paper (worth 15% of our grade in both Marketing and Human Resources).  Our High Performance Organization is DreamWorks Animation SKG and we have to analyze it in relation to the fact that Governments will have an increasing influence on how markets operate.  I also rent my first Zipcar! It’s a success and I manage to maneuver Target to pick up decorations for our Marketing Club holiday party on Wednesday.

Next week is our last week of class this semester. I can’t believe it; I’m a quarter of the way through my graduate program.

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

We Laugh in the Face of Sleep

On Monday it’s back to the grindstone. But, far from being refreshed from break, I return with a cold trailing close behind me.  But no time for that! Right away I hit the ground running.  Tomorrow my Living Document (LD1) paper is due and I’m only about 75% done.  While the writing portion looks solid, I know that entering all of my graphs and tables will consume hours.  After class, it’s straight home and on to that essay.  I’m up until midnight fine-tuning it, but finally, it’s done, coming in at a whopping 47 pages.

Tuesday I wake up early to get my Living Document bound at the copy center in the basement of Dodge Hall.  Staples will simply not suffice for that puppy.  It’s a whopper and I end up paying $25 for the color print job and binding.  The beginning of class that day is hilarious as my classmates and I all scramble to hand in the paper.  Our teacher stops us and says to wait until the end of the day.  What can only be described as despair spreads across our faces as we all just want this darned thing off our hands.

After class I head to work for a few hours, followed by a learning team meeting to hash out our Information Resources presentation on Cathay Pacific Airlines and their transition to outsourcing their data centers.  I’m pretty impressed with our ability to complete the project that afternoon.  I think we are all so exhausted from the LD1 that we just want to go home!

Even though I’m pooped, I stay up until midnight reviewing our presentation materials and slides and begin working on the hefty accounting case analysis due on Thursday that’s worth 10% of our grade.

Wednesday I get to school early today to turn in my International Field Study application! I’m so excited! In just 10 days I will know which of the four fabulous countries I will be visiting.  Just in case you forgot, my options are:

·         India

·         China

·         Russia

·         Argentina/Brazil

Cross your fingers for me that India gets enough people to sign up so it can actually run.  After dropping off the application I meet my group in the graduate business lounge for a dry run of our Information Resource presentation before heading to Marketing.

After class, despite my delirious state and increasingly severe cold, I dutifully stay on campus until 4:30 pm to work on the accounting case analysis that has us looking at direct cost and overhead variances for a bicycle production company.  That night I stay up later than I have the entire program to finish that same case.  I had severely underestimated just how much time it takes to transfer calculations from hand-written notes to Excel and then to Microsoft Word.  My formatting was butchered in every transition.  I finally call it a night a 3:30 am, eight pages of typed charts and calculations later. 

A mere three hours later it’s Thursday morning and I rush to print out and digitally submit my accounting assignment. 

After going through my morning in a surprisingly awake-in-a-delirious-sort-of-way state I grab a large gingerbread coffee from the Dunkin Donuts on campus and head to work.  After a power-nap, and despite my better judgment, I head out for drinks with some friends tonight.  It has been a crazy and FAST week and I just need a couple of hours to unwind. 

Also, it’s looking good for my India trip! After questioning most of the people in the program I believe I have 12 confirmed India travelers with me so far. Woohoo! I can’t wait to buy a sari and begin planning my pre and post trip travels.  I’m thinking a couple weeks in Northern India and a week in Nepal?

That night I head to the appropriately named bar Drink with some friends.  I think this may be one of the best bars I’ve ever been too.  It’s in the basement of a building on Congress Street in the Seaport District, with exposed brick walls, dangling, bare light bulbs and display boxes of museum-quality categorized insects.  The bar tenders are dressed as if from the early 20th century and there is not a beer bottle or liquor cabinet in sight.  Instead, you simply walk up to the counter, tell them the flavors you like and they whip you up a beverage using tools as precise as eye droppers to get the concoction just right.  They’re like mad drink scientists!  For me: I told her I liked sweet and fruity drinks and was rewarded with a "20th Century" made with creme de cacao and lemon! Yummy!

After that we cross the street to Lucky's Lounge for some delicious grub.  I grab the bar steak and spicy blue cheese fries.  Delicious.  Despite my sleepyness, I’m not quite ready to head home so we make our way back to my neck of the woods for dessert and drinks at Parish Café, a restaurant that's a mere block from my house.

Friday afternoon I meet with my learning team to set up our Information Resources presentation for next Friday.  We have been assigned to come up with an innovative way for a company to use digitized records.  We’re thinking of incorporating it into a personalized shopping experience where customers can log their style preferences, sizes and more into a digital platform so that every time they enter a store, all of their information, past purchases, etc. are just a click away.

Photo courtesy of Mary Alice Hewitt

That night, on the suggestion of a classmate, we make our way to Boston Common to see the newly lighted Christmas tree.  We walk all around the park, observe the ice skaters and enjoy the chilly evening before picking up some dinner at PF Changs.  The City during the holidays is just amazing.  They decorate buildings with wreaths, string trees with lights and play music on the streets. So festive!

This weekend is not the most pleasant one for me. While I do make it out for an hour of shopping to pick up some cold-weather accessories (the first snow is forcasted for next week!) the rest of it is spent in the books.  The coming week will be an intense one.  I have two projects due on Monday, our final Accounting test on Thursday and my Information Resource presentation on Friday. 

This weekend is dedicated to working on my final Marketing capstone case memo and my Economics analysis, both of which are due Monday.  I round out the weekend with another measly 3 hours of sleep on Sunday.

Oh boy.  They better not give us any pre-work over the winter break…

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

Turkey Day

Since this week is Thanksgiving break and I will be heading home to California, my blog will be a brief one.  Please, try not to be too upset.

It was far too easy to get caught up in the excitement of the upcoming break this week and I had to continuously remind myself that I still had class on Monday and Tuesday. Ugh!

Monday, I hand in a Marketing analytical exercise and get some guidelines for my Economics assignment due in a couple of weeks.

Tuesday is an intense day for me.  I start out by waking up at 3:00 am to get ready for school and my 4:00-8:00 am shift for the GMATCH virtual MBA fair.  This time I act as a greeter at the booth.  It was a nice change of perspective from my previous virtual fair where I didn’t get to interact with each booth visitor as much.  After work, I send off my Information Resource assignment before heading to class.  I can be wonderfully productive before 8:00 am if I have to.

Luckily, my Human Resources session is cancelled for the day so after Accounting I am free to go.  I stop by my professor’s office for a few last-minute questions on my Living Document paper before rushing home to finish packing and head to the airport.  At this time I would like to express my love for the Boston Logan Airport.  Having grown accustomed to hour-long security lines back home at good old LAX, I leave my Boston apartment 3 hours before my flight departure.  Yeah, it definitely only took me 15 minutes to get through security.  At least I have time to grab a final Dunkin Donuts coffee and start researching my paper before the flight.

On the plane I force myself to begin my 40+ page Living Document essay and am quite proud that I manage about 3 hours of solid work on it.  By the time I get home that night it is 2:00 am California time, making it 5:00am Boston time.   I have been up for 26 hours straight.

The rest of my break is filled with fun food, visiting my family, hanging out with the boyfriend and seeing friends.  I even catch a movie in between my essay-writing sessions.  It was a much needed reprieve from school and, admittedly, makes heading back a bit difficult.  I know the final stretch of my first semester awaits me, and with it a dozen projects and assignments. Here we go!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I leave you with a list of Boston things I am grateful for:

·         $1.75 medium pumpkin spice coffees from Dunkin Donuts (I don’t pay tax if I buy it on campus)

·         Public transportation

·         Underground tunnels at Northeastern

·         Amazing food (I honestly don’t think there is a bad restaurant in the entire city)

·         Chilly fall weather and the cute outfits that go with it

·         Seeing rows of brownstone apartments instead of the Mediterranean style houses in California

·         Efficient lines at Boston Logan Airport

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

It's a Virtual World and I'm a Virtual Girl

This week I had the opportunity to work The Economist's virtual MBA fair! A virtual MBA fair is exactly what it sounds like: a digital version of what we used to do in person but without all those pesky direct human interactions.  Reality is so 2009.  A couple of weeks ago I had never even heard of a virtual fair and then, there I was, holding a group chat session on networking during your MBA to a bevy of online avatars.  I was thrilled to speak with potential students from around the world and help them see why I love Northeastern.  The whole experience was actually pretty fun - save a few ‘characters’ who felt that text speak was an appropriate way to communicate and correcting guests who told me how much they wanted to go to "Northwestern".

That night I try to go to bed early since I’ll be hosting another Economist virtual fair tomorrow morning.  The only problem is I have become all but nocturnal.  I don’t think I could go to bed before 10:00 pm if I tried!

Tuesday I am in full Northeastern salesperson mode- both inside and outside of my job scope.

I start my day by waking up at the crack of dawn to host another group chat for The Economist virtual MBA fair – this time from 6:15 am to 7:30 am.

After dragging myself through class I am delighted to welcome the MBA program's annual Harvest Festival. The Harvest Festival is held on the third Wednesday in November. It is a thanksgiving-style feast put on by the school including whole turkeys and hams, a bevy of potato products, veggies, cranberries, pies and a million other goodies.  It was so nice to have a real meal with all of my classmates and professors before rushing off for the break.

After the Harvest Festival I make my way to the Starbucks in the Curry Center to meet up with a prospective student who had attended my Human Resources class last week.  We discussed the program, how I came to choose Northeastern and I answered any questions she had.  It was a great meeting and I’m planning on getting together with her in the future to discuss the program further.

Wednesday morning I received an e-mail reminding me that I had an executive lunch with the CEO of Au Bon Pain.  I was thrilled because I had been on the wait list and was never notified that I was now officially on the guest list.  However, I was not in business attire at all and began panicking and planning how I could rush home between classes to change.  Unfortunately, it was all a mistake and I was not actually confirmed for the lunch.  I’ll admit that I was a bit bummed.

Luckily, one of my learning teammates was able to attend and came bearing gifts for our group's 3 hour accounting essay marathon.  She had been given cupcakes from the CEO that haven’t even been released yet! They were amazingly delicious and a formidable foe to my diet.  Later that day I walked past an Au Bon Pain and what was displayed in the window as “coming soon” but those cupcakes. Oh dear...

That night I head over to a friend’s house for dinner and some drinks (I know, on a Wednesday night!).
It was great fun and an out-of-character display of disregard for a school night.  I get home around 11:30 pm and buckle down on some of my case studies.  Sometimes you need to throw caution to the wind.

After class on Thursday I head to the office of the professor’s leading the India International Field Study trip. He had generously agreed to discuss some travel destinations with me. Unfortunately, we miss each other, but I’m able to reschedule a meeting for after the break.  I’m very excited to get an insider’s perspective on the country.

After that I make an honest effort to stay on campus and finish work but I simply cannot stay awake.  I head home for a glorious one- hour nap before returning to campus for my first Insider Insight session.  Luckily, this information session did not disappoint! When I walked into the room it was covered in toys! From Nerf guns to Jenga sets and My Little Pony, the room is wonderfully colorful and fun.  Each seat is donned with playdoh and we spend much of our time answering trivia questions for prizes. Somehow I don’t think the Raytheon session was as vibrant.  I spend the next couple of hours listening to a panel of three Hasbro employees as they discussed their company, job responsibilities and upcoming projects.  I even came home with a Littlest Pet Shop set; one of my favorite childhood toys.

That night, I head over to my peer mentor’s house for what she promises to be an exotic dinner.  It’s great to see her again as she prepares to re-enter school after her six-month residency.  Her husband cooks up a delicious Balinese dinner complete with authentic satay sauce and homemade spicy toppings. Yum! Plus, hearing her class lineup for next semester has me excited for my second year of grad school.

Friday is our last Career Management class of the semester.  While I actually enjoy Career Management, I won’t lie that I’m thrilled to have three-day weekends from here on out. As final projects start piling up, it will become exceedingly necessary.  Our final class is a nerve-racking one for me.  It’s all about corporate residency.  As I sit there I begin preparing for the competitive internship search and wonder how everything will play out.  Questions race through my head.  What if I apply to the same job as a friend?  How do you juggle that?  While I want everyone to get their dream co-op, what happens if someone has the same dream as I do?  I start to lose confidence when I size myself up against my classmates.  The first round of application dates has also been set.  Starting January 18, jobs will be posted.  What's more, the career fair is February 8th, as are our first round of interviews.  It’s all happening so fast!

After class we hold our second official Marketing Club meeting.  I will admit our attendance numbers are substantially lower than before, but I’m excited to present all of our opportunities to the group.  Let’s see how many people I can lure into joining my Massachusetts Horticultural Society consulting team.  I also get started on our Marketing Club holiday party.  The room is reserved and now I just need to get some bodies into it.  I think free food should do the trick.

Saturday morning I wake up early and head to Jamaica Plain for breakfast with a friend.  Oddly enough, Jamaica Plain reminds me of Seattle.  I think it’s the brightly colored houses in purple and pink combined with the plethora of organic food markets.  That morning we discover a true eatery gem; Sorella’s has the most extensive breakfast menu I have ever seen.  With no exaggeration, at least 15 flavors of French toast, 10 variations of pancakes and 20 types of omellettes grace the pages of their menu.  Glorious!  I opt for a seasonal offering of eggnog French toast.

The rest of the day is spent at home doing homework and cleaning my apartment in anticipation of the Thanksgiving break.

Sunday morning I head to the gym (it has been a week!) and then pay a visit to the laundromat - laptop and marketing assignment in hand.  As always, I somehow manage to spend 3 times as long on my work as I would like and I don’t have time to get to everything.  Oh well, I guess my 40+ page Living Document assignment will have to wait- yet again.

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

Northeastern Is Moving on Up!

I would like to begin this entry with a little “congratulations” to my school.  This week BusinessWeek posted their annual MBA rankings.  In 2010, for the first time, Northeastern University was ranked! And, not only were we ranked, but we snagged the 56 spot! I’m so excited.  On that note, we were ranked 62 this year in US News & World Report’s list.  I’m so glad to see my school climbing up those ranks.  Let’s give Boston University and Boston College a run for their money (we may need to wait a bit on Harvard and MIT).

Monday is my executive luncheon with Lisa Laich of Ocean Spray Cranberries.  Again, it was a great success and she was very helpful and relaxed.  She even told us about how the REAL Mickey Mouse came to visit her office in support of Ocean Spray’s new partnership with Disney World as their ‘healthy snack’ provider.

On Tuesday everyone breaths a huge sigh of relief as we turn in our 100+ page accounting paper that analyzed the financial data of two companies in the same industry.  My group completed ours on Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airlines.  I have never turned in a document so large that I had to get it professionally bound; I guess there’s a first time for everything.

Later that day I get my Human Resources paper back and am pleased to say I got an A- on my rewrite! I’m so relieved and feel much better as far as my understanding of the material and requirements.

Also, today in Human Resources we had several prospective students visit our class.  As part of my self-imposed duty as a Northeastern spokesperson, I approach them after class and direct them to this blog.   I also offer to meet with one student next week to chat about the program, its offerings and the trials and tribulations of 'living the Northeastern MBA' (see what I did there? Eh? Eh?)

Wednesday is a very long day!

After class the Marketing Club has a meeting with one of our consulting projects: The Marshfield Fair.  We meet two board members and discuss possibilities on how to increase attendance to their August fair event.

After the meeting the executive board meets up to determine who will head each consulting project.  I’m proud to say that I will be in charge of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society project.  We send out invites for our next official meeting with a list of our upcoming opportunities.  These include: a tour of the Ocean Spray Cranberries facilities, a guest speaker and a holiday party with 2^nd year Marketing MBAs.

That evening we have our International Field Study information session.  I can hardly contain my excitement (though some of my classmates may say I couldn’t contain my excitement at all).  The professors leading each trip gave us a rundown on itineraries.  They all seem very nice and knowledgeable so I’m quite pleased.  Plus, there was free pizza! You can’t go wrong with that.  On a side note: I have become the official promoter for the country of India.  I’m just saying that maybe India should give me stipend for all of my efforts. Why the effort, you ask?  I’m nervous about the trip being canceled if we don’t meet the 15 student minimum.  Another wrench in my plan: Northeastern will not allow students from India to participate in this trip.  I’ll just have to use my persuasive marketing skills to make it happen. 

After the information session a bunch of us girls head to Parish Café, conveniently located just down the street from my house.  It was great to hang out and have a chance to socialize, though I’m sad to report that my sandwich was trés disappointing.  Who would have thought that banana walnut bread, honey-baked ham and cheese could be messed up? 

Because of the Veterans Day holiday we get a day off from classes on Thursday (notice I did not just say ‘day off’- we never get that).

Despite this mini vacation from school, I do not sleep in, instead waking up early to meet with my group for a few hours to finish our marketing presentation.  I will admit that this was one of our more entertaining projects. We had to create a marketing plan for a company called Digital Angel using Web 2.0, or social media.  We spend the next several hours fabricating Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and YouTube channels.  Lesson learned: don’t let MBA students near even a sliver of fun or you’ll have an entire fictional company created online, complete with logos and real Twitter tweets, within a few hours.

On Friday I meet up with my co-leader of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society project.  We make up a slide presentation, pick out our specific project and get ready for our Friday club meeting to lure members to our team.

In Career Management today we have our final career track panel: Finance. We host representatives from Wellington, Staples, Cypress Tree Investments, Raytheon and TJX.  While I’m not a Finance major by any means, it was very interesting to see the differences in attitude between the finance employers and the Marketing or Supply Chain panel.  Case in point: one of the panelists bluntly proclaimed that he would throw away any resume with a 3.2 GPA from Northeastern.  Well folks, if you’re interested in finance, put your nose to those books!

After Career Management, I head to my last executive luncheon of the semester.  I meet up with Jodie Neville, a brand manager at Hasbro and a current Executive MBA at Northeastern.  This time we join her in Dodge Hall and enjoy one of the EMBA’s catered lunches (which they get each class day).  She is so laid back and helpful, even suggesting a potential partnership with the Marketing Club for a project she wants to propose to Hasbro.

Afterward I attend a training session for a virtual MBA fair I will be working.  The fair, put on by the Economist, will host about 20 schools.  Prospective students from around the world will be able to attend.  I will be conducting a group chat on networking while in you MBA.  How exciting!

After all my work is done, it’s time to play.  I join a couple of classmates for the cinematic masterpiece that is Saw 3D (yes, you read that correctly).  It was ridiculous but hilarious and definitely a distraction for the stresses of school.

Besides my normal weekend routine of errands I head out for a bar crawl on Boylston tonight.  My friend’s sister is in town and so a group of us head to Dillon’s and then The Pour House to show her a good time.  What a small world it is because we run into several classmates at The Pour House.  I guess we all needed a bit of a break.

Sunday I discover an alternative to the crowded Marino Center, courtesy of a friend. SquashBusters is a Northeastern gym located near the Alumni Center.  A much smaller version of Marino it, nonetheless, offers everything I need and is much closer to my house.  What a hidden gem! It will be excellent for my weekend workouts.

I spend the rest of the day trying (trying being the keyword) to get back on my routine of having all of my Monday and Tuesday assignments done by the end of the weekend- we’ll see how that goes.  As I look ahead to all of my assignments due in the next few weeks I begin to get a bit overwhelmed,  but I buckle down a finally begin the dreaded Living Document 1.  At 40+ pages I feel as though I at least should start it before Thanksgiving break.  I don't want anything distracting me from a holiday centered around eating. Yum!

* The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of Northeastern University, its faculty, staff or affiliates and are solely the opinion of Katrina Graves.

My Birthday in Business School

Yay! This is my birthday week (I’ll be turning the ripe old age of 24) but, as you’ll see, birthday celebrations take on quite a different meaning when you’re in graduate school.

The first big event of my week is turning in my rewrite of that Human Resources paper I got a “no grade” on.  I’m super paranoid about it and am glad to be rid of it so I don’t keep over-analyzing and rewriting it ad nauseum.  I’ll keep you posted on how that goes - unless, that is, I get an 'F' or worse on it, then I’ll just conveniently ‘forget’ that promise.

Wednesday the Marketing Club executive board meets with the Massachusetts Horticultural Society to discuss our first consulting project.  We join a group of board members at one of their condominiums on Boston Common.  While it was a bit intimidating at first to walk into a room of well-dressed and influential members of the organization we eventually ease into the meeting.  They provide us with an extensive list of at least six potential marketing projects (of which we will choose one) and outline the history of the organization.  Some options include finding ways to draw more reservations for their event facilities, increasing membership numbers and finding ways to get more visitors out to Elm Bank (one of their gardens).  The meeting lasts more than two hours and I leave a bit overwhelmed with all of our choices.  We decide to let the members know by next Wednesday which project we wish to pursue.  This gives us time to meet with our other consulting project, The Marshfield Fair, and then divvy up responsibility between the two among the executive board.  We also have a potential speaker in the works.

It’s also a big day for this blog! "Living the Northeastern MBA" is officially announced in the Gradbiz eNewsletter (a weekly eNewsletter that goes out to MBA students).  It’s kind of thrilling when fellow students and teachers approach me saying they’ve read the blog.  I’ve also been checking out my site hits and where they come from (again, I'm a dork, remember?).  I’m proud to say that I have views from South Africa, India, Algeria and the UK.  How neat is that?

The day ends with my boyfriend informing me that he has booked his flight to come visit me during spring break!  I’m so excited to see him for 10 days and am already looking into day trips around the area.  At first I image the end of February and beginning of March in the California terms of spring, then quickly realize my mistake.  In fact, far from beach weather, it may very well still be snowing.  I guess I’ll have to redirect my travel planning approach.

Happy birthday to me! Thursday is my 24^th birthday and, of course, a very hectic school day.

I begin my morning with class, then a group meeting to work on our 100+ page accounting paper.  Afterward I head home and change for our networking reception which is from 5:30pm to 7:30pm tonight (I know, exciting birthday right?).  I end up staying at the reception until 8:30pm but am happy to have gotten the chance to mingle with some executives.  For instance, I spent a good while chatting with a brand manager at Lindt & Sprungli (yes, the famed truffle makers), some representatives from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, a recruiter from Blue Cross Blue Shield and several others.

As I’m getting ready to call it a night and head home to an early bedtime, a friend of mine humors me and agrees to join me for a drink and dessert at Vox Populi.  I’m really happy I was able to do something fun today –especially since it involved a delicious cocktail (strawberry vodka with strawberry puree and muddled mint!) and chocolate bread pudding (which I consumed most of).

Ahh, but when I got home around midnight, I did not know my night was far from over.  Around 2:30am I wake to the sound of my building’s fire alarm.  In a drowsy stupor I manage to grab a coat and head downstairs to the freezing and raining outdoors where I wait for more than 30 minutes until fire trucks arrive.  Some idiot (I'm sorry that wasn't nice) threw a cigarette into a trash bin in the basement.  By the time all is said and done, I get to bed by 3:30am; tomorrow’s going to be a long day.

In Career Management we have a marketing panel of seven executives speak to us and answer our questions on their careers and the industry.  Among the companies represented are Staples, Hasbro and Johnson & Johnson.

I spend the rest of the day working on my accounting paper with my group and indulgently watching movies.

Saturday is a glorious day of catch up.  In business school it is so easy to let errands get pushed to wayside in favor of cramming for last minute assignments, club meetings and group work. So today I’m making up for lost time.  I write about a million and one thank you letters to executives I have spoken to during the past week (OK, maybe I exaggerate a little), pick up groceries, get my first Boston haircut at Safar Coiffure (I highly recommend it), do some light shopping and savor a smores cupcake from Sweet.

Feeling a bit guilty about my lack of homework-doing today, I spend several hours at the library that night.

Sunday I begin and finish my economics analytical assignment which, at 30% of my grade, is an intimidating adventure, hit the gym and visit the laundromat.  Overall, it was a weekend of errands and I couldn’t be happier about that.

* The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of Northeastern University, its faculty, staff or affiliates and are solely the opinion of Katrina Graves.

International Dreaming

Photo Courtesy of Katherine Baroutgian

Tuesday is a big day for the Marketing Club.  It’s our first official event: a focus group for the start-up company Open Runway.  After class we meet at the Curry Center in our reserved room and are greeted by a tabletop of shoes, purses and fabric swatches.  Needless to say we all rush the display and begin proclaiming our favorites.  The event opens with a presentation by the CEO and a Northeastern 2^nd- year who is working there for his corporate residency.  He shows us the beta version of their website and gives the club a run-down of their company goals and vision.  They split us into groups with an assignment to come up with some marketing ideas given their meager budget.  I’m quite impressed with our results.  Propositions ranging from giant shoes placed strategically on public streets to targeting sororities with free samples surface in the discussion.

The meeting was definitely a success and it gives the executive board a boost of confidence to pursue our next big activity.

Photo courtesy of Katherine Baroutgian

Wednesday we get our mid-term participation grade in marketing.  I’m sure no good can come of this since I feel that my comments in the class are not all that innovative or deep.  But, contrary to my belief, I am placed in the top 25% of the class with some very reassuring comments from my professor.  A couple of teachers have done similar mid-term participation check-ups and I really appreciate them.  It helps prevent any unfortunate surprises when those grades come in around January.

After desperately trying to keep awake during the rest of class (keep in mind my late nights) I learn that Information Resources is canceled.  It’s amazing what two extra hours in your day can do.   I spend them with my group divvying up our High Performance Organization essay before heading to my second executive luncheon.

This time around I meet with Joanna Storella, the Chief Financial Officer of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority.  I am happy to say that it was another fabulous meeting.  A former Northeastern MBA, Ms. Storella is very candid with us on her time at the school, her diverse career path, her involvement in MBA Connections and more.  With two great networking experiences under my belt, I’m beginning to regret not signing up for more luncheons. 

Now, for a little word of advice: My luncheon with Ms. Storella was categorized under finance, but after looking into the description a little more I learned that Ms. Storella concentrated in marketing during her time at Northeastern and that she had a couple of marketing jobs prior to her current career in finance.  So, while it might be tempting to only sign up for luncheons in your concentration, you can get a lot by keeping an open mind and realizing that just because a person is currently in a position that might not interest you, they might know someone in your preferred department or have even worked there themselves.

After all is said and done, I get home at 3:30pm today! This is the earliest I’ve been home all school year and it feels amazing (even if it was only because I skipped out on my workout).  I take a nap and spend the rest of the night doing accounting and researching for my informational interview tomorrow with Collette Travel.

Thursday is a great day!  After class I head home for my 4:00pm phone interview with Mr. Eric Welter, the Executive Vice President of Marketing at Collette Travel.  The experience was fabulous!  Mr. Welter was so kind and generous in spending more than 30 minutes speaking with me and answering questions.  He recounted his impressive work history (including being a VP of marketing for J. Jill and Viking River Cruises) and gave me some suggestions on how to better prepare myself for the competitive world of marketing.  It was so refreshing to meet someone who is enthusiastic about their job.  Too often I feel that once I talk to someone in a field I’m interested in, they serve to only dissuade me from that path, grumbling and complaining; not Mr. Welter. He even told me about his favorite travel destinations.  What’s more, when he saw my phone number come up on caller ID, he mentioned my 818 area code (LA) and said he knew someone I could talk to at Viking River Cruises in Woodland Hills when I go home for the holidays.  I’m so excited!  This opportunity just wouldn’t have been possible without Northeastern.

To add to my fabulous day, news I’ve been waiting for since applying to Northeastern was posted today: our international field study trip destinations!  I could hardly contain myself as I scrolled down the list on the Gradbiz Enewsletter.  Our options, you ask?  India (my DREAM country to visit!), Russia, China/Hong Kong and Argentina/Brazil.  The only problem is picking just one.  Being my travel-obsessed and dorky self I immediately begin researching locations and possible side trips.  The one unfortunate result of my Google search is this: India is its hottest during the month of May; the month I would be there.  And I’m not talking California hot; I’m talking AVERAGES of 90-104 degrees with numbers in the 120s not uncommon.  Considering I’ll be wearing a business suit, this issue warrants some consideration.  Anyway, I’ll find out more about these trips during our informational session on November 10. 

Tonight is also our Team 58 Halloween party at Symphony 8.  I stop by for a couple of hours and have fun seeing my classmates in full costume.  Plus, some persuasive organizers of this party manage to get all of us drink and food deals for the entire night.  Ah, the benefits of having MBA students as your party planners.

Career Management this week centers around a cover letter workshop.  It’s a short class and I’m done in plenty of time to head over for the free Excel workshop I signed up for.  While the lesson starts off a bit slow, I end up learning about pivot tables and macros, functions that could have saved me a lot of time over the years.  After this session,I’m beginning to feel more like an, as our professor dubs it, “Excel guru”.  My next assignment will be ripe with beautiful graphs and charts, no doubt.

This afternoon I come home to find that my landlord has been to my house to take some photographs for their website (with my permission of course).  Apparently, they think I've utilized my tiny space pretty well.  Just in case you’re wondering what 220 square feet looks like:

220 Square feet of glory

Sunday is Halloween!  Now, I’m sad to say, in the life of grad student, this day turns out to lose some of its ‘fun’ element, but at least I get some entertainment out of watching the costumed citizens of Boston while waiting for the “T” or grabbing groceries.  So fun!

And, in the complete opposite spirit of this candy-frenzied holiday, I make myself go the gym.  It’s been four days and I’m beginning to feel the effects.  After a few hours of homework I decide to head to Macy’s for their birthday sale.  I am proud to say that I have finally found my big, poofy winter coat- and at 40% off at that! Plus, I manage to snag a pair of boots on sale which will be useful in the coming week.  Monday and Tuesday temperature highs are predicted to be 49 degrees.  Brrr....

My new marshmallow coat

I close off the day with some homework and, while I don’t have any candy in hand tonight, there’s always the day after Halloween sweets sales. Yum!

* The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of Northeastern University, its faculty, staff or affiliates and are solely the opinion of Katrina Graves.