Sunday, October 26, 2008

Autumn in C'ville


Admission: I love Charlottesville, especially in the fall. The weather's brisk, the leaves are changing and there's ample opportunity to engage in traditional Autumn activities (note apple picking photos above).
When I first started thinking about business schools, Darden rose to the top of the list not only because of its stellar reputation, but also because attending Darden would bring me back to C'ville.
A double 'hoo, I first fell in love with this city about 10 years ago. I was a junior in high school on a college visit with my dad. As a native Californian, UVa wasn't even on my radar - my target list was almost all UC's. But then I took a tour of Grounds. Particularly in the fall, UVa is stunning. It's brick and columns look even more stately set against a backdrop of orange leaves. The lawn becomes a playground for fleece-clad frisbee players. And it doesn't get more quintessentially college than treking across Jefferson's "academical village" clutching a cup of coffee and a book. Ten years ago, I knew it was the perfect place for me. Today I feel the same way.
But don't just take it from me, the New York Times has also found a few reasons to travel down to the 'ville: http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/travel/26hours.html?ref=travel.






Saturday, October 25, 2008

Re-charging

After the past few weeks of hardcore studying and socializing, a re-charge weekend is in order. And lucky for me, the weather cooperated. Rainy and autumn-crisp, it's a perfect curl-up-on-the-couch kind of day.
Unlike weekends past (and future), there will be no costume parties tonight, no late nights out. In fact, as I type, my boyfriend is reclining in his "man chair" watching football. We've got a pot of stew bubbling in the kitchen. And I'm shaking off a mid-afternoon nap. Lovely.
Necessary, too. Because at Darden, the constant cycle of classes, cases and company briefings can easily lead to burnout. To keep it at bay, you need a lazy day every now and again -- a day when you can shove away your case binder and Corporate Finance textbook and leave them unopened until, well, Sunday.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Q2

Q2 began bright and early Monday morning and with it, a couple of new courses: Financial Management & Policies and Global Economies & Markets. For an English and History major like me, classes like these strike fear in my heart.
... it's the numbers. Quantitative analysis just doesn't seem to come naturally to me. In fact, it's sort of a foreign language. Yet here I am: reading income statements like I once read Jane Austen and checking ratios like I used to check grammar. And that's a good thing. Because if there's one thing I realized in Q1, it's that I'm about to learn a phenomenal amount about subjects I once shirked from. Ask me again in a couple weeks and I may not be fluent. But I just may be conversant.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Done!


It's hard to believe, but Q1 is done and I am officially a quarter of the way through my first year at Darden! As expected, there's been a fair amount of celebration.

Following Wednesday's Accounting final, dozens of first years flooded the Corner, proving to all onlookers that we fully subscribe to the "work hard, play hard" approach to B-school. And it didn't stop there. Tonight, for example, is the famed 100 Case party. With an 80's theme, a "secret location," and 360 of our closest friends, it's sure to be an interesting evening.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

... and then there was one


One final, that is. And when it ends (3 p.m. tomorrow!!!!), my first round of Darden exams will be done. I'm counting the hours.
Because here's the thing with finals season. Without class or late night learning team meetings, I have a lot more time to myself. I go to the gym, I visit the grocery store, I spend quality time with my boys (cats Karl and Angus), I blog. But I also spend long hours anticipating the next test.
I am, by nature, a chronic worrier. I stress out about things big (go to school? or keep working?) and small (does my watch match my earrings? if it doesn't, will people notice?). And as a result, I've spent the past two weeks in a steady state of anxiety. Not tear-your-hair-out anxiety, but rumble-in-the-stomach, underlying-sense-of-tension anxiety. And I cannot wait to be rid of it.
To heighten the anticipation, emails started circulating a couple days ago advertising end-of-exam happy hours and socials. It'll be fascinating to see what happens when people start streaming out of the library and into the bars. Chances are, I won't be the only one with a little more pep in my step.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Giving up the hot seat

It's the end of Q1 and this means, among other things, we all shuffle seats. For me, this will likely be a good thing. I sit in what is diplomatically referred to as a "hot seat," meaning I'm often a target for professors' cold calls. But, while I'll be happy to give that up, I'm kind of sad about the break up of my row. We're a good row (and look, we're so happy together!).

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Accounting and Cherry Garcia

It's Saturday night and here I am: sitting on my bed, laptop screen up, surrounded by Accounting notes, a pint of Ben & Jerry's frozen yogurt in hand ... it's the weekend -- Darden final exam edition!
So, is this really what I signed up for when I decided to return to school after a 4-year hiatus? Of course it is.
Even on nights like tonight, when I want nothing more than to put down my copy of "Management Accounting" and turn on BRAVO, I know that sometime in the not-so-distant future I'll be thankful for the hours I spent learning manufacturing overhead allocation and drawing up statements of cash flow ... right?!
I guess this is where "trusting the process" comes in.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Small victories

Far too often I leave class still trying to get my head around the day's lessons. Today, however, was different. I have no idea how it happened, but I achieved clarity ... in all three of the classes I had today.
This is so rare, it deserves comment. Maybe even repetition (clarity!).
Now, I'm not saying I've mastered DA, Operations or Accounting -- far, far from it. I'm just saying that for the first time in what feels like ages, things clicked. And, as my eyes scanned from laptop screen to blackboard, a sense of contentment and even confidence pushed out the usual horror and confusion. At Darden, I've realized, these small victories need to be celebrated. I may even take an hour and go to the gym.

Monday, October 6, 2008

"So official"

Recently, one of my friends started asking me when my boyfriend and I were going "FBO," by which she meant "Facebook official." For those unversed in the wildly addictive world of online social networking, your Facebook profile offers you the option of declaring to the world (or at least, your 277+ "friends") that you are single, married, in a relationship, etc. If you're in a relationship, you can specify who you're in a relationship with and have their profile link to yours. And this, according to my friend, is an all-important sign of commitment -- kind of the 2008 version of exchanging ID bracelets and officially "going steady."
Well, my boyfriend and I decided to go FBO Friday. And apparently, people noticed. "SO OFFICIAL!" read one message I received.
Such a public announcement (especially when the audience includes acquaintances you haven't seen in years) is not in keeping with my usual style. Despite my new found blogging habit, I'm a relatively private person. And this relationship is pretty new (we met at Darden, after all).
Funny then, that in just a month, my relationship has accelerated to the point where I feel no qualms listing my relationship status right above my hometown. And this, like so much these days, I'm going to chalk up to the stress and pressures of business school.
In this frenzied and frustrating time, relationships can provide an important antidote to a long day. Just in this past week, my boyfriend has seen me pushed to tears over a particularly grueling set of cases. He's seen me question myself and question my ambitions. And he's responded with impressive calm, not only listening to me whine, but trying to convince me that really, everything will be just fine. Even in Decision Analysis.
So yeah, I snagged a good one. It's official.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Finals season

I'm about 12 hours away from my first Darden final and I'll probably get about 45 minutes more studying in before I settle into pre-exam relaxation mode ... that's right, relaxation mode.

I've always been a great believer in the benefits of a good night's rest. I don't cram. And really, I'm not sure cramming would help me any with my upcoming Marketing test. First, it's open note, so there's no need to memorize equations or concept definitions. Second, because of the case method, I've internalized (or at least, I hope I have) a lot of the course material through application and class discussion. And third, there's no way of predicting what kind of mini-case I may see when I open my test file in the morning.

... Not that I don't have my apprehensions. This is my first business school exam, after all, and I want to do well. It's just that by this time in my life, I've figured out what works for me: 8 hours of blissful, uninterrupted slumber.