Where did all this time go?

Today is the last day of Mod III. During our last management communications class yesterday, my professor was commenting on how quickly Mod III flew by. It made me realize that even though all the Mods are of equal length, seven weeks plus two days, Mod III went by much, much quicker than either Mods I or II. I was talking to a classmate later who suggested that it may be because we are all so caught up in the internship search with preparing for first round interviews, company visits, and such.

 

While we are on the subject of time, since my morning class is not meeting today, my first class is not until 2pm. Why is the class not meeting you ask? I am going to let you in on a little secret. Kenan-Flagler has contracts with several companies which send their executives to the Rizzo Center several times a year for executive education. The professor who teaches the morning class is involved with teaching the executive education program and was asked to participate today. Because of the amount of money our school makes from this company, my professor had no choice but to cancel the last class and to hold the review session at a different time. This is a powerful reminder of the first rule of business, money talks.

 

Instead of going to the 2pm accounting class today, I think I am going to attend the 3:30 section. This way I can hit the gym afterwards and parking will be free then since it’ll be 5pm.

Mod III coming to a close

Mod III does not officially end until tomorrow when financial statement analysis (which is one of the best electives offered) ends but Mod III is pretty much over. The only things standing between me and spring break are a take home case for finance due a week from today and an in class final for corporate strategy on Friday. Since my ethics class ended two weeks ago, my Mondays don’t begin until 2pm. It was refreshing to not have to set my alarm clock last night and have a three and a half day weekend. I shouldn’t get used to it because next Mod my Mondays and Wednesdays will be packed and I will have a Friday morning class as well.

I currently have no plans for spring break. I am really hoping that I will have a couple of interviews that week. We should know by Wednesday if I will receive an offer from the company in Orlando andthe two companies I interviewed with at the school on Thursday should also get back to me by Wednesday. So by Wednesday I may have an offer or I may be back to square one. I spent a good part of this weekend visiting web sites of different companies I am interested in, many are companies I am familiar with because I have owned stock in them in the past, and submitting my resume. According to Office of Career Services, more than 50% of the first year class still has not accepted an internship offer yet.

 

One of the things I sometimes try to do at the end of interviews is to try to figure out how I did by trying to a catch vibre from the interviewer. When I interviewed at AOL, toward the end I shook the hand of my interviewer (my future boss) and said “I hope to work with you soon” and I caught a positive vibre coming from him that told me I had the job. This past Thursday at one of my interviews, I did something similar during the final handshake and my interviewer’s response was “good luck.” There was something about the way he said it that conveyed a sense of finality, as though he was wishing me luck in finding an internship anywhere but at his company.

Life takes Visa

I activated the new Visa card I got in the mail this past week. It is exactly identical to the old one that expires in March, with the following exceptions:

- the new Visa logo, same one that’s been prominently displayed in the advertising campaign. This is the first logo change for Visa in thirty years.

- the security hologram that is usually found above of the Visa logo is now gone.

- a shiny metallic stripe with embedded security holograms replaces the black magnetic stripe on the back of the card.

For McCoy's eyes only

When I left McColl about 25 minutes ago, I saw the above in the parking lot on the other side of Skipper Bowles Drive from the Dean Dome. It looks like McCoy's entourage has arrived.

The week that was

Today marks the end of one of the most unusual week I have experienced so far in the MBA program. I don’t even know if unusual is the appropriate word. It might be more accurate to say the week was eventful, interesting, or even stressful. It flew by so fast I have trouble believing it’s already Friday.

 

Monday brought about a resolution to something personal that’s been on my mind for quite a while. While the resolution was disappointing, I have to remain faithful that God knows what’s best for me. It helps to think that I have prayed about this particular situation and that perhaps God is answering my prayers by not giving me what I want. I spent a good part of Tuesday preparing my travel to and interview in Orlando. I didn’t return from Orlando until late Wednesday. The main event yesterday was the two interviews I had in school. And today is the North Carolina MBA Job Fair held at the Hill Alumni Center. Currently the recruiters are on their lunch break and I am catching up on food and email at the Carolina Club. Later today I have to return to McColl to speak to a professor about a class that I missed.

 

Between Orlando, the two interviews yesterday, and the job fair today, I have spent the past three days wearing a suit. I must have repeated my rehearsed pitch (“I started out in the XYZ industry, transitioned into ABC industry, and am attending business school because I plan on going into W.”) at least ten times. I am physically, mentally, and spiritually exhausted. 

 

Lunch break is almost over. I have to return to the Hill Alumni Center to talk to about ten more companies before going back to McColl to talk to a professor about a class that I missed on Wednesday because I was in Orlando.

Entering second round

I am blogging from lobby of the Hyatt Hotel inside the Orlando International Airport (MCO). Today's interviews went well, I met with six people from different functions in the company I may potentially be interning for this summer. It seems like a great place to work with excellent fringe benefits such as 25% discount on meals at various restaurants. One particular interviewer asked me to name my favorite James Bond villain. This led to a discussion on various villains over the years and me telling the story behind the title Never Say Never Again.

 

One concern is I am not sure whether I want to live in Orlando. I was telling a classmate earlier (who is also here for an interview) that I want to live in a city that has the characteristics of both a “pick up place” for singles as well as a family place where I can raise a family. I am not sure if I see either one of these characteristics in Orlando. But I have to admit I know very little about this city.

 

An interesting bit of trivia about the airport I am in. Its FAA designation, MCO, comes from the original name of this airport, which was McCoy Airforce Base.

Greetings from Orlando

Originally the itinerary called for me to drive to Charlotte and fly from there to Orlando. When I pointed out to the HR personnel that Charlotte is more than two hours away, a last minute change was made that put me on a flight out of Raleigh. I noticed on the ticket stub that the ticket cost the company $700.

 

The flight from Raleigh was delayed by more than an hour. By the time we landed I was tired and hungry. Tomorrow I have an all day interview with the finance division of a restaurant company.

 

I have a friend who used to live in Virginia and now lives nearby in Florida. She came by and we went out to get something to eat. Within a seven mile radius of the hotel, there are three restaurants owned by the company I am interviewing with. Unfortunately it was 10 o’clock and they were all closed. We ended up going to a restaurant owned by a competitor. I guess this is one meal I won't be expensing.

Sticking it to NetFlix

I was working on the NetFlix case write up for my accounting class this past weekend when I came across something interesting on the company’s web site. It looks like there is a settlement in a class action suit and anyone who was a customer before January 2005 is eligible for either a free month or a month of upgraded service.

 

The technical details of this is quite intricate. All participants in the settlement will be entered into a queue and upon disbursement, will be compensated on the order in which they were entered. In addition, how quickly the participant will receive the compensation depends on how many DVDs he rented during an average month. A computer algorithm will be used to separate participants into several categories. Those that kept their DVDs the longest (and rented less per month) will receive their disbursement immediately. Meanwhile the more active users will be categorized under either "long wait" or "very long wait."

 

On a more serious note, this blog goes on the road later today when I fly down to to the Sunshine State for a second round interview tomorrow.

On this President’s Day

I went to the post office on Franklin Street this morning to mail my tax returns and was surprised to see the counter closed. I asked a man standing around (I think he was filling out a deposit form for the ATM machine nearby) who politely informed me that today is a national holiday.

 

It’s funny how schools such as UVA and UNC don’t adhere to the same holiday schedule as the rest of the country and if you’re a student in any of these institutions, you lose track of when all the holidays are.

Our love affairs with phone numbers

Yesterday’s New York Times had an article about cell phone users and their attachment to their area code.

 

“Like a rear-windshield decal or an old college T-shirt, a cellphone number has become as much a part of an identity as a Social Security number. It represents a hometown, a college or a first job, and such memories are not casually thrown aside for a few good years with a 202 romance. For these area-code clingers, those 10 little digits provide a constant in the face of changing locations and uncertain futures.”

 

And all this time, I thought I was the only one who has grown an emotional attachment to the same phone number all these years. One time in January I was talking to fellow alum at a UVA happy hour, she asked me to call her cell phone, and when it rang, she made a point of noticing that I still had a Virginia phone number.

 

The day will soon come when being able to tell where a person lives from his area code will be a thing of the past. The former President of AT&T, David W. Dorman, spoke at Kenan-Flagler in December. He said in the previous nine months, 87% of first household starts (defined as someone starting a new household such as a college student graduating and starting out for the first time) were wireless only and did not have a landline.

How not to negotiate a job offer

Last night's Nightline had a story about a recent law school graduate using email to negotiate with her future boss (evidently at a very small law firm that does not have an HR department to handle this type of stuff) her salary.

"An ordinary office spat? Nope. Korman forwarded the exchange to a friend … and it spread throughout the Boston legal community — and then to the Boston Globe, to the International Herald Tribune, to ABC News' "Nightline.""

Looks like an aspiring attorney and her future job prospects in the Boston area will soon be separated.

An early end for ethics

It’s unbelievable how fast this Mod has flown by. A week from this coming Monday is the last day of class is. Our ethics class met for the last time yesterday. That means I will get to sleep in even later next Monday and Wednesday. I am so fortunately to have an ethics professor who doesn’t believe in having class any more than it is necessary.

Salary going up for 2006 MBA grads

Today’s USA Today has an article about the upward trend in salary for MBA grads.

"Today, four months before the class of 2006's cap-and-gown ceremony, the Hanover, N.H., campus is covered in snow. Bernstein, 28, doesn't have a job yet. But by the time he graduates, the demand for new MBAs is expected to be at the highest level since the Internet bubble burst a half-decade ago, according to college career counselors and recruiters."

This is for all you lonely people

Since today is February 14, I will blog about something timely. So I won’t brag about how I managed to once again beat, or cheat depending on your perspective, the system by parking my car an entire day at the business school illegally without getting a ticket. Nor will I tell you about how I went straight from class to the gym, changed into my workout clothes and jogged by the Old Campus to Franklin Street and back, all while wearing my shorts in this 60 degree weather.

 

I used to hate Valentine’s Day. With few exceptions, this day always forced me to confront my biggest fear, the fear of loneliness. I used to worry that the worst fate that could befall me was a lifetime of singleness. I have had this fear for as long as I can remember. As I got older, this fear did not get any better. At some point between college and business school, it actually got worse as a couple of unsuccessful relationships (or endeavors at forming one) have resulted in a certain level of bitterness and anger instilled in my heart. This animosity was not aimed so much at a particular person or groups of people, but more at the world in general.

 

About two years ago something happened to me that I, to this day, am still unable to explain except to credit it to some sort of divine intervention. Without disclosing the details, there was something that happened to me that particularly made me bitter and angry. I remember on that Sunday we did communion in church. When it was over the guy sitting next to me (an acquaintance I was familiar with through the church fellowship group) shook my hand and said “peace of Christ to you.” I then replied by saying “God knows I am going to need it.”

 

During that time there was a group of people my age from church that met every Wednesday evening for prayer. I have always wanted to go but was never motivated to make the one hour commute. On this particular week I went. There were about eight or nine of us altogether. We spent the hour going around the room and randomly praying for what was in our heart. When itwas my turn I didn’t say anything that applied to my particular situation, I remember praising God for getting the opportunity to finally attend the prayer group and for getting me through the nasty traffic. This was followed immediately by John, who echoed my sentiments and praised God for my presence. Sarah was immediately after him. She also began with a praise for me being there and then she went on to say “I want to pray for (my first name) and his relationships. I pray for his marriage. I want him to know that if you intend for him to be married, you will reveal that person to him at the appropriate time.”

 

What happened that night was the most miraculous thing that has ever happened to me as a Christian. I clearly felt God was telling me to trust Him with my relationships. After we were done praying, I had the chance to talk to Sarah. She said she felt stupid for saying what she said and could not explain why she said it. Another person that was there, whom I met for the first time that night, said he too was surprised by what she said and was worried that I would get freaked out by her prayer. That night was a turning point in the way I view God’s role in my marriage.

 

This past Sunday I went through my notes on some of the thoughts I have had since coming to Kenan-Flagler. I am amazed at how many references there are to idolatry and the importance of having God’s will prevail in your life. There was a time when I used to pray for God to find me a wife. At one point I even told him the specific qualities I wanted. Now when I pray about this matter, I only ask for His will to prevail. I ask that if He wants me to remain single my whole life, He would change my heart so I would be okay with it. And if he wants me to marry someone, I would meet her and find her attractive, regardless of whether she fits my “type.” I am much more at peace with the situation now than I have ever been.

 

The more people that I talk to, the more I am convinced that I am not the only one who struggles with this issue. This may be why “Sex and the City” was/is such a popular show. The four characters are in their forties and the storyline conveys the impression that being single in your forties is not the end of the world. This past Friday I attended a Kenan-Flagler alumni reception and ran into someone I know from before I moved here. I first met Ricky (not his real name) three years ago in church and he has since moved down to this area. We updated one another on our lives. Ricky is about ten years older than I am and single. I asked him if he’s had any recent success with women, which is a topic I normally don’t bring up when I talk to guys. He said no and when he asked me the same question, I told him about some of the things that God’s been telling me about my situation.

 

We ended up having dinner where I expounded more on the things we were talking about. I later told him over email that I enjoyed our talk because it was unusual for me to talk about relationship issues with a male Christian. He wrote back saying some of the things I said were almost the exact things he’s felt/done at various stages of his life and he considered it a blessing to hear that there were others with similar struggles. We are going to try to meet up every once in a while to discuss our lives.

Blog as self reflection

At the gym yesterday I struck up a random conversation with an older gentleman. He was wearing a pair of Yale shorts (this is the second time in the last 24 hours that I have blogged about that particular Ivy League institution) and I asked him about his time in New Haven. He asked me about my experience in Kenan-Flagler and I told him I wish MBA programs were longer so that students can have more time to absorb the material taught to us and to maximize the opportunities in the business school. He then mentioned that in many of such programs there is very little time and opportunity for reflection.

 

I think he hit on something that is very true not just of business students today but of many Americans in general. We are so busy we don’t have time to reflect on our lives, to think about whether we are going in the right direction, and to ponder about the impact we have on those around us. One benefit I have enjoyed from writing this blog is the chance to jot down my thoughts for later references.   

 

Since today is Valentine’s Day, maybe I will come back later and write something more. For about the past month, I have been toying with the idea in my head of a Valentine’s Day posting but I am not sure if I will get around to it, proving once again that my friend at the gym was right about too much work resulting in no time for reflection.

Thank goodness for Carolina

I wish to point out to my readers up North (who are all probably staying home today from work while the rest of Yankee Land digs out from a record snow storm) that Chapel Hill received total snowfall accumulations of zero inches this past weekend. We had a lot of rain on Saturday but no frozen precipitation and Sunday was quite sunny.

Now  if I gone to the Yale School of Management instead I'd be strapping on my snow boots right about now in preparation to go to class.

Barron’s Online free, this week only

BOL used to be part of The Wall Street Journal Online but has since become its own independent paid web site. Access to that site is free all this week.

 

There, go knock yourself out.

Sweet!

I got basketball tickets this morning for the last three home games, Georgia Tech, Maryland, and Virginia!! I am pretty psyched. I have already gone to two games already in January, Boston College, and Arizona.

Enhance Time Warner

We discussed the AOL Time Warner merger this past week in my corporate strategy class. My professor jokingly began class by saying (paraphrasing) “since Buckyhoo here worked at America Online, I don’t have to work today, I can just have him tell us about the merger.”

He shared with us a copy of the Lazard Report on why Time Warner should be broken down into four separate companies. There is also a web site started by Carl Icahn and others in his camp on their reasoning behind wanting to do this.

When I read on the case that it referred to the AOL corporate campus as “a slab of glass and concrete in the middle of suburban Virginia,” I decided to email my professor some pictures I took of the corporate campus during my time there. He showed them in class to illustrate the culture at AOL. One of the pictures, shows the AOL 8.0 rollout celebration where employees were lining up to have Steve Case autograph their AOL 8.0 T-shirts. It was a really good picture. Looking at it, I was shocked when I realized it was taken more than three years ago. As much as I like my life at Kenan-Flagler, I do miss my days at AOL.

Catching that Tar Heels basketball fever

I am not good enough of a writer to succinctly use words to convey the feeling at Lucy’s last night at 10:47 when Number 34 David Noel made his three point shot putting Carolina in the lead over Duke. With less than seven minutes to go in the second half, for the first time of during the night, it looked as though Carolina had an even shot at ending Duke’s winning streak within the ACC. The remainder of the game remained relatively close but in the end, history reasserted itself and the Blue Devils won over Carolina.

Manic Monday

I got a good deal on airfare this past weekend and flew out on Saturday to spend the weekend with my parents. While waiting at the airport this morning, in between announcements for a high school performance in the main promenade for Black History Month, I heard the following over the public address system:

 

“Karen Hughes, please dial extension 11690 …. Karen Hughes, extension 11690” 

 

I walked to the nearest telephone, dialed the extension, and identified myself someone bearing the same name as the former press secretary for President Bush. The operator connected me to a woman on the other end asking “this is Karen …hello? Hello?”  Realizing that the woman on the other end was not the Karen Hughes and I was not going to be patched through to the President of the United States, I quickly hung up.

 

One of the three professors that I have on Mondays sent out an email telling us class was canceled because of an emergency root canal surgery. The email that I received from another one of my Monday professors was not nearly as pleasant. I had emailed this professor last night informing him of my weekend getaway and of my inability to attend his class this morning. He wrote a one sentence reply informing me that I have missed three classes in a row. While I have missed three classes, they were not in a row. And I had told him ahead of time last week that I had to miss one of his classes because of an interview.

 

Too bad he wasn’t the one who had the emergency root canal.

Another round of congratulations

Congratulations to all the Round 2 Kenan-Flagler applicants who received their acceptances today. Expect to get a phone call from a current student Wednesday night between 7 and 8:30pm (Eastern) with more information. We would call tomorrow night except we're all gathering at Lucy's to watch the UNC-Duke basketball game.

The search continues

One of my interviewers from Wednesday called a few minutes ago. He told me I was not going to be receiving an offer. He was impressed with my knowledge of the company but wanted someone with a more relevant background.

 

I can't say I am surprised. I thought the interview went very well but felt my lack of work experience in finance and the fact that they interviewed 13 other students were going to work against me. When he called, it took a few second to sink in that my interviewer was calling. But at no point during the call did I jump to conclusion and assumed that I was going to be receiving an offer. I only assumed that he wanted to ask me a few questions. The most painful part was the first 15 seconds of obligatory small talk when he asked me how I was, I talked about the beautiful weather, he said the weather in New York was aweful, I said "yes I saw it this morning on the Today Show ... but wait a minute, your business card shows that you work out in Stamford, CT."

 

He ended the call by telling me I'd do well in my internship search process.

Chipotle withdrawal

Earlier this week it dawned on me that I have yet to see a Chipotle in North Carolina. Just now I went to the web site and saw that the closest one to Chapel Hill is two hours away in Virginia.

Leaving it up to God

My interviews this week are finally behind me. I had one yesterday with a diversified industrial manufacturer that went well. But the one today, I think I knocked it out of the ballpark. This was the company I blogged about earlier, the one where I was surprised I made the closed list considering how competitive it is. I interviewed with two people, half an hour each.

 

Many of the questions were structured on how much I know about the company and its competitive advantages. One question was “what do you believe are the biggest challenges facing our company.” It gave me a chance to talk about the deals it recently signed with two major banks and the need to work with them to make sure the customers they sign up are of the same premium caliber as the customers that the company is known to traditional attract. Another question was about how I would convince a merchant to carry the company’s product. They asked me very few questions about what I have done in the past. One interviewer asked me for my thoughts on AOL’s strategy in the past year and what I believe will happen to the online unit down the road.

 

I am really excited about this company. I have been a customer (like AOL, this company refers to its customers as members) for ten years and am a shareholder. This is a company I have followed in the past and am familiar with the business model. While I have every reason to be optimistic, I am reminded that the company interviewed thirteen other students, many of whom are also quite impressive in their own rights.

 

Right before I headed into the interview suites, I prayed for God’s will to prevail in today’s interview process and that the internship will go to whoever He wants from Kenan-Flagler to get it. Now that I have done my part, I am going to pray for peace for the remainder of the internship search process, even if it means having to keep interviewing at other companies.