Transformation

I remember speaking to several students when I first came to Darden for my admissions interview.  They were so confident, so eloquent, brimming with potential and promise.  They seemed at ease, genuinely happy, and excited about their present and their future.  Their conversations and their answers to questions were so perfect and fluid it left me in awe.  At every opportunity, they jumped at the chance to offer their assistance and support, even though we'd met just minutes ago.  Even the way they walked was different.  It was as if they glided through the halls of the school, so sure of their way around, so sure of themselves.

I wondered if and when that would ever happen to me- a transformation.  Things felt so uncertain.  I felt like such a novice, an outsider.  I was stuck in a routine, concerned about my future and desperate for a change.  I thought about the transformatoin as I drove home to Nashville after the interview.  I thought about it as I waited eagerly for word from admissions, distracting myself with long hours at the TV station.  I even thought about it after being accepted, and after being enrolled.  Would I ever possess that ease and confidence I saw in those Darden students months ago?

The transformation was gradual.  There were moments when I thought it wouldn't happen at all.  Accounting was a foreign language I thought I'd never understand.  Classwork took up the whole day, from 8 am to 10 pm on countless nights.  Final interview after final interview came and went, and I began to wonder if I'd be left without a summer internship.  Did a former TV reporter with zero business experience really belong in marketing?

After making it through first quarter exams, I started to realize that maybe I was good enough.  My grades got progressively better through the year.  Then, I landed an incredible internship that gave me invaluable experience in marketing, innovation, and strategy.  All of a sudden, the clubs and groups that held events for me and other FYs to attend were now providing me with leadership opportunities.

I returned to Darden in August 2012 to finish the transformation.  They say Second Year is just as busy as the first, but your days are filled in completely different ways.  It's true.  There are First Years who are looking for advice, reassurance, and support.  There are events to be planned, projects to lead, friends to spend time with.  And yes, there is golf to be played.

 



Maybe it's a little bit funny.  Maybe it's nostalgic.  Maybe it's an accomplishment.  But with graduation just a month away, I have to admit: I am genuinely happy about today and excited for the future.  Conversations about all things Darden and business come so much more fluidly than ever before.  It is an honor and a privilege to help those whose life searching and career aspirations lead them here.

And, the ground beneath me feels light and airy as I walk through Flagler Courtyard on a beautiful spring day in Charlottesville.  Maybe I am floating through Darden in these last days, my stride accelerating and my footprints lightening as I prepare to fly away from this amazing place.



Moments from 2013

Hi Friends-

So there's no good excuse for the radio silence on this blog.  I had all these wonderful ideas, all these noble goals of reaching out to prospective new students, dishing out sage wisdom to First Years, and recounting the adventures of Second Year.

But here's the thing- I've been fortunate enough to reach out to prospective students through Admissions events, guiding tours of Darden, and my MBA.com video blogs.  I've been able to work with First Years as a SY coach, a Co-Director of Education and Career with the Marketing Club, and as a general buddy to countless Class of '14 members for whom I'm totally pulling for to do well in the internship search.

Lastly, the adventures of Second Year have apparently been so darn good that they've kept me from posting blogs.  Fortunately, my cousin Mikko started a website where participants write short entry each day about a moment in their lives.  A few have been about Darden and Charlottesville life so I'll share them here:


January 7th

It never ceases to amaze me when I notice the ease of the conversations we have at Family Dinner. We’ve tried to do one every week or so for the past year and a half with great success. Sister-in-law Liz was out of town (her presence, caring, and high pitch giggle are always missed) so it was just Jeff, Beth, Aaron and I. Still, you’d have to strain your ears to catch any lull in the conversation. Talk flows effortlessly between the Denver Broncos, school, Beth’s job, the delicious shrimp cakes, crazy college stories, the upcoming bachelor party, and countless other first rate topics.

The National Championship game was a dud, but it didn’t matter. There was a great episode of 60 Minutes on DVR, Trader Joe’s desserts, red wine, and more laughter than anyone could hope to count on. We simply have a great time being together.

“…I think this will likely be the two best years of our lives,” I remember my bestest friend Jeff telling me before we started grad school together. With nights like this, how could you argue to the contrary?


January 12th (about a hike some SYs and I took in Shenendoah)

I couldn’t stand getting dirty as a kid. My socks had to be perfectly white, I hated walking barefoot, and mud was an abomination.

Maybe I’m subconsciously trying to make up for all those things as an adult. Some friends and I are out for a hike in the Shenendoah Valley, and I wear my Vibram Fivefingers. Ever since Mikko and I’s trip to Yosemite, they’re the only footwear I’ll use for hikes.

The hyperthin soles connect you to the ground like nature intended. Your toes, arch, and heel, normally sandwiched in a conventional shoe, all work in beautiful symphony to keep you moving, balanced, fluid. So I jump from stone to stone like a little kid, yelling “hah!” when the pace quickens. The mud squishes up between my toes, the water in the streams we cross is frigid and numbs my feet.

I love every second of it.

Sadie and Fender stride along in front of me, and I know they feel the same way.

January 14th (Okay this isn't about Darden but it's about a show I saw with a classmate a couple weeks ago)

Jon Spencer flings sweat off his mangy black locks, as he strafes across the stage, wailing on his beat-up guitar. Every once in awhile, he drops into rock star pose, his left knee hitting the stage, his leather pants stretched to their limit.

Spencer eats the microphone more than he sings into it. He literally envelopes it, spit flying every where as he yells “Blues Explosion!” and other somewhat recognizable words.

Next to him, Judah Bauer is shredding away on his guitar. He is absolutely killing it, but you’d never know by just looking at his face. Judah is the most oddly calm performer I have ever seen, and his expression resembles that of a man walking down the cereal aisle of the grocery store. In the meanwhile, his fingers flicker and dance across the frets and strings as he unleashes a torrent of lead licks, rhythm chords, and even a base line.

Behind Judah, Russell Simins sits on the drumkit, destroying his snare and cymbals. He looks like a drunken trucker or a lazy mechanic, but in reality he is a killer drummer. Simins isn’t fancy, isn’t particularly intricate, but he is always. in. the. pocket.

The auditorium swims with angry notes, power chords, reverb, dark stage lights, and Spencer’s bombastic voice. Our heads bob, we throw our hands in the air, and we shout out words of adulation and praise to the band.

Long live rock and roll music.

January 17th:

I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed being a student again. There’s something beautiful, satisfying, and overwhelming about realizing how much there is left to be learned, even at 30.

Today was the best day of classes in my entire second year of business school. I can’t point to one class, one professor, or one moment to prove why it is so. Instead, it was a combination of many things- the joy of a professor getting to teach a beloved pricing elective for the first time, the excitement of a young guest speaker walking us through his most recent consulting project about getting a bowling alley company back on its feet, the sheer enthusiasm surrounding a discussion about The Great Gatsby in our ethics class.

For a moment, I wish I could be a student forever.

Then I realize that in many ways I can, and will, be.
 

January 23rd:

I’d like to think that by the time we’re in grad school, “cliques” should be a thing of the past. The sad truth is, we usually segment ourselves and form little groups just as if we were in middle school all over again.

Tonight was an exercise in the opposite. Part of my Business Ethics Through Literature class is a weekly dinner with a randomly assigned group of classmates. The idea is that we’ll get together to talk about the books and short stories over a home cooked meal and some good wine.

I hosted our inaugural meeting tonight, and served shrimp stirfry- a go to dish. The food and the books were just a starting point, though. For an hour and a half, seven classmates (two guys I was friends with, two girls I vaguely know before today, an international student, a foreign exchange student, and me) talked about careers, school, literature, and life.

Push your comfort zone boundaries, and welcome new people into your home and your life with an open heart and a big smile. This tactic has seldom led me astray.

On the Good Side of Things

Today is a big day for me, so I’m told.  Some 262,800 hours ago, I was born.  That’s a big, round number, but so is 10,950—the number of days since my first one on this planet.

And yet apparently, the biggest number of them all is 30, which mathematically makes no sense (it doesn’t take a Darden student to figure that out).  Anyways, that’s how many years I’ve been on the earth.  All at once, that's amazing yet routine, blazingly fast yet calmly calculated, fortuitous yet arbitrary.

Of course I’ve heard all the jokes.  I’ve been called “old man,” “over the hill,” “has been,” you get the point.  The jabs are dished out in fun, and they’re received with an equally big smile—because in truth, I’m on the good side of things.

I’ve never been wiser, more peaceful, more happy.  I’ve never been more comfortable in my own skin.  I’ve never felt more loved.

Admittedly, I’m a bit bummed about the softball knee injury that won’t go away.  I’m not thrilled about the three extra pounds that seem to creep up when I’m not exercising.  And, long gone are the 3 AM nights of shots and beers from my undergrad days—the mere thought of the inevitable brutal hangover is usually enough for me to call off the night early.

Those negatives, however, are heavily outweighed by the positives.  30 finds me at a brilliant time—a rare moment when career, family, and self-discovery are perfectly interwoven and on the upswing.  I’ve had an outstanding summer internship experience at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters— I’ve learned a ton, met some incredibly kind and talented folks, and proven to myself that I have what it takes to succeed in marketing.

But at the same time, I’m excited to see my family back in Charlottesville.  I can’t wait to have our weekly dinners, catching up with each other over a glass of wine before engaging in a brisk XBOX Kinect competition.

And last but not least, I am proud to return to Darden as a second year MBA student.  I’m dying to hear about my classmates’ summers—from their work experiences to their cross-country travels to their promising future job leads.  I can’t wait to see my friends each morning at First Coffee.  I’m eager to get back in the classroom.  As an “elder,” I’m allowed to talk about the virtue and joys surrounding the pursuit of higher education.  Learning really is fun, and as I’ve learned this summer, it is useful too.

I am honored to be able to pass on what I’ve learned this past year.  Recently, I checked out the Darden Class of 2014 Facebook Page.  It was jam-packed with postings about sharing apartments, pre-school trips to the Corner in Charlottesville, and advice on laptop bundles and pre-matriculation curriculum.  Future classmates volunteered to help each other move heavy furniture.  They gave each other leads on living arrangements.  They asked each other about their hobbies, fantasy sports teams, and family members.

It made me proud and excited all at once. And yes, a little bit old too.  It isn’t hard to accept the fact that I’m 30 years old, but it is REALLY hard to believe I’m an SY already.  It seems like yesterday I was asking about pre-matriculation curriculum and laptop bundles.

Still, optimism rules this day, no doubt about it.

To those who’ve been a part of my first thirty years, I say thank you.  To those whom I’ll meet in just a few weeks, I say “Welcome to Darden.”

Admittedly, it appears that welcome is a bit late—judging from how you’re treating each other so far, you’re already part of the family.

Be The Case

“The case method is great!”

It might be the most cliché phrase used to describe Darden, but it’s true.  Business concepts, analytical formulas and economics theories are all important, but the case method allows us to learn those things in the context of a authentic, accessible, fascinating scenario.  At Darden, we learn our frameworks through a series of real cases instead a pile of textbooks.

The only thing more realistic than case method is real life—something I realized during our Marketing Intelligence class this year.  The curriculum is designed to expose us to data collection and analysis methods that can help us extract consumer insights from surveys and interviews.  There are no cases in this class: we ARE the case writer, and the outcome depends on how we help our clients.

Professor Kathryn Sharpe collaborated with the Charlottesville Community Investment Corporation to assemble a group of local entrepreneurs looking for help growing their ventures.  Students were partnered with these entrepreneurs, each with their own set of skills, challenges, and questions.

Our team had the pleasure of working with Lorraine Pike, a Charlottesville resident hoping to start a mobile juice stand on the Downtown Mall.  Lorraine has several vegetable juice recipes that were handed down to her from her father, who grew up in Jamaica.  Her kids love the juice, and she has a hunch the public will too.

Lorraine and her son.

During our final term as First Years, “Team Juice” learned survey and marketing concepts in class and then applied them to Lorraine’s venture.  We conducted in-depth interviews with folks who live and work near the Mall to learn more about their views of health, food stands, and fresh juices.

Using those insights, our team crafted a survey that helped us quantify consumer attitudes and purchasing behavior.  We distributed the survey online and in person, handing out yummy treats from Cinema Taco as rewards for those who were brave enough to take the three page questionnaire.

Who wouldn't want a free taco on Cinco de Mayo?

Team Juice spent hours putting together interview checklists, survey questions, and Power Point presentations that showcased our interview and survey findings.  We met with Lorraine each week to keep her posted on our progress, and to learn more about her efforts as well.  Hopefully she will be able to use the insights we uncovered to further develop her business plan!

Sean builds, Blythe eats.

It was an absolute blast to put together a series of recommendations and findings for a real life client.  As I head off to my summer internship, I can’t help but wonder if I’ll see Lorraine’s smiling face on the Downtown Mall when I come back, peddling her homemade juices to happy customers.

The Fabled Darden Cup

In theory, the title of Darden Student Association President is the highest pressure position there is for a student.  There are others, though, who believe that social chairs in varying clubs and sections have it the worst.  Or perhaps the president of the Darden Capital Management Club feels the most heat, responsible for managing a chunk of Darden’s all-important endowment.

I, however, humbly submit a fourth option, that the highest pressure position on grounds is Athletics Representative for Section E.

It sounds crazy, unless you know about the legendary Darden Cup.  The Cup (yes, I’m capitalizing it for the rest of the blog entry) is awarded to the section that earns the most points during a series of athletic and community competitions held throughout the school year.   Sports include softball, basketball, dodge ball, a 5k race, and cricket.  Sections also can rack up points by volunteering in events like the Boys and Girls Club Bike Race.

All the sections take great pride in competing for the Cup, but none more than Section E.  Coming into the 2011-2012 year, Section E had taken home the trophy three consecutive years.  As the newly elected Athletics Representative, it was my job to motivate the section on to an unprecedented four-peat.

It wasn’t easy—Sections B and C quickly showed their superior athletic prowess.  They were bigger, faster, stronger.  Section D leveraged its close-knit bond to come up big in several community events.

Section E, though, stayed in the mix with its unbeatable ground game.  Time and time again, my classmates answered the bell. 

Can everyone pitch a few bucks in to buy a bat for softball?  Done.

Are you able to stop by the game to sign in for participation points?  It’s out of my way, but I’ll do it with a smile.

Second years, can you take some time to participate in the cup for us, even though you’re busy looking for jobs and enjoying your last months at Darden?  Absolutely.

As the year progressed, we stayed at or near the top of the standings with pure heart and organizational grit.

That wasn’t to say we didn’t have our great feats of “athletic” heroism.  A thrilling, last-second “Final Jeopardy” style question catapulted us to victory in trivia.  Sublime performances by two second year students carried us to a dominant win in bowling.  And, an improbable rally in dodge ball saw us rise from last to first in a true underdog story that rivals Vince Vaughn’s.

This year’s competition was the closest in recent memory, with four of the five sections still in striking distance with just two events to go.  After a rousing cricket tournament, Section B pulled ahead of Section E by the slimmest of margins.

The last event was the Darden Cares 5k race—an all too perfect time to shine for the section with the unbeatable ground game.  Section E mates Lauren Byrne, Chris Short, Caroline Burns and I spent hours planning out a comprehensive game plan to maximize our point intake. 

 

It paid off.  Everyone had a hand in it, from winning a costume bonus to bringing out students and faculty (thanks, Professors Weiss, Snell and Wicks!) in droves to run the event.  John Cote led a pack of Section E runners to the finish (earning the top 5 times) and it was enough to push us to the victory.

The cup was ours again.  Oops, I meant The Cup.

And while I’m obviously joking about my job being the highest pressure one at Darden, the victory took the weight of the world off my shoulders.

 I know this may feel like a one-sided view of the Darden Cup, but I believe it carries takeaways for all of us.  At Darden, we all want to win and we want to be the best.  In some ways, the Cup is an outlet for our competitive spirits.  However, I’ve also been extremely impressed with the sportsmanship and class the vast majority of my classmates showed throughout the year.  We’re not whiny 15 year olds sitting in the dugout crying about playing time anymore.  I hope we learned that we can still compete at 100% effort while having great attitudes and affinity towards each other.  Even better, we raised thousands of dollars for great causes in the process.

The Cup also taught me values and challenges of leadership, organization and motivation.  Bringing 64 people together for a common cause involves loads of hard work, lots of collaboration, an extra heavy dose of humility, a positive and enthusiastic culture, and most importantly a great group of colleagues.

I don’t know how, but Section E has been blessed with all of those elements four years running.  Being a part of such a wonderful group has been a total joy.

That being said, I don’t envy my replacement for next year—the pressure is already on to continue the legacy.

Leap Year, Leap of Faith

I’m a pretty risk-averse person at heart.   That typically means I don’t take a chance on something without doing the calculations first.  I’ll do everything I can to maximize the probability of a positive outcome—work a little longer on a project, or pay a couple bucks more for the right gift.  Give me surefire bloop single over a chance at a homer any day.  The simple phrase “roll the dice” kind of freaks me out.

But obviously, there are times in life where you have to take a leap.  That’s how this former TV reporter ended up at Darden.  I saw that my industry was changing, my development was slowing, my ambition waning.  It was time for a change. 

I wasn’t the only one seeking new opportunities.  Almost all of my classmates gave up good jobs to return to school—it was a gamble that we believed was worth it, so we jumped at the chance to come to Charlottesville.

Now, the Class of 2013 is about to leap again.  The first chapter of our Darden experience is nearing an end.  We have just one more week of core classes in our sections, one more week of learning team meetings, and we’re currently choosing our electives for the spring.  This is kind of a sad time.  I’m going to miss meeting in room 293B every night, where intense and remarkable collaboration meshed with surprise birthday celebrations and impromptu dance lessons.  And, I’m incredibly attached to Section E— room 120 is where we witnessed Drew Barrett’s wolf shirt howl, where Leo Hergenroeder and I took opposing sides on countless class debates, where unsuspecting prospective students became sketch-a-scholars, and where 62 of the smartest people I know dominated during simulation competitions.

After exams, spring break and electives we’re on to our summer internships, where many of us will be dipping our toe into completely new waters.  We’ll have new job responsibilities, new cities to live in, new colleagues to work with and learn from, and a new career trajectory.  It’s extremely exciting, and yes, a little bit scary.

These are the thoughts that cross my mind on leap day of leap year—where strangely enough, it feels like we’re moments away from actually making our own leaps of faith.  The skies are beautiful, the wind is at our backs and the sun is shining joyfully down on us.

Now, all that’s left to do is fly.

Mountaintop or Valley?

During the winter, heavy fog often rolls into Charlottesville and the surrounding areas.  In some ways, it symbolizes what our futures looks like as MBA First Years—cloudy and uncertain.

Over the past two months, most of us have thrown ourselves headfirst into internship recruiting.  It is a hectic, time-consuming and extremely difficult process.  Consultants practice dozens of case interview questions.  Marketers mow through mock behavioral interviews.  And bankers are blitzed all at one time during a week where candidates can have interviews with as many as five companies in a single day!

Our noses are stuck in books and online research.  We build spreadsheets listing our strengths and weaknesses, teamwork and leadership stories, favorite and least favorite marketing campaigns.  Some days, the only person you see is yourself—in the mirror as you practice your two minute pitch.

This, my friends, is being in the fog.  Will the hard work pay off?  Will a company see and value your abilities?  Will you convince them you are a fit for their culture?  Where are you?  Headed towards the top of the mountain or still wandering through the valley?

When you’re in the thick of things, it’s  almost impossible to tell.

Even more challenging, you don’t have long to break through— interviews last between 30 minutes and an hour.  And, almost immediately after you shake the interviewer’s hand, the fog thickens.  It takes days, sometimes weeks to know if you’ve moved on to final rounds, where the process repeats itself again.

And then… it’s over.  The fog clears, and you’re on top of the world, offer in hand, looking down on the horizon that is the rest of your first year at Darden.  That’s scenario #1.

Scenario #2 isn’t so rosy.  Sometimes it’s a “thanks for your interest in us, but we’ve decided to go in a different direction” phone call.  Other times it’s a stock mass rejection e-mail.  Worse still, some other recruiters are never heard from again.

These moments shake your confidence to the core.  They crush your self-esteem.

All you can do is get back up and jump back in.  Admit your faults and correct them.  Fine tune your stories.  Get help from the Career Development Center or a Second Year.

We are told constantly that all works out, but that can be hard to see when things are so hazy.

This is an interesting time for First Years at Darden: are we at the mountaintop or in the depths of the valley?

That depends on the day, who you’re asking… and what the weather’s like.

Adversity.

Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are.

 -Arthur Golden

Interview like a Yoga Instructor

If life is a cycle of breath, we currently find ourselves mid-exhale at Darden.  Exams are over.  Winter Break is here.

And yet, the next inhale is just upon the horizon—interviews.  We’re still dropping resumes, and the invite lists are starting to trickle in from companies.  That means there’s no real rest during the holidays.  Students must find time to practice and prepare for interviews in between shopping for (and opening) presents, job treks and family time.

I’m dialed in, back in Charlottesville after an awesome job trek to the Bay Area.  The goal? Concentrate on landing a great internship.  It won’t be the first time I’ll be working instead of playing this time of year—reporters have to work most holidays, and I’ve spent many a Christmas Day hunting down stories instead of drinking eggnog.  This time, though, it’s different.

The truth is interviews are intimidating, even though I’ve been a broadcaster for my entire career.  And so I’m reading every possible marketing website, scouring the Darden company Wiki, and building elaborate interview spreadsheets.  I’ll also be doing a number of mock interviews with second year students, CDC faculty, and prospective companies. 

That being said, I’m taking this time to regain my balance.  It’s no secret that hobbies go on hiatus during first year at Darden.  I used to rock climb three or four times a week: I’ve probably climbed that many times the entire semester.

One of my other favorite forms of fitness is yoga.  Climbing is my favorite activity, but yoga is my most necessary one.  It helps me breathe.  It improves my flexibility.  It brings me peace and balance.

In Nashville, I did Vinyasa Flow Yoga weekly.  I’ve yet to do it a single time in Charlottesville.  However, break has given me time to Bikram Yoga four days in a row, and I’m loving it.

So there I am, in 105 degree heat, locked into triangle pose, drenched in sweat.  In the background I hear the instructor’s calm, steady voice.

“Bend until your right knee is at a 90 degree angle… eyes gazing over your thumb… good… gently push your elbow against your knee… breathe through your nose… hold… and hold… and hold.”

I listened, I followed, I acted.  That’s when I realized something: I want to interview like a yoga instructor.  Allow me to explain:

1. Practice, practice practice- You didn’t become a yoga instructor without being good at yoga.  Similarly, you don’t become an interview expert overnight.   Practice case questions, learn more about your field, and research the companies. 

2. Cool, calm and collected- If you pull someone off the street, put them in a room that’s hotter than the Sahara, bend them up like a pretzel and tell them not to move they’ll probably freak out.  And yet, the key to yoga is calm.  Students pick the calm vibes up from the instructor.  Likewise, calmness equals confidence in that interview room, and companies need to know that you’ll be calm in high pressure situations.

3. Rehearsed, but genuine- Instructors often repeat the same lines.  Go back, way back, fall back… etc.  But to some extent, that’s okay.  Students need to know which foot to pick up, or how their weight should be distributed.  That stuff needs to be right every time.  Your “tell me about yourself” pitch needs to be the same way.  However, you still have to be passionate and care about your story, much like an instructor must genuinely care about his or her class.

4. Be flexible- This one is a double meaning.  Ha!  Sorry.  The skill level of yoga students varies with each session, and invariably a student will need specific help from an instructor.  And so, mid-class, mid-pose, mid-sentence, an instructor must be able to call out guidance on the fly to that student.  The same goes in interviewing.  You’re gonna get hit with a question you didn’t prepare for.  How well can you adapt what you’ve practiced to this unexpected challenge?

5. Have fun- Let’s be honest: not too many folks would practice yoga unless it was a.) good for them and b.) enjoyable.  The best instructors aren’t afraid to laugh, flash a smile, and engage their students.  Great interviewees must do the same.  Why would a company want to bring you in to their family if you don’t have a personality?  There are a million other candidates out there with great resumes gunning for the same job, and I bet a bunch of them are pretty cool people.  They’ll win the tiebreaker every time.

So there you have it.  Interview like a yoga instructor.

Darden, finish that exhale and then take a deep breath—we’re not done yet.

From the Foxhole

High pressure events have a way of knocking us out of rhythm, and I'd classify exams and resume drops as high pressure events.

Darden first years are squarely in the middle of exams and the job hunt.  As a result, my faithful bi-weekly blog entry rhythm went out the window two weeks ago.  It's not that I didn't have any spare time, it's just that I had WAY less of it.

So, here's the update: we've begun submitting our resumes and cover letters to the companies we'd like to intern with.  The networking is over, but the interview preparation process is just around the corner.  That means hours of industry research, hours of structuring responses to likely questions, hours practicing in front of the mirror, and hours of mock interviews.

This is where we lean on our incredible second years, like my SY Coach Devin.  Devin is an absolute rockstar.  In the midst of her own constantly changing, busy life, Devin found time to leave massive amounts of ink on my resume and cover letter, helped connect me with folks who can help with my internship search, and offered honest criticism of my two minute pitch.  Most importantly, my coach is a master of motivation.  She's positive, encouraging, understanding.  Her confidence in me gives me confidence in me.

Devin doing an all important task: Darden tailgate setup.

Devin's not alone.  SYs are always willing to sit down during First Coffee to talk about their internship experience.  They share their insight on how they made it through interview season.  It is this kind of selflessness that separates Darden: we are truly here to help one another succeed, and I treasure that spirit.

Lastly, I'm in the middle of exams.  Like right now.  My left side brain is yelling, "the finance exam won't take itself!"  My right side brain, though, needs a moment to write something fun (although I'm enjoying finance way more than I thought I would).

This is by far the most daunting exam period we've had- five tests in six days.  And, they're not fluff exams either: strategy, operations, accounting, finance, econ.  Fortunately, I feel prepared for most of them, thanks to an awesome group of professors and the patience of my learning team.

LT 54, Hillary you should have eaten pizza with us that night!

OK, time's up. Right brain wins.  It's back to my foxhole (aka my desk) and my new rhythm- the exam rhythm- one driven by the cadence of laptop keys and page flipping.

Letter to Last Year’s Me (and to this Year’s Applicants)

Dear Jeff (Insert your name here if you hope to be part of Darden’s class of 2014),

It’s Thursday evening and you’ve just finished another tough day of running and gunning at work.  You’re tired and frustrated.  I know the feeling, because I am you.

(Okay, applicants, I’m not you, but you get the point.)

Anyways, I’m writing to remind you that not long ago, you realized it was time for a change.  Remember the day the light switch flipped on?

You knew it was time for the next stage of your journey.  Sure, you’ve been successful at your current career.  You might even have some trophies on your shelf, some fancy documents in frames on the wall, and some accolades on your resume (which will be SERIOUSLY reformatted one year from now, by the way).

But deep in your heart, you know you’re capable of even more.  You can have a bigger impact.  You can take on more responsibility.  You can be a leader.

Obviously, that stuff doesn’t happen overnight.  There is so much to learn, from people who’ve done it and from people who can teach it.  You’ve got to give it a try in a safe environment, where you can afford to make mistakes.  This has to be a place that welcomes new ideas, doesn’t push you down, and doesn’t restrict what you’re capable of.   It helps if this place surrounds you with smart, successful people who have the same goals.  These folks want to get to the top, but they want you to get there too.  As such, they’ll take their own spare time to help you, and they won’t grab opportunities at the cost of your success.  They’ll be your friends and your teammates.

These people are your classmates, and this place is the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration.

I know it’s the right place because I’m here right now, and believe me, life is awesome.  Granted, class is HARD.  Case method involves continuous class participation, constant thinking, lots of reading and lots of learning team time.  In fact, you’ll work harder at school than you currently work at work.  But trust me, it’ll be interesting stuff and you’ll learn a ton (WACC isn’t just a football conference (sic), Five Forces isn’t a Star Wars reference, and Crystal Ball really can help you understand the future).

On top of class and homework, there is something going on every night.  There are sporting events, social events and charity events (FYI you’ll end up taking the Darden Cup entirely too seriously).  And, there’s a networking event every day.  There are on grounds companies to talk to and off grounds companies to reach out to.  There are brand challenges and consulting competitions.  You’ll still want to rock climb and write songs on the piano (good luck scheduling that stuff in!).  Also, your mom, your college buddies, and the guy who currently occupies the adjacent cubicle will want to call and chat (always call your mom back first).

There won’t be time for everything, but that’s the point.  Great leaders strike the right balance, and Darden is here to help you become a great leader.

So, keep up the good work at the office, but be sure to crush the GMAT and get that application in on time. 

Darden won’t be easy.  You will be exhausted.  You will be tested.  You will be shaken.  It will be worth every minute.

You’re getting better, getting stronger.

And, you have a future- one both of us should be excited about.

Best,

Jeff

P.S. In all seriousness, drop me an e-mail if you're interested in finding out more about Darden.  TangJ13@Darden.Virginia.edu

                                       Me, in another lifetime, during the Nashville Flood in 2010

Superstitions and Traditions

What do you do when you see a coin on the ground?  Do you pick it up?

As I kid, I would have told you it depends: if it’s heads up, it’s yours.  If it’s tails up, leave it- unless you’re asking for trouble and bad luck.

What a silly superstition!  And yet, I believed it as a boy.  Fortunately, it didn’t take me long to figure out a loophole.  If I ever ran across a fallen coin that was showing tails, I simply kicked it against a curb or a wall until it flipped right side up.  Squealing with delight, I’d bend down and pocket the change, filling up my good luck reservoir in the process.

I thought back on that funny little superstition this weekend, and realized it is a metaphor for how we should live our lives.  Sometimes you’re dealt a good hand, sometimes you’re dealt a bad hand, but you make the most of it either way.

In other words, you can make your own luck.  It’s something that became so apparent during exam season.  Term 1 at Darden was hard, but Term 2 was substantially harder.  Need proof of that?  Ask any first year how much sleep they’re got.  Ask them how confident they felt going into the Decision Analysis, Marketing and Accounting exams.

Class was difficult, and the work load exhausting.  This was the hand we were dealt.  And yet, so many of my classmates chose to make their own luck.  We attended DA workshops.  We met with professors.  We went to Q&A sessions.  We spent hours at marathon learning team meetings.  We even stayed in on Friday night to spend extra time on cases instead of heading to the bars on The Corner.

I can only hope the hard work paid off this past weekend, which was as challenging as advertised.  The tests took three hours for Accounting, four for Marketing, and five for DA, with tons of studying in between.  For someone with a non-quantitative background who hasn’t been in school for seven years, this was a pretty crazy four days.

And while I didn’t rely on superstitions to aid my cause, I did employ a final exam tradition that dates back to my junior year at Northwestern.

Burdened by finals, deprived of sleep, and with no one to impress, I let it all go for a full week.  I didn’t shower.  I didn’t shave.  And, I never changed out of my pajamas.

Thus was born my finals tradition.

Eight years later, I stand firmly by my finals pajamas ritual, as the picture below proves (you’ll be glad to know I’ve made some tweaks, however- I’ve showered twice this weekend, thankyouverymuch).

Anyways, I bring up the coin on the ground and the pjs examples to make a larger observation: the line between superstition and tradition is a seemingly fine one.  But to me, there’s a big difference: superstitions leave too much to chance.  They suggest that luck has more to do with success than hard work.  Traditions, on the other hand, feel more like a comfort thing, something you do because it feels right- not because you expect it to solve all of your problems.  And boy, does walking around in pajama pants and hoodies for four days feel right!

I might be inclined to challenge superstition and embrace tradition, but I’ll make the occasional exception.

During exams, I found myself looking for any kind of good fortune, any kind of hopeful sign.  On Friday night in between tests, I saw a coin on the ground while walking back from dinner at Liz and Aaron’s house.

It was heads up.

Superstition or not, I picked it up and put it in my pocket, where it’s been all weekend.

Hey, during exam week, I’ll take all the help I can get.

The Family

So I realized there wasn't a picture with all of us together anywhere on the blog.  Here's us at Aaron and Liz's wedding, all making the letters for "Cville."  Abstract I know.  Nevertheless, you get the sentiment!

(P.S.: this is an addendum to the original post, "My Darden Family," hope you get a chance to read my prior blog entries!)

29 and Holding... On

Growing up, my brother and I called Marge Tennant “Grama.”  Marge took amazing care of us through our childhood.  She taught us to be respectful and courteous.  She watched “Price is Right” with us each afternoon.  She made sure we dutifully practiced the piano.  With the exception of a blood relation and a couple of missing letters, she really was like a grandma to us.

Marge battled arthritis her whole life- she still fights it to this day.  It often turned the most routine of activities into impossibilities for her.  And yet, Grama maintained a happy disposition and a young spirit.  She often jokingly described her age as “29 and holding…”

Grama’s funny phrase was the last thing on my mind during Darden Cup softball earlier this year as I rounded second base.  Running at this point was supposed to be academic- I’d crushed the ball over the right fielder’s head, and it was a certain home run.

Unfortunately, no one mentioned this to my left hamstring, which exploded somewhere between second and third.

I limped home, knowing this was a serious injury- I’d injured the same hamstring running indoor track in my senior year of high school and missed several months of action.

I iced the hamstring, I wore a compression sleeve.  I elevated it, I stretched it.  I thought things were getting better, so I jumped back into the thick of it. 

Bad choice.  Last week, I re-injured the hamstring practicing for Darden Cup flag football.

That’s when I realized the truth: I am 29 and holding… on.

And just barely holding on, it turns out.  I get hurt more than I used to.  It takes longer to recover.  I think I’m a step slower than my high school days.  My flexibility has gone down the toilet, and my back is always sore.

But physical deterioration is not the only thing I’m battling.  The work load at Darden, famous for being robust, is kicking into high gear.  We have three cases a night, and each often requires several hours of reading, calculations, and analysis.  I feel my once firm grasp on the concepts slipping slowly away from me as the pace quickens.

So, you do your best.  You study your butt off while taping a bag of frozen peas to your hammy (efficiency!).  You sleep a little less and drink a little more coffee.

Most importantly, you do something you love.   I was reminded of this by Amanda Mills, who works in the financial aid office at Darden.  She was one of the first people I communicated with during the application process, and I see her now and again on the grounds.

The other day, Amanda stopped me and asked how I was doing.  Then she asked a question that stopped me in my tracks: are you doing anything for yourself?

I thought for a second, smiled, and said “yes.”

It was the right answer to this cold call.  Amanda told me she’d seen too many students collapse under the workload.  Among the networking, the briefings, the cases, the classes, they’d forgotten about themselves.

I’ve taken Amanda’s words to heart over the last ten days.  I blocked off some time to play NCAA Football 2012 on the XBOX 360 with Aaron, Jeff and Liz.  The family makes sure to have family together at least once a week (Beth is an awesome cook!).  I also traveled to Nashville to see my old friends and watch my favorite band Wilco.  Sadie, Fender and I took an awesome Sunday morning hike to Humpback Rock with my friends Jesse and Taku.  The leaves are changing in Virginia, and it is breathtaking. 

Sure, we hold on to our youth, and we hold on for dear life as the course load intensifies.  But at Darden, you also have hold on to who you are.  At the ripe young age of 29, I can at least say I’m doing a pretty good job on that last part.

And So It Begins...

Term two smacked me in the face with the drone of my alarm at 6:35 AM Monday morning.  After a week of no classes, I was just starting to get used to waking up on my own terms.

6:45 AM: Took the girls (Sadie and Fender) on a potty walk.  Mission accomplished… I’ll spare you the details.

7:00 AM: Shower, change into business casual clothing for networking events.  Clip on my trusty nametag.

7:30 AM: Jeff, Liz and I carpool to Darden, picking up our friend Bridget along the way.

8:00 AM: Financial Accounting class.  I get cold called to present my balance sheet, saying a silent thank you to my awesome learning team for prepping me on the case the night before.

9:25 AM: First Coffee.  This is a misnomer, though.  It’s really Second Coffee (almost every one of us fills up before our 8 AM class).  It could also be called First Bathroom Break (the men's rooms are usually packed during this time- that coffee runs through you!).  As Section E athletics rep, I use this window to plan a flag football practice for the Darden Cup.  As three time defending champs, we take this stuff seriously.

10:00 AM: Our first Global Economies and Markets (GEM) class.  First words out of our professor’s mouth: “This will be one of the hardest classes, if not the hardest, you’ll take at Darden.”  Oy.  Sure enough, the class involves lots of complicated models and arrows and abbreviations.  Fortunately, Professor Li is interesting, engaging and intelligent (like every other professor I’ve had so far at Darden).

11:45 AM: Our first Operations Class.  I get cold called AGAIN.  This time, I’m on the ball and provide some game-changing analysis on why Shouldice Hospital performs the best hernia surgeries in the biz.  I’m beginning to realize, however, that my new seat is right at professor eyelevel.  This is both a good and bad thing.  Not surprisingly, Professor Weiss is outstanding.  He keeps us laughing and learning nonstop for 85 minutes.

1:30 PM: Company briefing with Johnson & Johnson.  We had briefings all last week, but J&J’s is today immediately after class.  Fortunately, they provide some yummy vegetarian wraps.  In the briefing, my initial impression is confirmed: J&J is an awesome company to work for.  It is massively successful, environmentally responsible, and incredibly supportive of its employees. 

3:45 PM: Sneak into a learning team room to finish my Personal Career Plan (PCP) for our Career Development Center.  It was due at 3:00… oops.

4:30 PM: Head back to the house to walk/feed the pups and study some more.

5:00 PM: My learning teammate Vikram calls.  He, like me, is up to his ears in Darden stuff.  He has two critical company briefings and asks me to take the lead on our finance case.  I say absolutely, because Vikram is a rockstar who has already helped me on more occasions than I can count.

6:45 PM: I drive back to Darden.  I’ve rocked finance, but the other two cases (GEM and Accounting) not so much.

7:00 PM: Our LT looks at each other, sighs, and laughs.  We’re all aware that things are about to get intense this term.

7:15 PM: We knock out the cases as a team.  I’ve already said it, and this won’t be the last time, but our learning team ROCKS.

8:45 PM: I hurry to a J&J networking event at Bang, a downtown restaurant.  When J&J says it prides itself in its people, they mean it.  The company’s reps (also Darden alums) are easy to talk to and full of passion.  And, they are so sincere in their efforts to help us rookie first years learn the ropes.  I’m still in awe of the fact that companies like J&J COME HERE to see US.  So humbling.

10:15 PM: I head home, take the pups out one last time, and sit down to read my Decision Analysis case to prepare for a presentation team meeting tomorrow.  I end up writing this blog entry first.

P.S. I’m exhausted.

Darden is no joke.  There wasn't a free minute to be had today.  And yet despite all of the work and the chaos, I’m loving every second of it.  I’ve never felt so empowered, so excited, so satisfied.  They throw the kitchen sink at us because that’s what the real world is like.  Here's the thing: we can’t just cope when pots, pans, dishes and silverware are coming at us- we have to thrive and lead in these times.  I love the challenge of it.

First term is done.  The training wheels are off… and so it begins.

I say bring it on.

My Darden Family

Five weeks ago, I stepped onto Darden’s perfectly manicured campus, walked through the double doors of Saunders Hall, filed into a signup line, and clipped on my name tag: Jeff Tang, MBA Class of 2013.

It was the beginning of my new life journey, and an introduction to a new community.

The concept of the “Darden Family” is a well-constructed one.  And, it is very real.  The school and its faculty are incredibly supportive and wise, just like your parents.  Classmates really are like siblings.  You spend hours at a time together in close confines.  You laugh together, learn together, disagree with each other, and learn to love each other. 

But for me, the words “Darden Family” have a different meaning because my real family is also part of my Darden family.  Ten years ago, I met my best friend Jeff Campbell on the campus of Northwestern University.  To this day, Jeff and I have almost identical interests- we were both television journalists, we play lots of sports, dance like goofballs to country music, have a desire to make everything a competition, and possess a nose for good coffee and red wine.  I’m proud to say that on that fateful day in August 2011, Jeff also clipped on his Darden MBA Class of 2013 name tag.  Jeff’s wife Beth, also a dear friend from my Northwestern days, made the move to Charlottesville too.

It doesn’t end there.  It turns out, Jeff has a younger sister and I have a younger brother.  Liz Campbell met Aaron Tang at me and Jeff’s graduation in 2004.

(Can you guess where this is going?)

On August 6^th, 2011, the two younger siblings married in Keystone, Colorado.  One week later, Liz Campbell Tang clipped on her nametag and joined the class of 2013 at Darden as well.

I know.  It’s kind of crazy and more than a little confusing.  That’s why I’ve included a diagram in this blog entry- Liz created it in an effort to explain the family situation to our new classmates.

The point is we’re all together, and happy as can be.  After getting our acceptance calls from Darden, Jeff Campbell noted that the next two years might be the best ones of our lives.

So far, it hasn’t disappointed.

I’m excited to share my thoughts and experiences at Darden with you over the next two years.  And, Liz and Jeff will be posting special guest entries on this blog as well.  On behalf of them, and all of us, welcome to our lives- and welcome to our Darden Family!

Meet Everyone:

Jeff Campbell- Colorado boy…  Former TV news anchorman at the NBC station in Charlotte, NC… all-star intramural sports athlete…  avid Denver Broncos fan...  elected Section C Representative at Darden…

Beth Campbell- Jeff Campbell’s wife… the glue of the family… resident sparkplug and expert chef… political junkie… former TV news reporter for the NBC station in Charlotte… Richmond native…

Liz Campbell Tang- Jeff Campbell’s younger sister… former environmental engineer who always thinks green… graduated from Washington University in St. Louis… softball catcher who shares athletics representative duties for Section D at Darden…

 
Aaron Tang- Jeff Tang’s younger brother and Liz’s husband… recently graduated from Stanford Law School and is now working for a DC law firm remotely from Charlottesville… Yale graduate… expert at 1990s role playing video games…
 

Ashlee- Aaron and Liz’s cat… adopted from a shelter in St. Louis… knows how to sit and shake hands/paws (Aaron and Liz wanted a dog but are now enamored with their kitty)

Fender- One of Jeff Tang’s dogs… would try to eat Ashlee if the two ever met… rescued off the streets of Nashville during an Oktoberfest event… Part Samoyed, part collie, part chow, part Shiba-Inu, all mutt…

Sadie- Jeff Tang’s other dog… adopted from the humane society in Louisville, KY… shameless foodie and belly rub mooch… part Australian Shepherd, part American Eskimo Dog, part Akita, all mutt…

Me- former TV news reporter at the CBS station in Nashville, TN… rock climber… singer/songwriter that was part of a rock band in Nashville for four years… shameless promoter of healthy eating habits and environmentally responsible behavior…