A few days ago, the following comment was left on a recent blog entry and I thought it would make a good thing to write about since I can’t go into details about the Disorientation activities we’ve been having recently.
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KV said…
Are you more excited or sad to be officially done with the MBA?
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Whew, this is a question that has been bouncing around in my mind for the past two or three weeks. At this point, I can’t say that I’m 100% in either direction…it’s more of a blend of feelings with one or the other becoming stronger, depending on the moment.
Part of me is really excited about the chance to get back out into the working world and get a whole new start on things. When i started this blog two and a half years ago, I was in a job that wasn’t going to get me toward where I wanted my career to go and I felt trapped in a “techie” trajectory. Now, I’m headed off to the “dream company” that I had in mind when i was writing my business school essays. In the past week or so, I’ve caught myself thinking ahead to what i’ll have waiting for me at McKinsey and, while a little scary, the uncertainty is exciting. I’m moving to a whole new city where i don’t know many people, going to a company where the expectations will be high, and moving into a job where I’ll be expected to perform like a champ almost immediately. A few months ago, the thought of all this has me worried, but, now that I’m confident that I’ll do well, it all just has me amped up to get started. The Real World is waiting and I’m finally ready to jump back into it.
On the other hand, there is a large part of me that isn’t ready to depart the GSB yet. I’ve gotten really spoiled in the past two years with the folks I’ve been around. I don’t know how Derrick Bolton and his staff do it, but they have a knack for bringing together a group of differnet people from all over the place and having those people build a tight community that is more of a “family” than a “network”. The folks I’ve met here have had a major impact on both my education and me personally and there’s no way that i could ever express what I’ve gotten from them. Also, after thinking that my classmates weren’t checkin’ for me, being named a finalist for the Arbuckle Award showed me that I might have had an impact on some of my classmates, as well. There is just so much more learning and growing that I could do with these people and it sucks that our time together is ticking away so quickly. Also, on a more personal note, making the move to ATL means that my GF and I will have to endure a long-distance relationship, which is going to be TOUGH!..looks like I’ve got a lot of cross country flights ahead of me for the next year or so. Just when everything seemed to be working on all cylinders and I felt totally comfortable here, it’s all coming to a close and that’s a lot more difficult to consider than I thought it’d be. All of this combined has part of me wishing that I didn’t have to leave Stanford GSB yet…sometimes, I wish we could have a 3rd year of Bschool.
So, my emotions are all over the place right now and will likely continue to be that way until Saturday when graduation finally arives. Well, I’ve got to get ready for the last event of Disorientation…i.e. The Last Horrah for the Class of 2006 before graduation. It’s amazing how much of an affect two years in business school can have on a person…
Before I go, I wanted to post the link to one of the coolest commercials I’ve seen in a long time. It’s an ad for HP that stars Jay-Z. Y’all need to check this out…click the link below and then choose “Jay-Z” when the page loads up:
http://www.hp.com/personalagain/us/en/index.html?jumpid=ex_R11260_vanity/personalagain/psg/home
————————————————-
KV said…
Are you more excited or sad to be officially done with the MBA?
————————————————-
Whew, this is a question that has been bouncing around in my mind for the past two or three weeks. At this point, I can’t say that I’m 100% in either direction…it’s more of a blend of feelings with one or the other becoming stronger, depending on the moment.
Part of me is really excited about the chance to get back out into the working world and get a whole new start on things. When i started this blog two and a half years ago, I was in a job that wasn’t going to get me toward where I wanted my career to go and I felt trapped in a “techie” trajectory. Now, I’m headed off to the “dream company” that I had in mind when i was writing my business school essays. In the past week or so, I’ve caught myself thinking ahead to what i’ll have waiting for me at McKinsey and, while a little scary, the uncertainty is exciting. I’m moving to a whole new city where i don’t know many people, going to a company where the expectations will be high, and moving into a job where I’ll be expected to perform like a champ almost immediately. A few months ago, the thought of all this has me worried, but, now that I’m confident that I’ll do well, it all just has me amped up to get started. The Real World is waiting and I’m finally ready to jump back into it.
On the other hand, there is a large part of me that isn’t ready to depart the GSB yet. I’ve gotten really spoiled in the past two years with the folks I’ve been around. I don’t know how Derrick Bolton and his staff do it, but they have a knack for bringing together a group of differnet people from all over the place and having those people build a tight community that is more of a “family” than a “network”. The folks I’ve met here have had a major impact on both my education and me personally and there’s no way that i could ever express what I’ve gotten from them. Also, after thinking that my classmates weren’t checkin’ for me, being named a finalist for the Arbuckle Award showed me that I might have had an impact on some of my classmates, as well. There is just so much more learning and growing that I could do with these people and it sucks that our time together is ticking away so quickly. Also, on a more personal note, making the move to ATL means that my GF and I will have to endure a long-distance relationship, which is going to be TOUGH!..looks like I’ve got a lot of cross country flights ahead of me for the next year or so. Just when everything seemed to be working on all cylinders and I felt totally comfortable here, it’s all coming to a close and that’s a lot more difficult to consider than I thought it’d be. All of this combined has part of me wishing that I didn’t have to leave Stanford GSB yet…sometimes, I wish we could have a 3rd year of Bschool.
So, my emotions are all over the place right now and will likely continue to be that way until Saturday when graduation finally arives. Well, I’ve got to get ready for the last event of Disorientation…i.e. The Last Horrah for the Class of 2006 before graduation. It’s amazing how much of an affect two years in business school can have on a person…
Before I go, I wanted to post the link to one of the coolest commercials I’ve seen in a long time. It’s an ad for HP that stars Jay-Z. Y’all need to check this out…click the link below and then choose “Jay-Z” when the page loads up:
http://www.hp.com/personalagain/us/en/index.html?jumpid=ex_R11260_vanity/personalagain/psg/home
Hey, don’t worry about joining McKinsey, you’ll have lots of fun and very helpful training at the beginning (think one full week of role plays and feedback, lots of fun), and nobody will expect you to perform like a champ from one day. From my experience after more than 2 years with the Firm, you know that when you get a rookie on your team they will be learning for at least 2 months before they “perform like a champ”. It’s very normal, even McKinsey people usually have to practice for 6 months or so till they run alone, and you’ll have lots of competent and helpful people around you, ok?
Which office are you joining?
Angel Angie,
Thanks for the words of encouragement. they’re definitely welcome given all of the uncertainty coming my way. I’ll be joining the Atlanta office at the beginning of August. Which office are you in?
-Marquis
Marquis, I’m in the German office. But most of the big trainings (the “Initial Leadership Workshop”, for example) are international so I met a lot of people from the US offices, great bunch! In my experience, the people from the US offices are the most fun, the most impressive and the most diverse!
I understand your mixed emotions. I’m glad I still have 1 year left.
Good luck on the long distance relationship…it’s tough.