This is what I call a good looking bunch.



Can I get a side of hindsight with that?

A few nights ago, I went to dinner with two of my best girl friends at Darden. The evening was frighteningly civilized - we were all dolled up and sitting fireside at Ivy Inn while sipping wine, enjoying tasty entrees, and celebrating job offers. Wait...WHAT?!? (insert screeching sound here). Um, rewind. This time last year, I'm 99% sure I was holed up in a Learning Team room, wearing some moderately-socially-acceptable form of pajamas, and trying to figure out what evil person invented case interviews and how I had managed to forget long division. Yikes.

But now, things are looking better than an appetizer of shrimp and grits (side note: highly recommended). I hesitate to quote the Darden saying, "trust the process," because I fear that a band of disgruntled FYs might send me hate mail (totally understandable - I would have done the same last year, too), but the proof is in the pudding. Or, er, the dinner. Between the three of us, we have accepted offers at Target, General Mills, and Bain & Company. Not too bad for a bunch of ladies who suffered multiple panic attacks - together, I believe - in LT rooms last year.

Needless to say, it was a fabulous dinner. Not just because of the company, but also because I cherished the opportunity to celebrate friends, jobs, and all of the ups and downs of the past 365 days. And a warm apple tart for dessert didn't hurt, either!

SY shenanegains, continued.

I know that I owe you all (or y'all, depending on who you are) a post, but I haven't been struck by any particular genius recently. I've been too busy!

So, when in doubt, I resort to what I like best - pictures! Here are some snapshots from the past few weeks.

Oh, Second Year, how I love you so!

 Decorating a friend's house for Halloween...we gave out SO much candy! And, in case you were wondering, I did spend WAY too much on tacky decorations.

Flying with my friend Bill after class on a beautiful fall afternoon (at first...I was a bit skeptical...).

  Bill (read: my anxiety explained).

We landed in one piece! The plane survived, too.

Hiked Old Rag Mountain...all 9 miles. Whoop whoop!

 Made/ate a Harvest Feast! Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the food coma that followed...

Carving pumpkins! (Yes, I am obsessed with holidays.)

Kelly Kapowski and (one of the) Three Blind Mice at the SY Bonfire!

Choose your own adventure.

If First Year was all about "trusting the process," then Second Year is all about "choosing your own adventure." I'm looking at my course schedule for next term (and no, there aren't 6 of them this year…hallelujah) and it looks like an academic grocery list of things I wanted to pick up while in b-school. Check this out:

• Post-Merger Integration: Self-explanatory strategy course in a new and emerging practice area. Sound cool? I think so, too.
• Corporate Innovation and Design Experience: This class meets for 3 hours, once a week, and gives us a chance to learn about the "hot topic of design thinking" (anyone heard of IDEO? Ok then). Um, yes please.

• General Management Workshop: A executive-level look at business problems led by one of Darden's most famous, and beloved, professors, John Colley. Oh, did I mention that we have guest speakers (think former partner at Bain & Company) come back to campus just to speak to the class? Well, now I did (you're welcome!).

• Systems Design and Business Dynamics: Adding another tool to our general management toolkit, this class will teach us how to "use systems analysis techniques and simulations to isolate and describe the often intangible factors that affect the performance dynamics in a business." Translation: this is an awesome class that every aspiring general manager should take.
• Mead Seminar: Like the idea of taking a small seminar where topics are chosen and moderated by your peers? No way! Me too. That's why I took this course. Last week we discussed international development, and next week we'll be tackling education issues (addressing some of the world's most complicated problems = no big deal).

What's not to love?? (……………….crickets……………) My point exactly. Whether you're a quant jockey who eats DCFs for breakfast or you're an OPS guru gunning for your  Six Sigma black belt, have no fear; Second Year and its "pick your flavor" schedule will be here! And trust me (or the process), it is worth the wait.

Moving up in the world (literally).

A quick post to say that The Economist just named Darden #4 in its ranking of full-time MBA programs. Hooray! Congrats all - well deserved. For more on the article, click here: http://www.economist.com/node/21532270.

Oh, the places you'll go!

Greetings from a glorious Second Year! I'm so sorry that it has taken me a while to post something - who knew that my SY schedule would be just as chaotic as it was a year ago!? Me neither. I thought that b-school seniority was synonymous with lazy afternoons, long lunches, and poolside study sessions. Not so, my colorful Outlook calendar reminds me!

But, have no fear, there is good news to report. Although I am still the busy-bee-b-school student that I have always been, my life is considerably less stressful than it's ever been at Darden. No, the case method is not a just a cruel form of initiation to which we only subject the FYs; SYs still have to read, prepare, and wrestle with cases. And yes, I am still finding ways of over-involving myself in all possible extra-curricular activities. So...what's changed?

Well, two things. First, we all survived FY with limited injuries (and those that did occur were inflicted during all too aggressive flag football games). There were times last year when a lot of us wondered if making it to May 2011 was even possible. Now that the milestone is behind us, we feel like a burden has been lifted. Second, we also see the finish line, which is only a few short months away. For fear that this delightful slice of life might actually pass us by, many of us are buckling down and trying to embrace the parts of the Darden experience that we overlooked last year (think: less time in Learning Team rooms, more time in vineyards).

Which brings me to the best part of any blog post...the pictures! Here's a small sampling of what I've been up to for the past few weeks and my attempt to savor every last bit of my time in Cville. ENJOY! I know I did.

I made a 3-course meal with delicious, seasonal ingredients! Yum.

I attended a Harvest Feast at a local vineyard...and we ate at a communal table in the barrel room (read: tough to beat).

I stopped at a local store for autumnal-inspired housewares...and proceeded to spend way too much on pumpkins.

I went on a wine tour! I hope this is the first of many...

I competed in the 25-mile Boys & Girls Cycle Challenge, even though I had never been on a road bike in my life. (Update: I survived. So did the bike.)

I hiked Humpback Rocks! Granted, the weather didn't really cooperate, but that didn't stop me from channeling my inner mountain woman on a Saturday morning (note to self: check weather before embarking on a extraordinarily scenic hike).

ATL. PIT. DCA. IAD. DEN. ORD. JFK.

Some people collect stamps. Others indulge in shoes. I accumulate airport abbreviations. That’s right, aspiring air travelers! I’m in the midst of cobbling together a girl-scout-esque sash to parade around terminals in hopes that it earns me a few extra frequent flier miles or, even better, a free Auntie Annie’s pretzel. In the meantime, however, my mile-high pile of crumpled boarding passes and bag tags will have to suffice.

Welcome to the life of a consultant. Well…not really. First, I’m not technically a consultant. I’m a wannabe consultant, more formally known as a Summer Associate, i.e. an MBA student who is hoping/crossing fingers/knocking on wood that the 10-week internship after First Year goes well enough to result in a full-time offer. Second, the life of a consultant is much more than 5 oz. bottles of shampoo, Starwood status, lightweight luggage, and testy TSA employees. And I’m as serious as SkyMiles.

For the past seven weeks, I have been at Bain & Company, working on a performance improvement case. Although I look, feel, and act like an intern (and get to partake in all the super-fun social activities like the Braves game I’m attending tonight), I’ve never actually been treated like an intern. If anything, my manager has treated me like a full-time employee since day one. When I arrived on the case, he didn’t give me a glorified coloring book, he gave me a discrete and substantial workstream. When met with the partners at the two-week milestone, he wanted me to present my slides. And we hosted a focus group with the client, he expected me to speak up.

Don’t get me wrong – I’ve suffered from several mild panic attacks, computer meltdowns, and can-you-explain-‘answer first’-just-one-more-time moments, but that’s par for the course. The more important takeaway (or “down arrow”), is that I’ve learned more this summer than I ever could have expected, and that is the sign of a great internship. 

Who knows what the next three weeks hold. Another late night with Starbucks on my right and PowerPoint on my left? Perhaps. A frantic sprint from terminal A to terminal J on moving walkways in 4-inch heels? Maybe. Delta peanuts for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Most likely. The good news is - if they are anything like the past seven, I’m in for a wild (and rewarding) ride.

And yes, flight attendants, my seatbelt will be fastened.