It really IS like drinking water from a firehose
Long time no blog. Things have been crazy! Prior to b-school, I thought people were exaggerating when they referred to the craziness that is the first term. But now I believe them. Between classes, clubs, etc., I really don't have a lot of time to sleep. Or even cook. (Why did I buy spices?) I've been having a slightly more difficult "adjustment period" than i initially expected to have.
The biggest transition has been to actually be a student. Admittedly, I didn't work terribly hard for the last 6-9 months of my old job, so I got used to being kinda lazy. Even though I was bored out of my mind at my old job, and I like being mentally challenged now, I'm having a hard time actually motivating myself to do homework. Also, even when I did work hard, I tried to minimize the amount of work that I brought home. Now, it's strange to think "ok, done with class, I gotta go home and read/study now". I realized I was a student about a week ago when I had 3 assignments due on the same day (Econ problem set, accounting midterm, stats quiz). And the funny part is that accounting was the only class I actually had the day the 3 assignments were due. I've got another crazy busy work week/weekend coming up. Econ midterm friday (I'm not good at econ), accounting test next monday, stats quiz due next week. Wish me luck!
Which leads me to another transition - B-school social life. At the very beginning of RLP and right before classes, I was getting a bit nervous that most social events seemed to involve keg-stands of nasty beer, beer pong, and acting like we're freshmen in college again. Plus, at the very beginning, I also felt like I had to go to EVERYTHING. I'm not that much of a drinker, so a lot of these events were just starting to seem old to me. But, as people realized that we're not 19, and we've gotten homework, and I've found friends with similar interests, I've started to feel more "at home" socially. I mean, there are still the crazy drinking activities, but there are also people who like to chill. And you don't feel like I have to go to everything anymore either. Plus, a lot of section events (at least in my section) are more mellow anyway. That makes me much happier.
One difference in social life between California life and b-school life: I can't plan activities to do based on the weather. It rains all of the time here. And very suddenly. I've seen it beautiful at 2pm only to have it storm at 4pm. Then it's nice out again by about 5:30. I was mentally prepared to deal with cold in winter, but sudden downpours (that sometimes make it hard to drive)? Then last week was cold and i was dressed in my winter gear: sweater, leather jacket, and boots. I've heard it's an El Nino year - I know that means rain at home, but does that translate into snow out here?
And finally, the best adjustment. Michigan football. It's awesome to be 4-0 (and not just b/c my undergrad is 0-4). But it's just incredible to see how this whole town basically rallies around the football team, and how things almost shut down on a Football saturday. The Notre Dame game definitely increased momentum, and we had over 111,000 fans at the game on Saturday (including me). The Pac-10 is nothing like this. At home, and in undergrad, we would go to the game then come home. Here, the game is an all-day event divided into 4 parts: the bus, the game, the UMBSA tailgate, the bus (again)
"The Bus". This is a school bus painted to resemble a helmet. And where you can get your 10am drinkfest on. I don't actually drink much there, but it's just cool to be part of that. You pass a lot of tailgates on the way to the bus, and "the bus" has beer pong and awesome music. Definitely a good place to socialize, run into friends, and meet up to go to the game. That is, if you make it to the game...
The game - awesome! Nothing like having 111,000 fans chanting "you suck" whenever the opponent doesn't make a 3rd down conversion. Or "Hail to the victors" when we win (followed by people lifting people and bouncing them up and down). Games are even more fun when we win.
UMBSA tailgate - these are awesome because 1) they're a good place to wind down after the game, 2) they're sponsored by companies that recruit on campus and there's good networking, and 3) you get food (probably for the first time all day). This weekend's was sponsored by Target, and they brought in good food from Zingerman's.
The bus (part 2) - people go back to the bus to finish partying (and get their $5-worth in beer). I never make it back to the bus since I'm always tired after the game, but the bus goes on all night.
So that's it. I'm starting to feel more adjusted and am hoping that at one point, I'll feel like I have more control over my schedule. Now to get back to my strategy reading.
The biggest transition has been to actually be a student. Admittedly, I didn't work terribly hard for the last 6-9 months of my old job, so I got used to being kinda lazy. Even though I was bored out of my mind at my old job, and I like being mentally challenged now, I'm having a hard time actually motivating myself to do homework. Also, even when I did work hard, I tried to minimize the amount of work that I brought home. Now, it's strange to think "ok, done with class, I gotta go home and read/study now". I realized I was a student about a week ago when I had 3 assignments due on the same day (Econ problem set, accounting midterm, stats quiz). And the funny part is that accounting was the only class I actually had the day the 3 assignments were due. I've got another crazy busy work week/weekend coming up. Econ midterm friday (I'm not good at econ), accounting test next monday, stats quiz due next week. Wish me luck!
Which leads me to another transition - B-school social life. At the very beginning of RLP and right before classes, I was getting a bit nervous that most social events seemed to involve keg-stands of nasty beer, beer pong, and acting like we're freshmen in college again. Plus, at the very beginning, I also felt like I had to go to EVERYTHING. I'm not that much of a drinker, so a lot of these events were just starting to seem old to me. But, as people realized that we're not 19, and we've gotten homework, and I've found friends with similar interests, I've started to feel more "at home" socially. I mean, there are still the crazy drinking activities, but there are also people who like to chill. And you don't feel like I have to go to everything anymore either. Plus, a lot of section events (at least in my section) are more mellow anyway. That makes me much happier.
One difference in social life between California life and b-school life: I can't plan activities to do based on the weather. It rains all of the time here. And very suddenly. I've seen it beautiful at 2pm only to have it storm at 4pm. Then it's nice out again by about 5:30. I was mentally prepared to deal with cold in winter, but sudden downpours (that sometimes make it hard to drive)? Then last week was cold and i was dressed in my winter gear: sweater, leather jacket, and boots. I've heard it's an El Nino year - I know that means rain at home, but does that translate into snow out here?
And finally, the best adjustment. Michigan football. It's awesome to be 4-0 (and not just b/c my undergrad is 0-4). But it's just incredible to see how this whole town basically rallies around the football team, and how things almost shut down on a Football saturday. The Notre Dame game definitely increased momentum, and we had over 111,000 fans at the game on Saturday (including me). The Pac-10 is nothing like this. At home, and in undergrad, we would go to the game then come home. Here, the game is an all-day event divided into 4 parts: the bus, the game, the UMBSA tailgate, the bus (again)
"The Bus". This is a school bus painted to resemble a helmet. And where you can get your 10am drinkfest on. I don't actually drink much there, but it's just cool to be part of that. You pass a lot of tailgates on the way to the bus, and "the bus" has beer pong and awesome music. Definitely a good place to socialize, run into friends, and meet up to go to the game. That is, if you make it to the game...
The game - awesome! Nothing like having 111,000 fans chanting "you suck" whenever the opponent doesn't make a 3rd down conversion. Or "Hail to the victors" when we win (followed by people lifting people and bouncing them up and down). Games are even more fun when we win.
UMBSA tailgate - these are awesome because 1) they're a good place to wind down after the game, 2) they're sponsored by companies that recruit on campus and there's good networking, and 3) you get food (probably for the first time all day). This weekend's was sponsored by Target, and they brought in good food from Zingerman's.
The bus (part 2) - people go back to the bus to finish partying (and get their $5-worth in beer). I never make it back to the bus since I'm always tired after the game, but the bus goes on all night.
So that's it. I'm starting to feel more adjusted and am hoping that at one point, I'll feel like I have more control over my schedule. Now to get back to my strategy reading.
posted by fromcali at 10:56 PM
1 Comments:
Talking about football; how crazy would it be at the end of the season if both Michigan and Ohio State are undefeated and play to see who's going to the national championship game (and lose to USC...hehe)...
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