New York City, The Internship, Etc.

Two Sunday’s ago, I moved into my apartment in the Village. It’s a great neighborhood, but my “starving artist” roommate is a little on the demanding side. For instance, he guilted me into seeing his off-off-Broadway play. I bought two tickets to the show, thinking I could convince a friend to go with me. Turns out nobody wanted to make the trek out to the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn to see it. Go figure. Anyway, while the production was good, the story was a little thin. Overall, I was happy to show my roommate some love, but the entire experience took four hours. Other ways I could have spent that time: a picnic in Central Park with fellow SOMers interning in the city over the summer or a marketing networking BBQ. Oh, well.

The day after I moved to NY, I started my internship, which began with a full day of orientation. This, of course, included an ice-breaker. I imagine that locking oneself in a dark room with venomous snakes would be less frightening - that stabbing the back of your hand with a fork would be less painful! - than having to participate in some hokey HR person’s best attempt at forcing complete strangers to communicate with each other. Over-dramatic, you say? Not even close. I just wish HR would leave people to their own devices when it comes to introductions. By the time orientation officially began that morning, I had already met four other interns in attendance! `

The internship itself is going well. My manager’s wife had their first baby THE DAY BEFORE my internship began (i.e., the day I moved to NY), so he was a little preoccupied with the whole “new dad” thing. I feel for the guy. The last time I saw him (this past Wednesday), he looked so tired. He had only had three hours of sleep the night before. I can’t even imagine what he’s going through right now. And still, I haven’t felt neglected. What a guy! My fellow interns are also a very cool group of people. Well, for the most part. There’s one guy who kind of rubs me the wrong way. So we’ll see how that goes.

In other news, this was Fleet Week in New York. So lots of white. Blinding white. Very annoying. Oh, and, two nights ago at a bar, I lost my belt. Try explaining to the bouncer at the same bar on the following night that you lost your belt there and then asking him to let you in (without having to pay the cover) to see if anyone turned it in. Kind of embarrassing. I guess the next time I go to a bar I should do a better job of keeping track of my clothes, as I almost lost my shirt that night, too. LOL. New York nightlife is out of control.

I also did my laundry for the first time yesterday and the prices upset me. $4.50 to wash one load and $2.00 to dry. That’s just wrong. This city is ridiculously expensive. No one who makes what I make could afford to live here comfortably. There is no way. I would like to own a home and have nice things, and I just don’t see that happening in New York. I guess I don’t need to be thinking that far ahead right now. I’m enjoying myself, and I’m hoping to do a great job on my internship project so that I get an offer of employment, regardless of whether I believe I will accept it. But it’s hard to ignore the cost of living. Harder still to prevent it from influencing the choices you make today.

Sorry for the long post.

The Real Jerry Blank

So, I’ve updated my blog with a picture of my namesake, Jerri Blank. Isn’t she hot?

It’s come to my attention that almost everyone at SOM knows who I am and so I'm not really writing anonymously after all. That may be, but I am still not going to put my real name on this blog. One, because I don’t want my employer(s) to know that I write this. And two, because if I brought myself to believe that everyone knew who I was, I think I would become a lot more self-conscious. As it is, I already self-censor quite a bit, which makes me sound way more enthusiastic and up-beat (sometimes irritatingly so) than I am in real life. Friends of mine teased me about this recently, but I would rather come off as more positive than negative to the perfect strangers reading this blog . . . and to myself when I read this five years from now.

I suppose I could afford to inject more of “me” into my posts, and will make more of an effort to do so moving forward. Most second-year bloggers seem to suffer from a lack of MBA-related content, so this could be the perfect opportunity to experiment a little.

But just so everyone who knows me knows, I chose “Jerry Blank” for several reasons. Its closeness is just a coincidence. (Seriously, Lendra. Give me a little credit. :-)

Desperately Seeking 'Something To Do'

I'm so bored. What the hell did I do with my free time before business school? Truth be told, I've never done very well with the whole "vacation at home" thing. After a couple of days, I start feeling anxious. I need something to do! I can't wait until next Monday and my first day of work. :)

In the meantime, I've been mildly entertained by youtube. One of my favorite comedy teams, French & Saunders, does this hilarious spoof on Madonna and Britney's Me Against The Music. Then, there's this clip a friend sent today called Evolution of Dance. Funny stuff.

If anyone has a book to recommend, please tell me about it.

First Year, Finished

My first year of business school came to an end on Tuesday. What a ride. After a difficult beginning, it feels good to have done so well in the end. I even got a Distinction, but I was definitely a question mark there for a while. It’s funny how business school can completely destroy your confidence, only to build it back up again. Not funny “ha ha ha,” but funny “hmmm.”

Second years are on a cruise and most first years have left New Haven. I’m still here, but only for a few more days. Then it’s off to New York and the (not so) arduous life of an intern. I kind of wish I had studied law now. Friends of mine who are earning their JD’s are making twice as much per week as I am. Of course, when they actually start their real jobs at these firms they’ll be working 80 hour weeks, while I am looking at a comfortable 40 – 50 hour week. But I digress. . . .

It’s a tremendous relief to be heading into my second year. I’m halfway towards my MBA!

Yield Up

Yield this year is up. That is, more than 180 admits have decided to matriculate. I heard that the Class of 2008 has around 225 students so far. While some attrition is expected, the class will probably still be larger than planned. If true (and I have no reason to believe that it isn't), this is great news for the school!

Just thought I'd share. Okay, back to studying.

Classes End

Classes ended today. Man, it felt good turning in that last homework assignment!

I submitted final papers for two classes yesterday. All I have left is two finals, and they're three full days apart.

At noon on Tuesday, May 9th, my first year at Yale SOM will end. It's a little bittersweet, and that surprises me. More on this later. Right now, I'm off to study Ops.

To everyone with exams, good luck!