Saturday, August 12, 2006

. . . And Exhale

Wow! Has it really been a month since my last post? I promise, I haven’t forgotten this little labor of love, my blog. It’s simply been an intense four weeks, professionally and personally.

Professionally, things started to pick up after my last post. My project took on a life of its own, growing quite large in scope. It took everything I had to rein it in, to make sure that I could finish the part of it that I would need to show managers across the organization at its official unveiling, my presentation. My presentation happened this past Thursday and seemed to go quite well. I had spent weeks preparing the deck. With over 15 iterations, and thirty rehearsals, I still felt nervous going into it. The conference room was so crowded that most attendees had to stand. And the lights seemed very bright to me. Standing in front of everyone, I remember feeling terrified that I would suddenly freeze, with the clicker in my hand, and would have to be nudged into speaking. Fortunately, once I opened my mouth to introduce myself, everything just flowed. I stopped being frightened and felt strangely at-ease. I was so comfortable that I even made a few jokes along the way. It was a very satisfying experience, and the feedback I received was all very positive. Later that day, the VP of my group took the team out for drinks. He told me that the tool I created would be used by the company for many years, and went on to explain how unusual it was for an intern project to have such significance. So yeah, I feel pretty special about that. At this point, I am 95% sure that if I were given an offer, I would take it. The company is amazing, as are the people. Towards the end, I totally bonded with my fellow interns. I’m going to miss them most of all. I still have another two weeks to go, which is great because I need the time to put the finishing touches on the tool I developed, among other things. I do feel fortunate to have had a great experience this summer. Not everyone is so lucky.

Personally, things were more complicated. It seemed like all of my exes re-emerged at once. A flash flood of old relationships. I’m sick of 'em.

Well, I’m about to go to the movies to watch "Little Miss Sunshine." Just to wrap up, if you sent me an email and I haven’t responded, my apologies. I will do my best to reply within the week. Also, we did get our list of electives for the fall. I’m quite pleased with the selection, but some of my classmates are unhappy about the lack of health care electives. (Am I remembering that correctly?) Anyway, curious to see what I get after bidding. I’m not planning on taking any of the more popular classes, so I should do pretty well. Wish me luck. . . . And thanks, KV, for asking. :)

3 Comments:

Blogger Keven said...

So how does the core/electives system split out at Yale?

Tuesday, August 15, 2006 4:21:00 PM  
Blogger Jerry Blank said...

Core classes are taken in the first year only. This allows you one elective in the spring of your first year and a second year comprised entirely of classes of your own choosing. How does it work at Madison?

Glad to see you posting again. How did the internship go?

Tuesday, August 15, 2006 7:42:00 PM  
Blogger Keven said...

In Madison, you have core courses, courses required by your specialization (which are effectively the electives you chose when you decided to apply to say Marketing Research or Corporate Finance), then there is actual electives (of which there are very few)

In my first semester the core courses were Marketing, Finance, Data Analysis, and Accounting. Then I had Marketing Research as required course. In the semester coming the only core course I have is Business Strategy. Consumer Behavior and Experimental Design are required by the Nielsen center. Brand Strategy is a "recommended" elective, and Negotiations is a true elective.

It's very rigid, but you know that going in. It's why they're really looking for people who know EXACTLY what they want to do before they come into the program.

The internship was really good thanks.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006 10:10:00 PM  

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