I’m backtracking just slightly to
Friday the 13th (so ominous) to give you a full (and very lengthy) recap!
Friday
(4.13), we present our Interdisciplinary Projects! We’ve spent all semester
with our teams developing a growth strategy for a company of our choice. My
team chose Gap on my recommendation. The Strategy, Finance and Statistics
(hence, interdisciplinary) professors requested that we choose a company that
is falling behind in its specific industry, and Gap is a perfect example of
this! I’m also really fond of fashion, so it proved to be something of a
motivating tool towards the end of the project when the last thing I want to do
is talk for another 5 hours about how to restructure the company.
Anyway, we
finally present our whole strategy to a panel of judges (NEU alumni) on Friday,
and it is incredibly nerve-wracking. This is the first time we’ve presented in
front of our entire class, not just
our section. The panel is impressed with how we arranged the Powerpoint – to
put it briefly, I built an entire linked “matrix” of slides into our Questions
slide that allowed us to link directly to certain topics and exhibits that the
judges may ask questions about. Whew. The hard work paid off, though! My team
placed third out of the entire class!
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| With my team before the results were announced! |
After the morning of presentations, I met up with a friend from high school. I haven't seen him in almost ten years! There was a lot of catching up to do. He told me about his adventures working in Kosovo, while I tell him all about being in the MBA program.
I spend
Saturday (4.14) being incredibly lazy and reading some short chapters and cases
for the last “real” week of classes and booking flights (more on this later!)
before I’m invited out to dinner at Del Frisco’s. Oh my
goodness, it is probably the best meal I’ve had in a while! It’s not every day
I get to eat an entire lobster…! It is such a nice treat after a week of
IDP-induced panic. Thank goodness we have the long weekend to spend recovering
as well.
Sunday
(4.15) is about as uneventful – minus the time I spend working on a poster for a
friend who is running the Boston Marathon tomorrow! I’m really excited to watch
her run. This is the first time I’ve actually gone to watch the marathon during
my several years living in Boston. She’s running for a charity – Tedy’s Team.
They raise funds for stroke prevention research. I spend most of my day
watching TV and coloring in my poster. Stressful, huh?
On Monday
(4.16), we head out to our vantage point for the marathon! We’re watching from
the 23-mile mark, so my poster says “3 MILES LEFT!” in really big letters,
along with my friend’s name. By the time we get there, the elite men and women
are just finishing up. It’s the hottest it’s been in Boston all year, with the
temperature inching above 90 degrees. I’m uncomfortably hot just watching the
runners, so I can’t imagine how the marathoners felt! My friend finishes under
five hours (which is a pretty big accomplishment for an amateur runner!), and
afterwards, I happily skip off to Publick House with another friend to cool
off.
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| My friend at the 23-mile mark. No biggie! |
We have our
last Supply Chain class on Tuesday (4.17). The class is mostly to review key
topics. Professor Lieb also shares with us the format of the final exam next
week – it’ll be two or three essay questions regarding Supply Chain management.
A few of my classmates and I spend the rest of the day studying for the
Operations final. We discuss all of the cases we’ve studied this semester,
along with formulas and things from the textbook and another “optional” book we
read. After about three hours of review, we call it a day.
Wednesday
(4.18), we have our last Finance class in the morning. Most of the class is
spent reviewing topics for (you got it) the final. I’m still a little bit confused
about some of the key points for options, so I make a note to study them over
the weekend. After Finance is the Operations final exam. It is definitely not
what I expected, but it’s a relief to get it out of the way. I give myself the
rest of the afternoon off.
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| The tulips at Northeastern! |
The last
Strategy and Statistics classes are on Thursday (4.19). We receive feedback
from Professor Lamin regarding our presentations from last Friday. Overall,
she’s pleased with our work, and congratulates the winning teams. Just to brag
a little bit; 3 of the top 4 teams are in our section! Then we talk about
disruptive innovations and the effect they have in different industries. This
is followed by our last Statistics class of the semester. I’m happy to have the
rest of the afternoon to write my Living Document 2 for our Career Skills
course. I finish a good chunk of the 15-page paper, and then turn my attention
to Finance. I set up a study session with a few of my classmates for Friday.
Friday
morning (4.20) is our last Career Management meeting. A guest speaker presents
how to have a successful corporate residency, and we’re done! Career Management
has been very helpful, but I’ve never been a morning person. Shortly after the
class, I attend a presentation about ALPFA. It’s a great way to network, and I
sign up to be a member along with a handful of my classmates. Then it’s time to
study for Finance! A group of us meet up in Hayden Hall to go over the first
section of topics that will show up on the exam.
We decide
to target company valuation, dividend policy and capital structure during our
study session. It’s so helpful having the undergrad Finance TA (also one of our
classmates!) on hand to answer questions! I come out of the review session
feeling much better, and we decide to have additional sessions over the
weekend. I spend the rest of the afternoon finishing up my Living Document. It
isn’t due until next Friday, but I (somewhat uncharacteristically) choose to
finish it ahead of time.
Saturday
(4.21) is another study day. In the morning, I read over some of the chapters
for Finance. And then in the afternoon, I meet up with my classmates and the
Finance TA again for another review session, this time we talk about working
capital management and risk management! Fascinating, I know. I type up some of
the key points from our discussion – the Finance professor is allowing us to
bring in a “cheat sheet” for the exam. I also print out my Living Document and
put it in a nice binder. Small things…!
