Thursday, December 09, 2004
Home Stretch
We're coming down the home stretch now and pretty much all that's left are finals. I'm not too worried, finals aren't really a huge deal here, they're open everything (except internet), and they give 4 hours, so I'm just not that concerned. I think 1-4 hours of studying each night should do the trick.
I've had several things I want to write about, but I have either not had time or forgotten what I wanted to say, or some combination of the two. Holidazzle was great, Jie and I managed to make it the whole night at a party with open bar and not make complete and utter fools of ourselves. That represents a substantial accomplishment, at least for me.
I want to write a "what have I learned" piece here sooner or later, just to cover the first semester. Hopefully I can take care of it on the two dead days I have before we head back to Texas while Jie is still working and I am out of school. I did my final 1st semester interview with the Leadership study that I am part of here, and it got me thinking even more about how I want to be sure and reflect about what I've learned.
I had a conversation with my career team coach the other night about whether she felt kind of lost at HBS after her first semester. I've had this nagging feeling lately that perhaps I shouldn't be here. I'm still about 80-85% sure this was the right place for me, but it's come down from the 100% of a month ago. She responded that she felt the same way, only she was 80% convinced she shouldn't be here. After the end of the first year, though, and especially after her internship, she had an 'ah-ha' moment and realized what she was getting out of HBS. Apparently that's the 'transformational' experience they talk about. All of a sudden, she said, she realized that she approached problems from an entirely new angle and thought about things in new ways, thanks to HBS.
What is it about 1st semesters that make you want to leave? I felt the same way after my first semester of undergrad... I think someone should go out and figure that one out. Let me know.
I've had several things I want to write about, but I have either not had time or forgotten what I wanted to say, or some combination of the two. Holidazzle was great, Jie and I managed to make it the whole night at a party with open bar and not make complete and utter fools of ourselves. That represents a substantial accomplishment, at least for me.
I want to write a "what have I learned" piece here sooner or later, just to cover the first semester. Hopefully I can take care of it on the two dead days I have before we head back to Texas while Jie is still working and I am out of school. I did my final 1st semester interview with the Leadership study that I am part of here, and it got me thinking even more about how I want to be sure and reflect about what I've learned.
I had a conversation with my career team coach the other night about whether she felt kind of lost at HBS after her first semester. I've had this nagging feeling lately that perhaps I shouldn't be here. I'm still about 80-85% sure this was the right place for me, but it's come down from the 100% of a month ago. She responded that she felt the same way, only she was 80% convinced she shouldn't be here. After the end of the first year, though, and especially after her internship, she had an 'ah-ha' moment and realized what she was getting out of HBS. Apparently that's the 'transformational' experience they talk about. All of a sudden, she said, she realized that she approached problems from an entirely new angle and thought about things in new ways, thanks to HBS.
What is it about 1st semesters that make you want to leave? I felt the same way after my first semester of undergrad... I think someone should go out and figure that one out. Let me know.
