Summer's Here, Vacation is Over

It’s official, I’m finally back at work after a blissful 359 day vacation. I forgot all those little things you miss when you aren’t in the office.

The faint hum of dozens of computers.

The prairie dog looks over cubicle walls.

And of course, the foul stench of your soul and physical fitness being literally sucked from your bones.

Ok, so it’s not that bad. Actually, it wasn’t really bad at all. It was a tiny bit fun.

Yes, technically I started a while ago, but that was just orientation and training, which is less about actually doing work and more about seeing whether you can stand the people you’ll be working with. Fortunately, everyone seems to be really cool. Maybe it’s the fact that we all made it through the recruiting process, or maybe it’s the fact that the company did such a good job of recruiting people that fit well.

Then, of course, it also could’ve been the large amounts of free alcohol. Once you’ve witnesses a bunch of fresh summer associates commandeer a bus for a late-night McDonald’s run at 3am before a 9am presentation, there’s probably a good chance you’re having fun.

Anyway, the first day of real work came and went, and it was fairly interesting. I think I was productive, which is a good sign.

Without going into detail on the nature of my project (because I would have to kill you if you knew) I’m unfortunately not working in the media industry. I’m still kind of miffed about it, but there weren’t any projects hitting at the right time for me to join. I knew there was a serious chance of that when I signed up, and truth be told, I was expecting to not get what I wanted.

Fortunately, I am working for a consumer products company, and to keep it vague, I’ll only say I’m working on growth strategy.

That could really be anything, I could be helping Callaway sell new golf bags. I could be working with Apple to market some new doodad. I could be helping Victoria’s Secret launch a new line of thongs for the elderly.

Anything’s possible, and it’s a completely new experience for me.

Of course, that extended to my out-of-the-office life as well, in that I had the completely new experience of forgetting my keys at the office and making it all the way back to Jersey before realizing it.

Fun times.

Year One In the Books

It’s hard to believe that my first year of business school is just about over.

There’s one final left on Thursday morning, and then a quick trip to the airport to make my flight in preparation for my first day of summer internship work Friday morning.

It’s absolutely crazy how fast everything’s gone by, maybe that’s because it’s been a lot of fun.

But now it’s time for work again (and hopefully some fun too), so I’m trying to get my rules straight for the next couple of months

Rule 1 – Go back to shaving regularly

Rule 2 – Start wearing pants again

Rule 3 – Remember, good consultants try not to swear at the clients

Rule 4 – As the only GSB intern at your office, try to dispel the quant-nerd rep. As such, forget all the math you know and focus on buying people shots

Rule 5 – Try to get excited about your first consulting assignment. Remember that this is what you wanted, even if it is reorganizing a cardboard box factory in Saskatchewan.

Rule 6 – This isn’t class, so when you participate in a discussion, you really should try to make a valid and relevant point

Rule 7 – Do not, under any circumstances, say ‘That’s what she said,’ regardless of how appropriate the scenario

Rule 8 – No more falling asleep in meetings or presentations…it’s not like this is Investments class

Rule 9 – No one here saw you at Spring Fling or Winter Formal, so you’ve got a clean slate to work with

Rule 10 – Enjoy the paycheck