Adventures in MBA Land

The graduation speech I would give.

2009-04-28T14:54:00.003-06:00

Hi everyone! I haven't posted for really long while, mostly because I've been busy with a little thing called business school. But I finally graduated. WOOT!

So below is an article that I wrote for the MBA newsletter. It's the graduation speech that I would give, if I were asked (which I wasn't). Enjoy! Hopefully over the next few weeks I'll get a recap of my 2nd year posted here as well as pics from graduation. It's been a wild two years...and I'm tired!

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It is a truth universally acknowledged, that no one ever remembers speeches at graduations. I think this is because the speeches are too long, too boring, and
are given by people you don’t know and don’t care about. Now, I’m apparently not someone important enough or academically high achieving enough to get asked to speak at graduation…but I do have access to a semi-captive audience through the MBA Newsletter. So here for your reading enjoyment is the speech that I would give if I actually was asked to speak at graduation.

Last summer as I was driving cross-country to my internship in Arkansas, I spent a lot of time with my iPod on the road. The song Seasons of Love from the musical Rent came up and the lyrics brought tears to my eyes because they rang true to my experience in the MBA.

Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure a year?
In daylight, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee[Diet Coke?],
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife,
In five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure a year in the life?
How about Love?
Measure in love
Seasons of love

It seemed that each day seemed to last forever, a never-ending stream of classes, cases and cold calls…yet all of a sudden I was one year in and what I most remembered were the friends I’d made, the memories I had and the love I felt.

Another song came up on the ole iPod during that long, long drive: For Good from the musical Wicked (yes, I LOVE musicals). Yet again, the tears came as I thought of how this song really perfectly described how the people I have met in the program and how they have changed me personally.

It well may be that we will never meet again in this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend.
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you I have been changed for good

The people I have met during this experience (the students, the faculty, the families) have had a lasting impact on my life. As trite as it is, I truly would not be the person I am now without these people in my life.

Music is a powerful thing for me because it speaks what is in my soul better than I can say it myself. This week, I was driving home from school, I was listening to the radio this time I heard a new song by Miley Cyrus called The Climb. Once again, this song perfectly talks about how and why the MBA experience for me is so impactful.

There's always going to be another mountain
I'm always going to want to make it move
Always going to be an uphill battle,
Sometimes I'm gonna to have to lose,
Ain't about how fast I get there,
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

While not all of us have jobs yet, and not all of us have our lives figured out yet, and this all feels so important right now, in just a few years, months, even days, the only thing we will remember is the climb of the experience.

I hope that as we graduate and move on with our lives, that we won’t forget. That we will remember how we were stretched and who stretched us. We will remember how we changed and who changed us. We will remember how high we flew and who flew with us, and how far we fell and who offered their hand to pick us back up. Because that is what the MBA experience is about. The cases, the homework, the late nights, the tears, the drama, the stress, the laptop crashes, the study rooms, the laughs, the joys--it’s about the journey and people we took this journey with.

Happy graduation! Good luck in the future! And in the immortal words of the elders of the future: “Be excellent to each other and party on, dudes!

In honor of finals...

2008-12-15T21:38:00.005-07:00

...I thought I'd bust this one out again. So describes my life right now.

I haven't written very much this semester but let it be said... best. semester. ever. Loved all my classes. Truly enjoyed the work that went into them. Hopefully will have the grades to show for it...

And the fact that I have one more semester until I graduate is really terribly sad.

The peaceful revolution.

2008-11-05T19:58:00.003-07:00

Once upon a time in high school history class, we were discussing regime change, revolutions and the violence that is associated with them. Examples: Bolsheviks in Russia, our own Revolutionary War, etc. etc. I remember the teacher comparing our own election every 4 years to a revolution. A peaceful revolution.

This idea has stuck with me and I've thought about this a lot over the last few days. I and roughly 100 million of my fellow Americans took time out of our busy lives to head to our local polling place and participate in an organized, legitimate revolution of government.

I can't even put into words how I felt as I waited in line to vote yesterday. I drove up from Provo to Salt Lake in the morning (because I never changed my voting registration). There was a terrible rain storm outside so it was wet and cold and just plain miserable. But as I looked around, I noticed the variety of people who braved the storm to be there in line to vote with me. The middle aged office worker who was clearly on his way to work late. The fragile grandma with her walker and the nice volunteer who picked her up to come vote. The very pregnant young mother with an impatient 2-year-old in tow. And me, twentysomething grad student. A cross-section of Americanity all there in a condo complex clubhouse to do their civic duty and individually contribute to a peaceful change in government.

While the candidate I voted for didn't ultimately win, I am not disappointed in the result. The system worked and the country has elected a new president. Majority rules and I respect that. I've seen many of my friends on Facebook and elsewhere making comments about how upset (sad, pissed,etc) they are with the result. Each person is entitled to their own opinion and it is fine to be disappointed that the election didn't go your way. However, the election is over and it's time now to support our new leader. While I don't agree with all of President-elect Obama's politics, I think he'll do a good job and he will get all of my respect reserved for the leader of our country.

Congratulations and good luck President Obama. You're going to need it.

Slacker.

2008-10-20T23:05:00.002-06:00

That is what I am. I'm so sorry I've neglected all two of you that read this blog (thanks for reading mom).

Lots has happened in the last 4ish months (duh) but I promise to fill you in very soon.

Until then.

SkyMall.....

2008-06-23T21:50:00.003-06:00

I just had to share this. This video captures pretty much my exact thoughts on Skymall. IMHO, Skymall is everything that is right and wrong with consumerism.

On the one hand...it really is just a bunch of just-way-too-expensive stuff for people with just-way-too-much money.

On the other hand...I ALWAYS check out Skymall when I hop on a plane just to see what kind of weird/amazing/random products these companies come up with. A life-size Bigfoot sculpture for your backyard? Now, that's innovation!

Mingling with greatness...

2008-06-21T19:15:00.005-06:00

Okay, so I realize my posts about this summer have primarily covered all the fun stuff. However, I am doing actual work too. I'm happy to say that my project is moving along nicely. It's had a couple of hiccups along the way (but really, what project doesn't?) but I'm right on track and moving forward.

One of my favorite elements of the Wal-Mart MBA Leadership internship program is that we get to meet with the very individuals who are running the largest company in the world.

So far, we've heard from:

Eduardo Castro-Wright, Executive Vice President, President and Chief Executive Officer, Wal-Mart Stores Division
Doug McMillon, Executive Vice President, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sam’s Club
Lee Scott, President and Chief Executive Officer

And we have many more on the schedule for the summer. When I find my notes, I'll post some of the gems I've learned from these discussions.

The great outdoors.

2008-06-21T18:31:00.003-06:00

This weekend, I decide to get some fresh air and experience the natural state of the Natural State (haha). Just east of Bentonville is one of the best preserved Civil War battlefields in the country. Pea Ridge National Military Park has some picturesque vistas, fascinating history lessons, and great hiking.

One of the best things about being here in Northwest Arkansas is all the outdoor things to do. There is never a shortage of rivers to float, trails to hike, and courses to golf.

Many people have asked me how I like Arkansas so far....and I've been pleasantly surprised how much I really like it.

Beatlemania!

2008-06-21T17:22:00.003-06:00

Last weekend, Geneva invited me up to the bustling metropolis of Harrison, AR where she is interning with FedEx Freight. We had a great time catching up, watching Juno (I know! It's disappointing that I haven't seen it yet...but hey, I've been in graduate school), and playing a little golf.

We also decided to take a little trip up to the famous Branson, Missouri (mecca for midwest country music fans and traveling inclined retirees.

Dick Smith, the director of the MBA career placement office, recommended Liverpool Legends, a Beatles revival show so we braved the snail-paced drivers of the Branson strip to see and hear John, Paul, George and Ringo in the flesh.

And wow, look here we are with The Fab Four. If you ever make it to Branson, and want something without country music and no sequins, then check these guys out. The show was really good. They play all their own instruments (the Paul even plays left handed). They actually sing (no lip syching) and sounds just like the guys.

After such an exciting afternoon, Geneva and I took advantage of the shopping. We found some great deals and although she didn't buy this shirt...we HAD to take a picture. Geneva is famous for calling out any and all trashiness.

Shareholders Meeting

2008-06-10T20:27:00.003-06:00

The culmination of a fantastic weekend was the actual shareholders meeting on Friday morning. And boy, does Wal-Mart know how to throw a party! Part business meeting, part revival, part love fest. All fun!

It started at the un-holy hour of 7 am and yet the crowd was on its feet and yelling.

We started off with amazing acrobats jumping down from the ceiling.

And who do you think was the emcee for the event? Queen Latifah!

We listened to some short business updates and then Joss Stone performed.

More business, then we heard from Ms. Jennifer Hudson herself. She completely brought the house down with the song from Dreamgirls that won her the Oscar. That girl has some serious pipes! Amazing!

Following a little more business, the 2008 American Idol David Cook stopped by to sing for us. Hott!

There were rumors flying the entire meeting that Tony Bennett was going to anchor the meeting and send us off in the sunset (oh wait, it was only 10 am). However, who should appear as our final performer? TIM MCGRAW!!

Other than the fact that it started at 7 am, it was a fantastic experience!! Buy a share of stock now and start planning your trip for next year!

Carrie Underwood / Keith Urban

2008-06-07T19:08:00.000-06:00

Our third and final day of concerts was one of the best! Carrie and Keith were a great combination. Carried played a good set but Keith really brought down the house! He is a more than just a musician; he is a true performer! He was out in the crowd rocking out on his guitar, stealing people's cowboy hats and cracking all of us up. I don't listen to a lot of country but I would most definitely pay to see Keith again.

Here are the highlights:

Amy and Geneva came down from Harrison for the show! Glad you could come!

Carrie

Amy, Geneva and I in between sets at the home of the Razorbacks!

Keith! Yummy!

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One Republic / All-American Rejects / Journey Concert

2008-06-07T13:59:00.000-06:00

Wednesday brought another set of concerts and a couple of extra special treats. First, originally there were only supposed to be two bands that night (All-American Rejects and Journey), but at the last minute they added One Republic too (which I was more than just a little enthused about). Next, my manager won backstage passes to meet Journey and couldn't use them...so he gave them to me!! WOOT! Plus, the passes afforded the extra benefit of getting in to the arena before the general public. So we also scored ourselves seats on the front row!! Double WOOT! We found out first hand why the front row is so highly sought after (other than no one in front of you). Umm...because you get to interact with the band! After making eye contact with the lead singer several times, he finally came down the stairs and touched our hands! Awesome!

You can see my whole collection of pictures in the montages below...but here are a couple of the highlights.

Judith and I with Journey!

This is the band One Republic WITH Journey.

These are our new friends Brandon and Shaylee. They saved our front row seats while we were backstage. Thanks guys!

This is Patty, our other new friend working the show. She also helped watch our awesome seats while we were gone.

And I just included this picture because I think it is really awesome!

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Lifehouse / Taylor Swift

2008-06-07T13:05:00.000-06:00

It was the biggest week of the year at Wal-Mart this week: Shareholder's Week. Wal-Mart may be known for saving people money, but this is the one time they really go all out. As part of the festivities, they host free concerts for everyone in the community.

Tuesday, the special guests were Lifehouse and Taylor Swift. Here is a montage of the pictures I took during the show. Lifehouse is a really good live band. They mixed their old stuff with their new stuff and their most popular stuff with some lesser known numbers. I would definitely pay to see them again.

Taylor Swift did a good job too. However, she is still very young and a little inexperience putting on a good live show. I'm sure that will come with time.

Here are a few of the highlights:

BYU Wal-Mart interns! Go Cougs!

BYU once again! Dave, Judith, me, Geneva

Lifehouse lead singer.

Taylor herself.

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The Wal-Mart Home Office

2008-06-07T13:04:00.001-06:00

As promised...here is my home office away from home. This is the world famous Home Office sign with the new brand tag line just newly added with the amount of money we have saved families this year to date ($123,973,370,370).

The Home Office is actually quite a large complex of buildings with elaborate mazes (and that is NOT an exaggeration) of cubicles. This is the building that I work in. It's called the "Old ISD building" because it used to host all the large super computers and servers. Consequently there are virtually NO windows, which will be fantastic if a tornado ever drops by, but not ideal for keeping tabs on the time of day (we've often joked it's like being inside a casino).

This is my actual nameplate and mini-bulletin board. (Looking at this picture makes me realize I need to add decorate it with more than just the free LEI Jeans/ Taylor Swift lanyard I got at the concert this week (more about this later).

And finally...my home from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm every day this summer. Yep. It's just a standard cubicle.

I also wanted to show off the official "Wal-Mart Brand Book" we received on day 2. It is fantastic! Recently Wal-Mart has been devoting substantial time and resources to creating a distinct brand in the mind of the consumer. All signs show these efforts are paying off!

And this book is where it all begins. Pantone colors, fonts, writing styles, preferred tones, targeted segments, and much more are all inside this little treasure (unfortunately I have to give it back when I leave). All of these very minor details add up to consistency of images, voice, ideas and messages which pay off in the consumer thinking about you the way you hope they do.

One of the opportunities I'm most enjoying this summer is to watch this brand being constructed from the ground up. It's an exciting time to be part of Wal-Mart marketing. They've crafted a brand strategy, studied their customer segments and decided the right ones to focus on. In addition, the talented people who have to come to Wal-Mart to work here is incredible. Many of the top marketing people in CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) and retail have jumped here because of the unique circumstances. It's like working in a marketing start-up with the resources of the largest company in the world. Pretty dang cool. I'm really lucky to be here.

Say it ain't so.

2008-06-01T20:50:00.000-06:00

Ok. I drive a 2002 Honda Civic, a very economical, fuel efficient little car. And last week, it cost me $50 to fill it up.

FIFTY FREAKING DOLLARS!!

When I bought the car three years ago, it was just $20 to fill the tank. Now it's more than double. That's just not right.

Luckily I can go about 350-400 miles per tank. Still, it hurts.

Something needs to be done.

Am I really that old...

2008-05-31T20:50:00.000-06:00

Last night, after a long Week 2 at my internship, I made a shocking discovery:

I found a very long, very gray hair. Yikes!

This is not the first gray hair discovery. I found gray hair #1 my 2nd week of business school. Now I find gray hair #2 the 2nd week of my internship.

Coincidence? I think not.

In all seriousness, my internship has been great so far. It has taken a little bit to get used to working again (getting up at 6 am! arriving at work at 7:30 am!) but I'm settling in and my project is starting to ramp up.

I won't be able to talk about the specific details of my project because of confidentiality / trade secrets etc. but I do want to write about my life during the internship, the things I'm learning (both about marketing and about life) and what it's like to work for the largest company in the world.

Now that I'm feeling more "settled," I should have time to post more often. Stay tuned.

It was a long trip....

2008-05-26T20:45:00.000-06:00

...but totally worth it. Oklahoma City Temple.

Four hours to get there. Three hours there. Four hours back. One entire tank of gas (that is a lot of $$$ these days). This made for one long Saturday but I don't regret it for a second!

It was my first time in one of the new "small" temples and it was amazing how much they can fit into such a small space!

I'm grateful that I had the means to get down there to the OKC to do a little temple work. It also makes me even more grateful for the all the temples we have in Utah and even more determined to take full advantage of the blessing of having many temples so close. I've been very fortunate in my life to never live more than 45 minutes from a temple. Even when I lived in Orlando, the temple was just across town. Saturday really brought home for me what a sacrifice it is for some to attend the temple. I really need to eliminate my excuses and get there more often!

Welcome to Arkansas!

2008-05-25T21:03:00.000-06:00

After three days of driving, crossing five states and 1300+ miles, I finally arrived in Bentonville, Arkansas to begin my internship.

(Yep! I'm a dork and I stopped at the border to take a picture. ) Checking in on Friday afternoon was a breeze and then I spent the rest of the day getting settled into my apartment.

Saturday, my mom and I spent the day seeing the sites in Bentonville. A trip to the hometown of Wal-mart wouldn't be complete without a visit to Mr. Sam's (that is what Sam Walton is called around the Home Office) original 5-10 store in downtown B-town. It was actually pretty cool to see the evolution of the world's largest company.

(The matching outfit was unintentional)

Geneva, my partner in crime during P&P and field study this semester is interning at FedEx Freight just 100 miles away in Harrison, AR. She make the trek down on Saturday night for a little visit and to check out the U of Arkansas ward on Sunday. After church, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a look around the campus. One of the coolest things is the "Senior Walk." Every name of every graduate since 1876 is carved on the sidewalk that warps around the whole campus. Pretty dang cool.

Geneva and I also liked this replica of an statue of a statue in Florence, Italy Il Porcellino The pig actually has water coming out of his mouth. We couldn't resist!

And again...a visit to the U of Arkansas would not be complete without seeing Razorback Stadium in all its glory. It truly is ginormous. It seats an astounding 76,000!! Take that, LaVell Edwards Stadium!

Wow! It's huge! Can you tell how amazed we are!!

Not so fast....

2008-04-26T19:11:00.000-06:00

Even though finals officially ended on Tuesday...I wasn't quite done. My field study group still just had a little work to do for our final paper and presentation (or so we thought).

We arrived at the Tanner Building at 8 am on Wednesday...and in this picture, here we are still in the lounge at 11:00 p.m. (Geneva looks how we all felt)

Yep. That's right. 11:00 p.m.
Still working...

Finally done....at 12:45 p.m. Yep that is right. 17 hours in the Tanner Building. Ouch! We were officially the LAST people in the building after the semester.

But that is not all... we were back the next morning at 7 am to practice for our 8 am presentation.

All our work paid off. The clients loved it! And we got it done. Whew! We were officially done with our first year of business school.

I would like to say this kind of marathon group work was an isolated incident, but during year 1, I often found myself burning the midnight oil in a cramped study room with a group.

But these experiences are some of the most memorable so far. Even though our 17 hours in the Tanner (that has GOT to be some sort of record) were tough and long and all sorts of other hyperbolic adjectives...we also laughed as hard as I've ever laughed and forged friendships that will last for years to come. And this was the case for almost every group I've been in this year.

Really. Business school is about learning stuff. But more important is the who we are learning the stuff with.

Last Final!

2008-04-26T18:56:00.000-06:00

Our last final was Marketing Research. Yay! We're done! We were so happy that we cheered every person coming out of the classroom! YAY! To celebrate the ending of our first year of business school, we ventured over to Costa Vida for a little food to celebrate. Yum!

Caroline is our hero!

2008-04-20T23:36:00.000-06:00

Our fellow MBA Caroline is amazing and she is also pregnant and due this week (on the day of our last final!). So yesterday we had a little lunch to celebrate her. Even though we are all busy with finals, many of the 1st year women met at Mimi's for yummy food and some well needed time with our girls!

Here are a few of the pictures! We love you Caroline!!

My first round of golf.

2008-04-20T22:56:00.000-06:00

The MBA program always holds a golf tournament every year during the first reading day after classes are over. I took a beginning golf class this semester so I decided to have a go on an actual course instead of just hitting balls at the driving range.

The day got off to a rough start when we arrived at 8 a.m. and there was "frost" on the grass. We had to wait until it warmed up a bit before they would let us start and that small delay turned into an almost 2 hour delay. And it was really cold! When we finally climbed into our carts and headed out, the wind kicked up and it went from really cold to absolutely freezing! The best was went snow flurries started hitting us about hole 14!

We were playing a scramble which meant it moved fast, but still took us about four hours to do all 18 holes. Together with the delay, we were out in the bitter for six hours. Ugh!

Although it was pretty much the worst day to be golfing, it was still a good time. I got to use the different strokes i learned in class and also start to learn how to choose which club to use for which shot. It was almost worth the six hours of freezing to death.

All 99 of us freezing while we waited for the frost to melt.

That's me setting up my shot. (And yes, I'm wearing a parka!)

Yep. That is me actually taking a golf shot. Nice shot!

One of my team members. Fantastic shot!

The other three members of my group putting. We made a pretty good team!

Almost done...

2008-04-20T22:49:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it.

I'm already halfway through finals and really the worst is over. My two toughest finals (Managerial Accounting and Pricing & Positioning) were first thing Friday morning (7 a.m.!) and last thing Saturday evening (5:45 p.m to 10:30p.m.!). I still have to do my take-home strategy final tomorrow and Marketing Research is Tuesday, with the final field study presentation finishing things up.

How time flies. Year One of business school is almost done. Only one more to go. I really can't believe it.

Hey Mother Nature...

2008-04-15T22:04:00.000-06:00

Make up your mind.

Yesterday: 80 degrees. Today: SNOWING!!!

Seriously. What the heck.

It's finals week and I just can't handle any more extremes from you. I have enough of them in the next seven days without your adding your craziness to my life.

Please. Winter or Summer? Just pick one. (preferably summer).

First Year Hotness

2008-04-13T20:25:00.001-06:00

I'm going to miss these girls so much this summer. You ladies rock!

Dating Strategery

2008-04-10T16:50:00.000-06:00

Business school does a funny thing to you. It makes you start to apply what you learn in class to your life. Well.....since I'm very single at the moment and I live in Provo (aka marriage capital of the world), I have naturally found some applications of my business learnings in my personal life.

My friend A-Young and I are in a strategy class this semester that requires us to write response papers to our Harvard Business Review articles we read for class. Being the creative individuals that we are (and desiring motivation besides just grades to write), we started writing our papers on dating.

And not only did we just write out papers, we decided to share them with the world via a little blog called Dating Strategery: Everything I need to know about dating I learned in business school. You can visit us here.

It's been really fun so far. We have taken a little break as our busy-ness has ramped up going into finals. But stay tuned. Many of our classmates have contributed their ideas and once things calm down we'll get it all posted. Enjoy the fruits our labor. :)

"You are the fruit and flower of the Lord's Kingdom"

2008-03-14T18:17:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite things about the BYU MBA program is the quality of speakers we have access to.

Last Friday morning, the women of the Marriott School (MBAs, MPAs, MACCs) and the Law School had the opportunity to hear from Sister Julie Beck, the general Relief Society president of the Church. She was so gracious and genuine. Immediately upon entering the room, she walked right over and greeted us.

She didn't have a formal prepared speech; she just took questions from the audience and some previously emailed in.

Here are some of my notes from her talk (paraphrased of course):

You are the fruit and flower of the Lord's Kingdom. The Lord had engineered your lives to be here, learning these things so you can build the kingdom.
Lesson she learned: Tough questions will come. Get over yourself...this is not about you. [It's about the Lord.] Maintain your confidence even when criticism comes (and it will).
Regarding the controversy surrounding her talk in October 2007 about women working... "In a church of 5.5 million women, why would I be opposed to women working?" Women all over the world are not only working but the sole breadwinners for their families. Make your choices with the Plan [of Salvation] in mind.
Because we know the plan, we have to take the long road.
Education is very important for our women.
You cannot delegate the home responsibilities (i.e. raising and loving your children NOT "housework")
There is never going to be enough of you to go around. Remember what is important.
Regarding single women without families and opportunities in front of them: "GO FOR BROKE! Take the opportunities presented to you -- But don't allow those opportunities to take you away from the gospel."
Regarding insensitive comments about single women and the perception they may be choosing career over family/marriage: "Hold your head up about what you are doing with your life."
Study Rebekah, Mary and 1 Nephi for examples of women. Remember every experience Nephi went through, his wife also went through. The scriptures tell the story of women indirectly.
Go to the temple and pay attention!
Our role in the Plan can not be delegated.
When the Relief Society was organized, women were officially part of the Church. This is NOT a women's club lead by men. We are active participants in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The women early in the Church knew the whole thing depended on them. (Haha! Who makes sure the men get to the temple?). It is a shared partnership.
Regarding where she gets her subject matter for her talks: "Talks come straight from the Lord."
Everything is possible by relying on the Savior.
Regarding getting an education at the BYU Marriott School and Law School: "The Lord is investing his funds in you."

I have such respect for Sister Beck. She truly is a woman of God and is mindful of ALL the various life situations of women. I'm very grateful to her counsel and for her selfless service to the Lord.

Outta P-Town!

2008-03-14T16:58:00.000-06:00

Sometimes even though the homework is piling up, you just gotta get out of town. Last weekend, a bunch of us MBAs headed down to Moab to support some of our own who were running in the Canyonlands 1/2 Marathon and 5 Mile Race.
I am not really much of a runner so I heeded the advice of the principal in the movie Grease ("If you can't be an athlete, be an athletic supporter") and wooted my support for friends.

We all had a blast! It was definitely worth the late nights doing homework afterwards, to be able to have a change in scenery. On top of that, it is trips like this that help me build close bonds with classmates. Friday night, four of us stayed up until 3 am talking. Plus, my brothers just happened to be in Moab too for their Spring Break so they dropped by for a little visit.

Highlights of the trip:
- Carbo loading at Dave's parents' condo (watch out for Matt's "hole-y" pants)

- The crazy lady's disco-ball hat

- The group photo shoot below Delicate Arch

- The impromptu dance party in the parking lot by the Windows area of Arches
- Playing ROCK BAND all night long
- Kara's awesome cooking! Yum!
- Getting pulled over on the way out of town by the Moab Police (oh wait. that was a lowlight.)

Fun was had by all.

Wake Forest!

2008-03-14T13:42:00.000-06:00

Because I all about working smarter not harder, here is an article I wrote for the MBA newsletter about our adventures at Wake Forest. I figured why write about it all over again!

The first week of February, seven BYU MBAs left P-town for the 18^th annual Wake Forest Marketing Summit MBA Case Competition in North Carolina. Brigham Cochran, Anthony Nielson, Mike Davis, Spencer Hill, Derron Bishop, Tom Orito and I spent the weeks prior preparing. Although we felt ready to compete, we were unprepared for the celebrity welcome we received upon arrival. Wake Forest treated us to a SUV limo ride, walk down the red carpet (complete with paparazzi flashbulbs and reporters shouting “Who are you wearing?”), plus lots of food.

Following the announcement of the super secret Summit sponsor (it was AllTel Wireless), our team locked ourselves in a study room for the next 36 hours to work. We busied ourselves getting up to speed on the current state of the wireless industry and filling the walls with Post-its of ideas. Two nights and lots of Diet Coke later, we presented our recommendations about how to take AllTel’s business to the next level.

Although we didn’t come away the champion, the Chief Marketing Officer of AllTel met with us for more than an hour discussing our ideas and presentation. He even told us we should have won the competition, but the panel of judges from companies outside the wireless industry ultimately chose a team with a more polished presentation.

Being chosen as one of only seven teams to compete was an honor. It was a fantastic experience to go up against other top MBA programs like Duke and U of Virginia and discover we can hang tough with the best of them.

There were a few more things that I didn't include in the article. We got to hear from Dan Heath who wrote the book, Make to Stick. His speech was interesting. He covered many of the highlights of his book, but made some good points about finding a big idea to get your product, service, candidate, etc. into the forefront of the consumer's mind.As I said in the article, it was an incredible experience. Wake Forest put on a top quality conference. It was obvious a lot of work went into it. Hopefully we will get chosen to compete again next year and maybe even come back with a win.

Marching on.

2008-03-14T09:59:00.000-06:00

So I can't believe it's been nearly two months since my last post. The early part of this semester was busy with lots of travel and competitions and this second half with the onslaught of homework for our 2nd block managerial accounting and strategy 2 classes.

In the next few posts I'll (briefly, since it is a busy weekend) catch y'all up on two months in the life of a business student. Umm... Enjoy!

There she....isn't.

2008-01-28T00:05:00.000-07:00

I'm not really into the beauty pageant thing. Seems to be all fake and superficial. But one of my very best friends was a Miss America contestant and hearing her story a few years ago about competing in the pageant changed my mind about a few things.

Then this year Miss Utah Jill Stevens, army medic, marathon runner, fellow SUU college graduate, and nurse seemed to represent a different kind of girl. So I decided to not only watch the pageant, but follow it on TLC's reality show Miss America: Reality Check. The entire show was about how they wanted to contestants to throw out the pageant hair, the robotic walk and represent the modern woman.

Last night the pageant finally aired and Miss Michigan Kirsten Haglund took home the crown.

So... they wanted to update the Miss America pageant....but the problem is that the judges still chose an old school contestant as the winner. Miss Michigan is a very beautiful girl and I'm sure she is very intelligent, but she grew up in the pageant system and seemed very stiff and old school on stage. Big hair, plastic smile.

Where is the change? How about looking closer at some of the other girls that don't fit the mold. Miss Alaska? Or Miss Vermont? Or what about Miss Utah? She didn't start doing pageants until a few years ago, and only then at the urging of friends and a desire to get the word out about her platform of emergency preparedness. She is a Miss America contestant who truly represents us: the real American woman.

I was really excited to see how this year's pageant would be different. It wasn't. All the "changes" made were merely cosmetic.

Until the Miss America pageant can make changes that will result in the crowning of a young woman who we relate to and can admire, the ratings will continue to drop to all-time lows.

We'll miss you.

2008-01-27T22:40:00.000-07:00

Tonight at about 6:30 p.m., our beloved President Hinckley passed away.

Although very sad for those of us left behind here on earth, I know he is in a better place and currently enjoying a joyous reunion with his wife, other family members, past leaders of our church and many others.

I followed him and listened to his counsel not only because he is a prophet of the Lord, but also because he is someone I respected and admired. I love his speaking style: his mix of self-deprecating humor with straight talk were always a joy to listen to. Although I hate to admit it, I would always sit up and pay attention to his talks during General Conference...even when I spaced out or nodded off during the rest. He always had a way of building me up, making me feel like I was a good person who just needed to do better.

One of my favorite memories was when I had the opportunity to attend Conference in person. The Conference Center is a HUGE auditorium that seats 30,000+ people and as people are filing in, it is always a bit noisy. But as soon as President Hinckley appeared at the door, the entire room fell silent and everyone stood up. It never ceased to surprise me. This particular time, he was walking in waving hello with his cane and as he passed the General Authorities seated on the stand, he pretended to rap them on the head with his cane. It was truly hilarious!

So President Hinckley. Thank you for leading and serving us for so many years. We will miss you dearly.

The rest.

2008-01-27T22:25:00.000-07:00

Tech Trek 2008 wasn't all business. We couldn't stay in the Bay Area without seeing the sites in San Fran. A group of us had a blast playing in the city Friday night and Saturday morning. Even though Friday was a bit soggy, we checked clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl off our must-east list (as well as the Cali classic In N Out Burger). Here are the highlights:

Eatin' (inside thankfully) at Boudin at Fisherman

Justin and The Rock (Alcatraz)

Marta at a ginormous crab sculpture at Pier 39

Marta, Justin, Cray, Dave, me overlooking the Bay Bridge

Coit Tower

Alcatraz from the Coit Tower hill

Tech Trek: Day 3

2008-01-27T17:40:00.000-07:00

Our third and final day of visits in the Bay Area began at Cisco. They also brought in some great presenters for us. Our executive-level speakers covered the spectrum: from marketing to finance to hr. Here are some of the things that I took away from the discussion. Cisco is looking for people that have leadership capability. They emphasize three areas in their hiring decisions: process, results and relationships and value people who can work in cross-functional teams. Next, anytime you are interfacing with a company (be it for a group information session or a informal networking event, make sure you have done your homework. In addition, become a well-rounded person. While your forte may be in finance, for example, you should gain perspective along the way in other areas like hr and marketing so you can understand your own business better.

One of the things I thought was most interesting was that Cisco recognizes that different generations of workers want different things and work in different ways. For example, they are restructuring their work spacing into larger, group cubicles to be more collaboration friendly.

Our last and final visit was to the #1 tech company right now: Google. It was everything you've heard it is: fun, casual, colorful, free food, free gym, hip, cool etc. etc. etc. We did a little walking tour of the campus, they fed us a delicious lunch and then had a Q&A session with some BYU grads and a few others. It was incredible to hear about life as a "googler" working in the "googleplex." I see now why literally EVERYONE wants to work there.

Tech Trek: Day 2

2008-01-26T23:16:00.000-07:00

On Day 2 of our BYU MBA approved field trip, we scheduled visits to two more leading tech companies in Silicon Valley: hp and Apple.

We started our day off a hp. We listened to several presentations about the company and learned more about some of the hr strategies they are implementing as they increase their mergers and acquisitions. We also got to see a demonstration of their awesome new teleconferencing technology called Halo. It was incredible and will change the way companies do their business all over the world. Very very cool.

Then it was on to Apple. They really brought in the big guns for us. Our host, Scott gave us a great intro to the company product lines and the structure of the company. Then we heard from Frank Casanova, a very senior VP and one of the big guys behind Quicktime, the mega popular Apple application. In addition, they treated us to a yummy lunch in their cafeteria (which featured sushi, a real brick oven for pizza and calzones, and basically anything else you can think of), plus a couple more presentations/Q&A sessions. Then we finished off the day in their company store. Thanks to a 10% discount, several of us took the opportunity to buy some exclusive merchandise for the loved ones back home.

A couple of my takeaways: Apple says they look for people who are passionate about stuff (and that "stuff" doesn't necessarily mean Apple). They want to see that you have passion and you'll bring that passion to your work.

Next, they discussed the approach to their brand. They aspire to make every part of a customer's experience consistent and that includes everything from how they design the stuff, all the way down to the customer service (called AppleCare). Lastly, they expect perfection in everything they release and this philosophy is why they are so successful.

Later that evening, we attended a networking event at a chapel in Palo Alto. It was a great experience to informally talk to former BYU students and Utah residents about life in the Bay Area and their places of employment.

The evening concluded with a competitive round of Super Mario 3 on the class NES system. Good times.

Tech Trek: Day 1

2008-01-23T23:28:00.000-07:00

After arriving in San Francisco a little later than expected (thank you flight delays), we got an early start for our first visit of the trip, ebay over in San Jose!

ebay gave us a great perspective on their business: about the different spaces they are in and where they are going. Something interesting I took from their discussion was this. When asked what the biggest threat to their business is, they said it is complacency. They explained that while they are right now at the top of the their game in virtually all their lines of business, if they don't stay up on the latest technology and what consumer wants, that won't last. This was a valuable insight to me.

Then we hopped on over to Palo Alto (home of Stanford U.) for our visit to the creativity experts at Ideo. They have an incredible philosophy and approach to solving problems. One of the things that spoke to me was they hire what they call "T" people: people with expertise in a specific area (depth), but also have skills in a variety of other disciplines (breadth). Very cool. And seems like it working pretty good so far for them. :)

Less wise?

2008-01-06T22:55:00.000-07:00

Also one more quick update.

I survived getting my wisdom teeth out right before Christmas. Fortunately for me, it ended up being not too big of a deal. They put me out. It only took 20 minutes. I was outta there. I was up and about by Monday and at 100% on Christmas Day. Many people I talked to had horrible experiences, so luckily I came through okay and relatively unscathed (minus my two teeth).

Live better.

2008-01-06T22:40:00.000-07:00

So I'm not really sure why I having written about this yet, but I figured I probably finally should.

The week after Thanksgiving, I officially accepted my marketing internship offer from Wal-Mart! So it's off to Bentonville, Arkansas for three months starting on May 19th. I'm really excited because WM is doing very progressive and new things with their marketing strategy and it will be awesome to learn from THE Fortune 1 company.

WOOT! I'm excited!

1 down. 3 to go.

2008-01-02T11:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I made it. Barely. My first semester of the MBA program is officially done. I really can't believe it.

This semester has been full of ups and down emotionally. One of the things about being in b-school that I never anticipated was the toll it would take on my self esteem and my self identity. I've always seen myself as a pretty intelligent person; definitely not brilliant, but at least above-average. This semester made me unfortunately question that a bit.

Now I knew that business school was going to be tough. I was going to be challenged and stretched in ways I never could have imagined. I was going to have to work harder than I'd ever worked before. I knew I was going to have to push myself to do my very best.

But what I didn't know was that my best was not going to be good enough. That pushing myself to the edge of my abilities was still not going to be enough. Naturally the feelings of inadequacy and "do I really belong here?" start to come out. There are so many talented people in this program that I sometimes wonder if I'm in over my head.

But this isn't necessarily a bad thing. This semester has shown me that I need to make a few changes. The rest of you probably figured this out a long time ago, but apparently I am a little slow. I still need to learn to see myself based more on my individual accomplishments instead of in comparison to others. My self esteem needs to be more focused on internal elements that are constant, rather than external forces that are always changing and out of my control.

I've had the last few weeks to decompress, process the experiences of the previous four months and spend quite a bit of time reflecting on how to make this next semester different/better. My grades were not as good as I would have liked, but I'm determined to do better this time around. I'm sure I will pick up a few things every semester and by the time I finally graduate maybe I'll figure this whole business school thing out.

Here goes nothing....

Watch out Demon Deacons!

2007-12-18T16:31:00.000-07:00

Every year, the Babcock School of Management at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC hosts a marketing summit. As part of the summit, they have a case study competition just for MBA's. Only 8 schools get to participate and one of those is WF. So basically there are only 7 spots. So seven of us Marriott School-ers put together a team and sent our application (our resumes and just 300 words on why they should choose us) off into the great beyond.

They chose us!

BYU has never been invited to this competition before so it's a pretty big deal. There is usually a high profile sponsor corporation that provides the real life problem to be solved. Previous sponsors have been Yahoo!, Motorola, Apple, Coca-Cola and more that you would recognize. Top MBA programs like Harvard, Dartmouth, Virginia, MIT, and UCLA are some of the past competitors. So we will be up against some tough competition.

We are definitely thrilled to be invited and are looking forward to showing what we can do in 36 hours with no sleep and no coffee! Hopefully we will come home with the $5000 first prize! WOOT! Go team!

This is your brain. This is your brain during finals.

2007-12-18T16:12:00.001-07:00

It's finals time and I am tired. I took my finance final yesterday afternoon and operations was this morning at 7 am. So that lack of brain power left today has reduced me to random internet surfing and quiz taking. And this is one of the "gems" I ran across today.

13

Free Online Dating from JustSayHi

I promise I will post something of substance next week...my "key takeaways" from my first semester of B-school, if you will. But I have two more finals left (marketing and communications...you know who you are) and then I'm having my wisdom teeth out on Friday. Ouch. So it will just have to wait until I regain consciousness sometime this weekend.

Until then, how many 5 year olds could you take on?

Procrastination

2007-12-04T20:45:00.001-07:00

When my brother sent this to me, I literally laughed out loud. It pretty much perfectly describes the process I go through every time I sit down to do homework. Being in B-school has taught me to fight the urge to put off my homework until the last possible second.... but I still mentally fight with myself every single time. Hopefully that fight will get less and less as time goes on. :)

Merry MBA Chrismas

2007-12-04T16:51:00.000-07:00

So last weekend our dear friend Marci invited a bunch of us to her house in Midway, Utah for a little fun. Although the first large snowstorm of the year hit earlier in the day, we did not let a few flurries deter us from some sorely needed time away from Provo.

We had dinner, drank yummy hot chocolate, laughed, sang, and enjoyed the break from our studies. But the highlight of the evening was going to the 9th annual Interfaith Creche Exhibit. It was amazing to see more than 900 nativities from all over the world. So in the spirit of the activity, we took the opportunity to make our own nativity. See the final product below.

Rise and shout the Cougars are out...

2007-12-01T16:37:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was the biggest game of the year here in Utah. The BYU-Utah game was incredible and fortunately was here in P-Town. So thanks to my All Sports Pass I had tickets to the game and they were good seats: south end zone, 12th row!

I could tell you about all the highs and lows but since a picture is worth a thousand words...I'll just post some pics of the game.

Oh yeah and we won! Final Score: BYU 17 Utah 10

One of the last plays of the game.
Yep. I was officially there. (And it was very cold.)
The Celebration begins.

The field being rushed.The field is now rushed.
Better luck next year Utes.

We smoked 'em.

2007-11-03T22:22:00.000-06:00

BYU - 35
CSU - 16

'Nuff said.

NACin' it.

2007-11-03T20:49:00.000-06:00

Thursday night we had the opportunity to hear from Elder W. Rolfe Kerr at the Marriott School National Advisory Council (NAC) conference dinner. The theme for the conference was Enter to Win, Go Forth to Serve. Here are some of my notes from his talk:

Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve, and Strive to Excel

Enter to Win

Learn more than is expected of you
After belief, must follow application in your life
Be a life-long learner and make changes along the way
Right now is a time for building character, knowledge and confidence
Know more about your families and service to the church

Go Forth to Serve

Do more than is expected of you
Mosiah 2:17: "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service ofyour God."
Do the job at hand better than it's ever been done and know your efforts will be rewarded

Strive to Excel

Become more than is expected
Pursue excellence in your person

Personal

Consciously succeed at home first
Seek and merit divine help
Never compromise your honesty

Interpersonal

Remember the people involved
Hear both sides before judging
Facilitate success of your associates

Professional

Plan tomorrow's (next week's, next year's) work today
Achieve visibility by your productivity
Develop one new proficiency each year

Paraphrasing President Hinckley: "All of us cannot be geniuses but we can all strive to be better." (reference)
"I'd rather see a sermon, than hear one. I'd rather get my lesson by observing you." (reference)
Become more than is expected of you

Career Insights

2007-11-03T18:37:00.000-06:00

Okay, so this is a week later than I promised...but a little thing called midterms got in the way. So I have a good excuse. But as promised...what I learned from our little visits last weekend.

Black & Decker

Key take-away
*HR must be a Strategic Business Partner and should:

Be pro-active about acquiring the right talent
Consult closely with the other business areas
Not just be an administrative function
Educate the company culture
Give managers the tools to hire the right talent

Other insights:

Talent Acquisition

Why do they hire someone? 80% Traits and 20% Skills - Traits are innate, skills can be taught
Behavioral Interviewing - the best determinate of future ability to do the job is past experience

Analyze where are we finding the best talent and what is it costing us?
Also how fast can we get them and how qualified are they?
Build a database of candidates

Internet
Employee Referrals
Research Firms
Agencies (last option)

Interviewing

Practice
Never stop networking
Be a good person

Edwards Lifesciences

Be good at influence management
Own the project
Become an expert in everything related to your product
Use the 4 P's of marketing (product, pricing, promotion, place)
To increase your network, set up a lunch everyday with a different person

Final Thoughts
In discussing our trip with , one of the things we all took away from this experience was how easy it is to set up informational interviews.

Prior to our trip, my fellow travelers and I all felt a little apprehensive about "informational interviews". But everyone we met with was super willing (and I would even say excited) to talk to us and share their perspectives and experience about their personal career path, current job and how to get the right position for us. Reaching out to alumni and other people in our networks is suddenly not so intimidating and as we learned oh-so-valuable. The contacts we made and the information we gleaned will most definitely help our our internship search journey.

Road trippin'

2007-10-28T14:34:00.000-06:00

Here's the story of six 1st year MBA's who embarked on an exciting adventure to sunny Southern California.

For the first time ever, the BYU Powers That Be planned a three day break from classes Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for the express purpose of visiting companies, networking, having interview flybacks etc.

So the six of us jumped in the car and took off for the hotbed of commerce, Southern California. Here are the featured players :

Me

Marci

Derek

Rob

Gordon

BrandonHere's a rundown of the week's events:

Tuesday

After the brain-drain of taking our Operations mid-term, we were more than ready to get on the road. We made really good time, stopping only for really important stuff like gas, potty breaks and to grab some choice grub at In n' Out in Las Vegas.

Rob, me, Brandon, Gordon, Marci

Wednesday

Our destination for Wednesday morning was in one of the many areas of SoCal on fire, so we got an early start just in case of delays. On our drive down into the LA area Tuesday night, we could see the fire light on the tops of the ridges just over the mountain from us. It was pretty crazy, so we were a bit concerned about road closures etc. Everything was fine but the aftermath of the fires along the road was evident. Check out the smoke and burned land just off the road:

Rob's brother-in-law works in finance for Black & Decker Hardware & Home Improvement Group in Lake Forest, CA, just outside of Irvine. Rob arranged for us to meet with some folks there and it was awesome. (In my next entry, I'll talk about what we learned/discussed from our meetings.)

After lunch and a good time at B&D, we made our way down to Long Beach to visit Boeing. We met with an hr representative who works in Global Recruiting and learned more about how one of the largest airplane manufacturers and defense contractors finds talent.

And since we were so close, we decided to stop by the Newport Beach Temple. It is a bit unique because unlike many other LDS temples, it is pink and looks like an old spanish-style mission. So incredible (I think I might have found a new favorite temple!) Notice the smoky air from the nearby fires.

With our business done for the day, we changed into our street clothes and started the quest for our dinner. On the recommendation of Brandon's roommate who used to live in the area, we settled on Rockin' Baja Lobster, a nifty little baja seafood mexican place on Balboa Island.

Oh baby. It. Was. Good. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

They are famous for their seafood buckets...and there is a reason why...they are A-maz-ing. If you are ever in the area...make this a stop on your itinerary.

Thursday

Our next stop was Edwards Lifesciences in Irvine. They are a medical device company most famous for their heart valves. We met with a Utah native working there in marketing and had the opportunity to view the clean room where they "manufacture" the heart valves. Very very cool.

That night, we met for dinner with another Utah native who works for Mercer, an HR consulting company.

Friday

Of course, we couldn't go to SoCal without visiting the Happiest Place on Earth...Disneyland. Our newly acquired business training in marketing and operations threatened to derail the fun as we noticed all the line bottlenecks and promotion opportunities in the parks. But finally we relaxed and through the magic of FastPass, we hit all the top attractions, watched the best shows, and experienced the magic of Disney.

We decided to ride Splash Mountain and all got soaked...

But I think it brought us closer together as a group. :)

So in conclusion...this week was fantastic all around. I met with some incredible people at respected companies, spent the week with my amazing classmates and got to know them in ways (both good and bad) just not possible sitting in class, laughed, learned, laughed some more and basically had a blast. (MBA professors are you listening? This was an incredible experience and well worth the time out of class).

Tomorrow I'll post some of the "key takeaways" I learned from our meetings this week. But for now I've got to get to bed. :)

Battle of the '09ers

2007-10-21T17:11:00.001-06:00

Our MBA class is divided up into three sections. We have all six of our classes with the same people, all day every day. So we get to know our fellow section-ers pretty well. And while I do everything I can to meet as many people in our program, there are still a lot of people in the other sections that I don't very well or really even at all.

After much trash talking, Section 2 challenged Section 3 (my section) to a football game on Saturday morning. And what's a little healthy competition to help us bond with the rest of our classmates. We had a lot fun, got a little exercise, and enjoyed the crisp fall morning air.

Below are some shots of us in action. We didn't really keep score but I think everyone was glad they dragged themselves out of bed to come.

Synergy

2007-10-20T00:43:00.000-06:00

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of the Office. While the show is entertaining (and a clever satire of life in corporate america), it is also often at the forefront of the latest media trends.

With the growing popularity of Tivo/DVR, advertisers being forced to find unique ways to connect messages to their targets. Viewers can now forward through the commercials with just a few clicks on the remote. And while not new, product placement is one of the best ways right now to tivo-proof messages and connect their product/service with a show/character that the audience already knows/loves. (I'm beginning to sound like a marketing class. Dr. Swenson would be proud.)

So...back to the Office. This week's episode "Money" featured Dwight's beet-farm-turned-bed-&-breakfast. And Dwight is worried about its ratings on a little travel review Web site called...what was that again?...TripAdvisor.com.

Yep, that's right, in case you missed it...that was the product placement. Pretty clever really. Because Office viewers are smart (yep, that's me), they are going see right through any attempt to push products on the show...so they promote them with a little *nudge, nudge*wink, wink.

And here's the best part. My friend Dave Dickson has a blackberry, so during the show he surfed on in to TripAdvisor's page about Schrute Farms Bed & Breakfast. There were already details about the (fictional) b&b and even reviews.

Synergy at its best. Genius.

Don't Mess with Texas!

2007-10-13T15:16:00.000-06:00

Last weekend, myself and 116 of my closest Marriott School MBA friends headed down to Houston, Texas for the National Society of Hispanic MBA (NSHMBA) annual conference. Over the last few years NSHMBA has developed a reputation for being THE job fair for b-school students. It did not disappoint. More than 300 companies were there recruiting for internships and full-time positions and more than 8000 students were there to network/schmooze/work-it and try to get that once in a lifetime job or internship opportunity.

Here are some of the highlights:

The Show Floor.

The off-the-hook Target party.

And the aftermath of being on your feet (in heels) all days for two days...

(Yep those are our feet soaking in the bathtub).

We had a fantastic time during out 48 hours in H-town. I interviewed with three companies, talked to countless more, and got to meet some awesome MBA students from other schools. It was well worth the money, time and extra stress. Plus, more than anything else and most importantly, it really forced me to get myself into the finding-a-job mindset. We did mock interviews during orientation but nothing prepared me for the real thing.

I'm still waiting to hear how some of my leads from the conference will pan out. But even if I don't get an internship directly from NSHMBA, I know the experience I gained will play a large role in the internship I eventually land. It was valuable just from a personal and professional development perspective and I'm already thinking ahead to next year about ways that I can make it even more valuable.

Also, there is also one more thing I learned that I will carry with me throughout my life....

BYU's Got Talent

2007-09-23T00:10:00.000-06:00

Every Friday, 1st year MBA's attend a management seminar with a different guest speaker. This week, we had the fantastic opportunity to hear from Gary Crittenden, the CFO of Citigroup Inc. and former Executive VP of American Express . How amazing is that?

He gave us some great insights about how to be successful both personally and professionally, as well as what it is like to be a top executive at a major corporation. He also touched on his experience on the events of September 11, 2001 in New York City. Here are the five points he shared with us:

Make a decision to get the best education that you can
Marry the right person
Take risks
Make a decision to exercise
Make a decision to be obedient (This was the most important)

Elder Crittenden is a fantastic example of great leadership! I loved his advice on how to meet the demands and responsibilities of such a busy life: "If you are not fitting everything in, you are not spending enough time on your knees [in prayer]."

This is just another reason why the BYU MBA is so amazing. They bring in huge corporate talent like Elder Crittenden to tutor us lowly students on how to be successful, ethical, business people and still be close to our families and fulfill church responsibilities. There is no way in my "previous" life that I would have ever been in the same room with the CFO of Citigroup, let alone just seven or eight rows up from him in a lecture hall. What an awesome opportunity!

(Also, of note...I really need to bust out my thesaurus. I'm only three weeks into this program and I've already hit my limit for the words amazing, fantastic, awesome and great on this blog. Apparently business school inspires me to speak in superlatives.)

WMBA

2007-09-20T23:52:00.000-06:00

So the 1st year MBA girls decided to start an intermural flag football team and tonight was our first game. And....we lost big time. But I think we did pretty well for our first game. By the end, we were actually making some completions and we gained a few yards. We didn't get a touchdown, but hey, we've got to leave something for the next game. Thanks to our fantastic coach Nick Prince and all his hard work with us.

Here are some of the highlights:

We are so hott!!

Coach Prince strategizing...
Coach Prince shows us a new super secret play....
Us in action.
And of course....the team. Since we're first years....we're always #1.

And of course....some of went to Ben & Jerry's for ice cream afterwards. Here's a picture of Ben & Jerry...err...Cynthia and Maria.

Special thanks to Section 3 president Derek Bedke for playing team photographer for the evening (and for cheering us on).

We're #1.

2007-09-20T23:26:00.001-06:00

You may have heard about this already but I think it's pretty cool...and this is my blog, so I'm going to mention it again.

The Wall Street Journal this week named BYU's MBA program as the top program among regional schools. What does this mean? Well, the WSJ surveyed recruiters that hire MBA's and we were the favorite among the regional schools. In addition, we came in second (behind Dartmouth) for the graduates with the most ethical standards.

This is VERY good news. It is such good news that President Hinckley called us out during this week's Homecoming devotional. It's good news for us trying to get internships for next summer. And it's just good news overall for this program. I feel incredibly blessed to be here. The caliber of my fellow students and the depth of their experience is literally awesome and a little intimidating at times. I only hope I can help them as much as they are helping me.

Settling in.

2007-09-20T23:01:00.001-06:00

So it's been a few weeks since I last updated this. And I have a very good reason, I promise. It's been a busy three weeks. As a BYU 1st year MBA, there are six core classes for the first semester. The class of 2009 is divided up into three sections and we have all of our classes with the same people.

Here are the core classes I'm juggling right now:

Accounting
Finance
Professional & Interpersonal Communication
Operations Management
Marketing Management
Human Resources Management

Since I've been out of school for five years, getting back into the whole school thing, has been a bit of an adjustment for me. But I'm finally (only three weeks in) starting to settle in.

Orientating

2007-09-02T21:31:00.000-06:00

So, this has been a kind of a busy week. Just 36 hours after getting back from the trip, I was back in Provo for the start of MBA Orientation Week.

Here's a quick run down of the schedule:

Monday - Lots of meetings about how hard we are going to work, and school pictures
Tuesday - Team building activities like a climbing wall, giant swing, and games like get everyone on your team across the (fill in the blank) obstacle.
Wednesday - Workshops on majors (i.e. marketing, OB/HR, supply chain, finance, production development), and intro to online resume posting.
Thursday - Resume reviews
Friday - Mock Interviews and Networking/ Keynote Event with Sheri Dew

They sure did pack a lot of information into five days...and that's a good thing. I didn't realize before the trip to Moab and orientation how important net summer's internship search is and how early the recruiting season begins. The career services team for the MBA program is phenomenal! And the program has a fantastic mentoring program in place. Classes haven't even started yet and I already know I've been given a huge head start. (Thanks Sherpas!)

Another important aspect of BYU's MBA program is the small group work. We met our groups on Monday and were with them for different activities throughout the week. There are five of us in our group: Brandon, Joseph, Kenji, Alex, and of course, me. Among the members of our group, I am the only girl, and the only single person in the group. There are also two international students in our group: one from Japan and the other from Italy-by-way-of-Brazil. I'm excited because I think our diverse backgrounds will make for stimulating discussions and a more rich learning environment (which is kinda the point).

Needless to say, even though I dropped $600+ for books this semester, and I have an assignment for a class I haven't even been to yet, I'm so looking forward to this semester and to this program.

Groovin' with MBAMA

2007-09-02T19:07:00.000-06:00

Well I finally got my first taste of what the mba experience will be like. And it was a good one.

After working a 13-hour last day at work and staying up way too late packing, I had to get an early start to drive to Provo to meet the MBAMA group for our trip to Moab.

Every year the MBA Marketing Association (MBAMA) plans a trip to Moab so the 1st years can get a jump start on meeting, networking, and having a little bit of fun with some alumni and the 2nd years.

The trip organizers definitely put together a full schedule: a hike to Delicate Arch, an early morning Hummer tour of the Slick Rock, river rafting the Colorado, mountain biking and golf. And because this was a school trip, there was a little edu-macation thrown in for good measure.

Here's a few samples of the fun:

We happened to get a river guide AND philosopher all rolled into one. He taught us many important life lessons like what "grooving" is all about and what a "Colorado Corn Shark" is.

Fun was had by all.

Pam Pong

2007-08-15T00:28:00.000-06:00

So one of the things that you'll soon find out about me is I'm kind of obsessed with all things pop culture. Including a little tv show called The Office. It's pretty much awesome (and September 27th - date of season 4 premiere can't come fast enough).

So while I'm biding my time until school starts and the good stuff actually starts happening...here's a little Office fanvid for your viewing pleasure (I know it's hard to believe but there are people out there more crazy for this show than I am...if you don't believe me, try googling "fandomicity")

On the Brink...

2007-08-12T21:25:00.000-06:00

Hello! Welcome to Julianne's Adventures in MBA Land.

In just two weeks from tomorrow, I'll become an actual, official member of the Brigham Young University Marriott School of Management Master of Business Administration Class of 2009 (whew! that was really long...) Otherwise known as the BYU MBA Program. I'm going to keep this blog about my life for the next two years.

I have just a week and a half left at my current job as an account supervisor at an advertising agency. It's been a great two years there and I'm very sad to leave. But I'm excited to embark on new adventures.