Friday, August 14, 2009
Orientation Part I - Class of 2011
I am now in the midst of the excitement of Orientation with my new Cornell family - the Class of 2011. Welcome! I trust that all of my new classmates are settling in and taking care of basics during this important transition period. I know that the next two years are to be intense, rewarding, and quite fun!
Since my last post, I completed my first ever "Mud Run." The Camp Pendleton Mud Run is a 10K with hills, tire obstacles, river crossings, two 5-foot walls with mud on both sides, a tunnel crawl, and the final 30-foot mud pit. Thus concludes this wild ride of Operation Iraqi Freedom! Thank you to all those still serving.
After I completed my military duties, I drove cross-country from Southern California to New York (by way of Seattle). It gave me the opportunity to reconnect with family and experience the beauty of this great country. I have always had an affinity for the outdoors, but I underestimated the sheer power of such mesmerizing sights! I wish that I could describe it with words. The coast of California, Seattle, Yellowstone, and the Badlands will remain a mere snapshot in my mind, memory, and heart.
It is surreal to be back in Ithaca! I spent a week moving into my new apartment. I finished my move off with a half-marathon in Chicago. My timing should have been better with this race; 13.1 miles after 4,000 miles of driving and a move with heavy furniture is not ideal! My return to the Johnson School began with the pre-Orientation "Quantitative Skills for the Core," a very productive academic experience. The course focused on basic financial math, microeconomics, accounting, and statistics.
Orientation began on Sunday with encouraging words from Dean Joe Thomas. Throughout the week, I watched as we all rushed from one activity to another. On Tuesday, we took our first stab at giving presentations and provided constructive feedback to our small groups. I was stunned at the diversity in my small group. In just an hour and a half, I observed a Google vs. Yahoo vs. Microsoft verbal joust, a heroic tale from a former professional baseball player, and a Pharmacology PHD carefully describe his professional experiences using Six Sigma. That is not all! My group also included the founder of a non-profit that provides medical care in India, a polished consultant that loves his Blackberry, and a former financial services analyst.
Back to Orientation!
Since my last post, I completed my first ever "Mud Run." The Camp Pendleton Mud Run is a 10K with hills, tire obstacles, river crossings, two 5-foot walls with mud on both sides, a tunnel crawl, and the final 30-foot mud pit. Thus concludes this wild ride of Operation Iraqi Freedom! Thank you to all those still serving.
After I completed my military duties, I drove cross-country from Southern California to New York (by way of Seattle). It gave me the opportunity to reconnect with family and experience the beauty of this great country. I have always had an affinity for the outdoors, but I underestimated the sheer power of such mesmerizing sights! I wish that I could describe it with words. The coast of California, Seattle, Yellowstone, and the Badlands will remain a mere snapshot in my mind, memory, and heart.
It is surreal to be back in Ithaca! I spent a week moving into my new apartment. I finished my move off with a half-marathon in Chicago. My timing should have been better with this race; 13.1 miles after 4,000 miles of driving and a move with heavy furniture is not ideal! My return to the Johnson School began with the pre-Orientation "Quantitative Skills for the Core," a very productive academic experience. The course focused on basic financial math, microeconomics, accounting, and statistics.
Orientation began on Sunday with encouraging words from Dean Joe Thomas. Throughout the week, I watched as we all rushed from one activity to another. On Tuesday, we took our first stab at giving presentations and provided constructive feedback to our small groups. I was stunned at the diversity in my small group. In just an hour and a half, I observed a Google vs. Yahoo vs. Microsoft verbal joust, a heroic tale from a former professional baseball player, and a Pharmacology PHD carefully describe his professional experiences using Six Sigma. That is not all! My group also included the founder of a non-profit that provides medical care in India, a polished consultant that loves his Blackberry, and a former financial services analyst.
Back to Orientation!
# posted by Kima McCoy @ 8:52 AM 