Sunday, October 19, 2008
First Half of the Core is Done
Today is the last day of fall break which means tomorrow is the start of the 2nd half of the core. The 1st half of the core really came and went pretty quickly and I definitely learned a few things to help manage the stress this time around. Since orientation it seemed that I was on a treadmill that someone just kept speeding up. Sometimes it seemed that the work would just never cease but it retrospect it really just came in waves that were manageable individually but when taken together really became overwhelming at times. I had sometimes found myself devoting too much time to one assignment much to the neglect of my other work and that was a recipe for getting behind lightning-fast. Ive had to learn how to cut the cord on my projects and decide when to move on. The core has been as much about learning how to handle the volume of work as it has been about grasping the technical concepts. The first 7 weeks are in the history books and its now time to get ready for round two and keep working hard to become the high flyer that I came to JGSM to be.
I think Im ready for the 2nd half. I bought (most of) the books for this term and have already completed the assignments for the first two sessions. I also did a prep module for finance which my mentor gave me last year and which should be helpful for getting a jump on some of the finance content. Finance is one of my weaknesses and so Im looking forward to jumping into it and trying to do well in the class. My goal at Johnson is closing the gaps on my resume by taking advantage of as much as I can for the next 3.75 semesters. Im planning on taking the Managerial Finance Immersion next semester to continue building my finance skillset and maybe landing a corporate finance internship for the summer.
I have to admit though that Im still not exactly sure what I do for the summer. My decision is made harder when so many companies come on campus with really cool opportunities both domestically and internationally and across a range of industries that on the surface seem to offer the potential to move me in an interesting direction. But, first things first I guess. The second half of the core means an opportunity to take 3 new classes. Yay! (not really). Thats all Ive got for now and I plan to blog much more consistently now that I have kind of figured out how to survive the core a little better (only a little more worse for wear). Its been tough balancing coursework, attending briefings, becoming active in extracurricular activities, and still finding time to plan the next steps of my career. Luckily, Ive got great roommates and majorly cool colleagues that I constantly compare notes with and leverage as much as possible. More to come.
I think Im ready for the 2nd half. I bought (most of) the books for this term and have already completed the assignments for the first two sessions. I also did a prep module for finance which my mentor gave me last year and which should be helpful for getting a jump on some of the finance content. Finance is one of my weaknesses and so Im looking forward to jumping into it and trying to do well in the class. My goal at Johnson is closing the gaps on my resume by taking advantage of as much as I can for the next 3.75 semesters. Im planning on taking the Managerial Finance Immersion next semester to continue building my finance skillset and maybe landing a corporate finance internship for the summer.
I have to admit though that Im still not exactly sure what I do for the summer. My decision is made harder when so many companies come on campus with really cool opportunities both domestically and internationally and across a range of industries that on the surface seem to offer the potential to move me in an interesting direction. But, first things first I guess. The second half of the core means an opportunity to take 3 new classes. Yay! (not really). Thats all Ive got for now and I plan to blog much more consistently now that I have kind of figured out how to survive the core a little better (only a little more worse for wear). Its been tough balancing coursework, attending briefings, becoming active in extracurricular activities, and still finding time to plan the next steps of my career. Luckily, Ive got great roommates and majorly cool colleagues that I constantly compare notes with and leverage as much as possible. More to come.
# posted by Tory Ragsdale @ 8:55 PM 