This is my favorite time of year.

I lived in Germany some years ago in a little village called Neidenbach; it is situated in a low mountain range in western Germany close to Belgium and Luxembourg. In the fall, I would jog to the village next to mine, Kyllburg and visit the Malberg castle. I remember the sounds of the falling water and sights of the vibrant autumn leaves as I approached this castle on a hill.

The natural beauty of Ithaca and the Cornell campus played a role in my decision to come to the Johnson School. Cornell sits on a hilltop overlooking the Cayuga Lake, the longest of the Finger Lakes. When I walk to class, I walk over a beautiful stream and admire the bright fall colors. There are gorges, creeks and waterfalls all over campus, and I enjoy spending free time exploring the natural beauty that surrounds me.

But, fall break is over now! So is my study break.

We are back in the thick of academic heat: Strategy, Corporate Finance, and Statistics. I must get back to studying Stock Valuations for an upcoming Finance quiz!

After the S.C. Johnson Case competition, the Class of 2011 has been very busy. It seems as if every time we complete one task, it is time to gear up for the next one! In one week, we took two quizzes, turned in a paper, did resume reviews, and attended multiple corporate briefings. This past weekend, many of us went on career or club treks to New York City to meet with alumni and visit companies. Others of us attended informational interviews and office hours with companies that took time out of their busy schedule to travel to Ithaca. Thank you to a great alumni network! We have been finalizing our resumes and trying to pick our immersions. In between the delicate balance of career exploration and academics, we try to blow off a little steam and even get introspective.

As final exams loom right around the corner, I took most of the weekend off. I spent a pretty penny buying hockey equipment for the Johnson School women's hockey team, appropriately called the "Frozen Assets." Our first official practice was humbling to say the least. As a former soccer player, I thought my field sense might translate to the hockey rink, but I forgot that simple basics might impede my success; I am terrible on ice skates! We also had a Veterans club beer call and I had a nice dinner out on the town.

At a recent corporate briefing, a Johnson alum and friend of mine stated, "I want to be part of a company that values my experiences." A classmate and I talked a lot about this, and it is still on my mind. Almost everyone at business school is a career changer. We are all trying to consider the full package of what we will be doing after graduation. As we all go through the core, it is hard to stay authentic, yet remain open to all of the options presented in a two-year MBA program. I have come up with one conclusion: I hope that I can have a positive influence on my surroundings no matter where I am, yet find a career field that values my entire skill set.

Off to study for finals!

We survived our first round of mid-terms. There are corporate briefings every night. The pace of business school is incredible! But, like all things in life, there are only so many hours in the day, and I need to figure out how to efficiently take care of myself while keeping the important things important.

After mid-terms, I have a new philosophy. It is a bit simpler than my prior plan. I just need to make sure that everything that I do throughout the day, week, and term keeps me happy, healthy, and moving towards my life and career goals.

So, what does that mean? For everyone it is different. I am a list person, so here is my list:

PHYSICAL: I decided to join a local gym. Yes, I am paying for the campus gym and a private gym, but it is worth it. There are quite a few Johnson School students that have joined, and I already have a spinning date tomorrow morning! I am going to do very early AM workouts (I don't drink coffee). If I need an afternoon study break/stress relief, I will just jog around the lake on campus near Sage Hall and take a quick shower in the basement. Then back to the next task.

ACADEMIC: I am studying in different locations in spurts. Sometimes, I need Sage Hall. Sometimes, I need to study in my own apartment. I did a little reflection on where and when I study what subjects most effectively. I study better in bursts focused on specific tasks. During the week, my studying is very tactical. On the weekends, I try to play catch up and prepare for the week.

MENTAL: Socialize. I went to Johnson Night Out, a pot-luck dinner with 10 first and second year students. Mexican Night! We went to the Palms afterwards, a local bar in Collegetown. It has a patio out back, and the Johnson School dominated. Although, I must admit, they held our credit cards hostage until the wee hours, and I tried to find some humor as tired business school students tried to convince the bartender to return our precious cards. We had to wait. So, another rule to the list - > Do not sweat the small things, and bring cash. Cash is king, right?

SCHEDULING: Plan where to be, and be where you are. Live by your Outlook calendar. There is not too much to say but just that. I just have to do it!

The next big hurdle is this week - the S.C. Johnson Case Competition. I will give the full report next week! Mid-terms were simply a warm-up.

Cheers!

Orientation ended with a bang! The majority of the Class of 2011 loaded onto buses and trekked out to a summer camp on the shore of Lake Wasco. The Johnson Outdoor Experience (JOE) was led by the enthusiasm of second-year students that have returned from their internships. The Class of 2010 did a great job of facilitating an important bonding experience for our class. I fully intend on returning to JOE next year as a facilitator! Call me corny, but I actually am quite motivated by teambuilding activities. Crossing fictitious acid rivers, falling into each other's arms, and putting together skits is actually quite fun, and it helped our class work out some of the jitters as we begin classes.

My two favorite parts of JOE: getting to know my core team and free time. My core team is amazing! I couldn't be happier. It is the perfect blend of personalities, backgrounds, and we already work well together. JOE facilitated time for us to get to know each other, explore strengths and weaknesses, and develop a plan of action to handle our group projects in Marketing and Accounting. I do want to accomplish all of the tasks that they give us as a group efficiently. Even more so, I am looking forward to getting to know my small team through dinners and Nintendo Wii evenings! (Hopefully my team is excited -- I enjoy healthy cooking.) Also at JOE, there was free time built into the schedule. I enjoyed many great conversations in a rocking chair on the lake, roasting marshmallows, and even a bit of rowdy athletic jaunts. I had so much fun all night; I never found my bed or tent! I ended up crashing on a couch and waking up early to enjoy quiet time on the lake. What a great weekend!

Now...onto planning for the week. We have our first two quizzes this week and our first paper. I feel the tension every time I enter Sage Hall. As everyone has advised, the Core is tough. We will all get through it! My next blog topic will discuss this further. But for now, first things first - health, happiness, and an Econ quiz!

Let the games begin.

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!

This week, I got a call from a good friend. He was trying to make sense of the death of a fellow Air Force officer. On May 20, 2009, Lt Roslyn L. Schulte, 25, was killed by a roadside bomb near Kabul, Afghanistan. The pain in my dear friend's voice, the questions he asked, and his anger evoked memories that I discuss quite infrequently. However, since it is Memorial Day, I find it fitting to honor my entire military family, especially those on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On May 30, 2001, I threw my hat in the air with 887 other graduates of the United States Air Force Academy. In a pre-9/11 environment, we were all bright shiny new lieutenants off to happily serve in a time of relative peace. However, 9/11 changed our lives forever, and the once distant concept of war quickly became reality.

The summer of 2003, I was deployed to Bagram AB, Afghanistan to support A-10's. This ugly fighter, the red-headed stepchild of the Air Force, is a flying titanium bathtub that is a hero to the soldiers on the ground. I will never forget the numerous evenings standing on the flight line, silent, and at attention as a flag draped coffin was loaded onto an aircraft. But, this is what you see in movies. One nondescript day, I was rushing to chow hall after a workout to grab a hot meal, and a young soldier approached me, "Ma'am, are you with the A-10's?" I replied yes. "I just want you to know, I was out there last week on the border. I just got back from the field. We called you guys in and you all took out the whole (expletive deleted) ridge. I love that plane, ma'am. I always feel good when I know it's on the way. Thank you." I stood there silent. I was frozen with that silly grin that often hides my nervousness. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. No, don't thank me. I thought. Thank you. That day, an 18 year old soldier helped me to begin to understand the sacrifices of those on the ground. War had become personal.

May 30, 2005 should have been a good day for the US Air Force Academy Class of 2001. It was Memorial Day, and we pinned on the rank of Captain. On that fateful day, two of our classmates, Capt. Derek Argel, 28, and Capt. Jeremy Fresques, 26, were killed in the crash of small Iraqi reconnaissance plane. Both were Special Tactics Officers (Combat Controllers). I knew Derek only by reputation. Who wouldn't remember the towering star athlete that struck fear in any underclassmen in his midst? Called "Mr. Indestructible" by his fellow squadron members, Derek towered over the cadet wing. At 6'6", 4% body fat, and with an infamous smirk-smile, I remember hearing Derek's booming voice "convincing" underclassmen to hide all weakness. I was happy not to be in their shoes. Jeremy was a friend of mine. He was in the squadron next to me, and I have fond memories of a weekend escape trip with a group of close friends to Denver. Jeremy was a quieter force; the one who carried his classmates' rifles the last two miles of a squadron run, who took heat from upperclassmen for something another classmate did, and never complained. How trivial that all seems now, yet it is that same pure soul and steel grit that fueled both Derek and Jeremy through the rigors of combat. We were so young at the Academy, but on the day we all became Captains, I realized that we were not too young to die for our country.

Exactly two years later, on May 30, 2007, I was serving in Kandahar, Afghanistan under an 82nd Airborne led Army Task Force. I remember sitting in the Task Force briefing room then walking outside to watch our helicopters take off. It was standard, but still surreal: young soldiers, rucksacks, weapons, helicopters, blazing heat, the smell of fuel, dust. I watched them take off. I rushed back to my operations center. Not even an hour later, five U.S. soldiers along with a British soldier and Canadian soldier were killed when one of our CH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down by Taliban fighters in the Helmand province. I couldn't believe it. It was our bird. I just sat in the same room as those men. We watched on live feeds as 25,000 lbs of steel lurched, shuddered, and fell out of the sky. Although I could not show my anger and frustration, a part of my soul died that night.

Whenever I deploy, I spend most of my time on base "behind the wire." I feel guilty when people say, "Thank you for your service." It is an honor to serve my military family. I want to say, "Please, thank them, the soldiers on the ground." So this weekend, my heart stands still for my dear military family, for all those that have sacrificed more than I can comprehend and for the families of our fallen.

On this Memorial Day, please pause and remember the sacrifices of those that have set aside hopes, dreams, and personal interests to answer a higher calling.

Make the most of your freedom.

Thank you. Peace be with you.

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." John Stuart Mill

Time has flown by since my last post. I completed training, and I have been working live missions. I am still amazed by the technology that allows the Air Force to remotely support the soldiers on the ground in Iraq. I work rotating shift work, so I often forget what day of the week it is because my Monday might actually be on a Friday! Sometimes when I am in the dimly lit operations center, talking to the crew, listening to soldiers and pilots in Iraq, typing furiously to people all over the world, watching video feeds, and monitoring four very large computer screens - I sometimes forget that I am back in America.

I regrettably had to miss Destination Johnson. I hope that future classmates had a wonderful time visiting Ithaca. When I saw the photos from DJ, it hit home that I was to return this fall to business school. Surprisingly, I found myself a bit anxious about returning to the Johnson School. I left the Class of 2010 quite quickly, and since then, I have been immersed in all things Iraq. I know that I want a career change. I know the career that I will be pursuing. However, I have military friends and family that continually question my decision to leave the Air Force. All the running, yoga, basketball, and swimming could not erase some form of guilt that developed since I left Iraq.

I had a small epiphany while running intervals late one night.

I am training for a half-marathon. As a former soccer and basketball player, I enjoy the intensity and thrill of high impact team sports much more than simply running. I began to get frustrated with the 1/2 marathon training plans that I downloaded online. So, I met with a personal trainer for one session to help me write a more tailored training plan. I had a long list of questions that I wanted answered. I am a goal oriented person. I train with a GPS integrated heart rate monitor. I like to compete. I am results oriented. I want to see the numbers improve. So I naturally hounded him with questions related to speed, heart rate, and rest period between intervals. At one point, he looked at me and said, "Kima - just stop. You are an athlete. Don't wear that silly watch. Just listen to your breathing and to your body. It will let you know. Trust me; I've done this for a long time, but most importantly, trust yourself."

That night, while running intervals on a local high school track, it hit me. I do know myself. I know where I have been, where I am going, and why I am pursuing a career change. Just like with every sport, every new place I have lived, and every new job I have held, I have adapted. I know that when I return to the Johnson School, I will have the support of an amazing administration and classmates to help guide me towards a career change. I had a fabulous run that night. I have not questioned my decisions and goals since.

I will trust myself.

I have been reassigned to California, to do another exciting and technologically advanced mission in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

I was so honored to serve in Iraq during such an exciting time. The meaning and purpose of our military efforts became clear. I was afforded the privilege of observing free and successful provincial elections. As the transition continues, stronger Iraqi security forces are making it safer for internally displaced Iraqis to return to their native home. It will not be easy, but I did see progress. For that, I am thankful.

I have been reassigned to support the California Air National Guard as an integral part of unmanned aircraft flying combat missions in Iraq. I look forward to continuing to dynamically support ground forces in Iraq with the persistent stare and protection that unmanned aircraft provide our soldiers.

Although my daily tasks will be focused intensely on actively supporting this mission, some of my free time will be spent acclimating in the states and leading a more normalized life. I am thankful to be physically safe, and I look forward to a good transition to the Johnson School.

My Ithaca homecoming validated that I had chosen the right business school. I felt like I was reunited with a branch of my family. I visited with as many friends as possible before I road-tripped across the country to California. I took five days to drive from Ithaca to California. I stopped to see family and friends in Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. My girlfriends from the Johnson School sent me a stuffed animal to Iraq. It hails a red t-shirt, "Somebody at Cornell Loves Me." CB (Cornell Bear) became my Wilson volleyball, and kept me company for 2,700 miles.

The last stop in California was particularly special; I was reunited with two of my closest girlfriends from the Air Force. My former college roommate, now an Air Force pilot, was leaving for Iraq that week. I just made it to her family's home in time to send her off. My other girlfriend, whom I met in 1997 during basic training, was visiting her family in California. She and I were stationed in Germany at the same time, and I had the chance to meet her new baby son and reminisce some of our basic training and European adventures.

I am happy to be home!

I have been collecting funny stories to describe how military members cope with a sometimes stressful and a sometimes monotonous environment. This story is from one of my work colleagues, and it describes one evening in Iraq. He is home now, and he gave me permission to post this story. I changed one name to protect the innocent. Enjoy.

Idle Hands are the Devil's...something

This story begins, as do most in which I get in trouble, with three simple words: I was bored.

The compound in which I live and work looks a lot like a prison because tall concrete walls encircle it. Even inside the compound, there are concrete walls everywhere one looks. These walls are actually made up of individual segments set in place with cranes. We call them t-walls because their profile resembles an upside-down capital letter T. While they are intended to shield us from flying shrapnel or other debris during an attack, they are an eyesore that I certainly will not miss when I leave.

...and I've always wondered what the view was like from atop the t-walls.

Some of you can see where this story is going already.

A few weeks ago, the schedule worked out in such a way that we found ourselves with a couple hours of down time in the middle of our shift. So what does one do when one has some unexpected free time? Call home? Do the laundry? Take a nap? Of course not! We wanted to climb one of the twenty-foot t-walls near where we work. Besides, it was nighttime and that's the perfect opportunity to go exploring, right?

Getting to the top of a wall was easy. If the Seabees didn't want us using one of their long ladders, they wouldn't have left it behind only one locked gate. So one of my compatriots (whom I shall call Q-hat) and I climbed a wall and perched on top. The view was pretty spectacular, especially since it was almost sunrise, the clouds were turning brilliant hues of red and orange, and we could watch the various combat aircraft out on the flight line.

After a few minutes, realizing that the DFAC was about to open for breakfast, Q-hat and I had the genius idea of getting breakfast in to-go boxes and eating on top of the wall. Why did we do this? Why not?

Halfway through breakfast, one of my coworkers on the ground decided it would be amusing to remove the ladder as quietly as she could so neither Q-hat nor I would notice it was missing. In her defense, our backs were to the ladder, and who could pass up such an opportunity? By the time she walked around to the other side of the wall to make fun of us, the ladder was tucked safely behind a nearby building.

And here comes the really funny part:

Somewhere off in the distance, Q-hat and I heard the faint, muffled fwump of a mortar being launched. Then there was a second. Now they certainly could have been friendly mortars being fired for practice, but those mortar batteries were somewhere to our left and the ones we heard were somewhere to our right.

Then the sirens started going off.

So there we were: the base was being attacked while we sat on top of a twenty-foot concrete t-wall with no way of getting down. Pretty funny, huh? We thought so too...much, much later, after the fact. Not at the time. It wasn't funny at all at the time.

It turns out we were in no danger. One of the rounds fell short and landed outside the base, and it wasn't even coming anywhere near us in the first place. Then we watched the base defense guns destroy the second round mid-air, which was pretty cool to see.

After the attack, the ladder was quickly put back against the wall. Q-hat and I finished breakfast, then climbed down and returned the ladder to where we found it. No harm, no foul.

The moral of the story: never turn your back on a ladder that is your only means of escape. Oh, and you probably shouldn't climb on top of the walls to check out the view.

The End

Everyone always wants to know, "What is it like out there?" I have a hard time describing it to people.

The past few days have been stressful. Whenever adversity hits me in a deployed location, I tend to become more focused on my routine. I take great comfort in the smallest of milestones, living day by day, meal by meal, and hour by hour, reveling in the small victories. The days become a blur. The only way to know the day of the week is to look at the bottom right of my computer screen.

When we are so focused on the most immediate tasks at hand, military members often forget that the sights and sounds of a military base in Iraq are quite different than the sights and sounds at home. You become where you are.

Normal becomes rolling out of bed in the middle of the night to stumble over rocks to the nearest port-a-potty. Normal becomes the crunching of rocks underneath our boots, the gentle hum of generators, and humvees roaring by. I often awake to the sounds of jets roaring over my head, the vibrations of low flying helicopters, and the rattle of automatic weapons at the range.

An occasional "boom" is about the only thing that shakes our focus. We all stop typing for a moment and look at teach other waiting for another "boom." If there are several in a row, then it is probably a controlled detonation. If only one, we wonder how close the rocket attack came. Then we go back to what we were doing.

But, a few days ago, Iraq stood still. I was walking to the chow hall and I noticed that it was actually a beautiful day. Absent the usual dust haze, the sun was bright and the sky was clear. The base was quiet. I saw something flutter out of the corner of my eye. As I looked up, I saw a colorful bird delicately perched on razor wire right next to fifteen foot blast walls. I realized that I hadn't seen a living animal since I had left the States. I just stood there and enjoyed my new friend before he flew away.

It sounds strange, but I felt a sense of peace. I remembered a distant life far away; for a moment I wasn't in Iraq, and I remembered why I am doing this.

I wrote this on December 27th. I had a hard time getting it posted.

Happy Belated Holidays and Happy New Year!

When I found out late August 08 that I was getting put on orders to deploy to Iraq, I was admittedly distracted from my Academics. I thought long and hard about finishing out the term. However, I knew that it would be too challenging for me to finish the core while knowing that I would soon be returning to the desert. I submitted my case to the Johnson School; they quickly deferred my enrollment. When I return, I will join the Class of 2011. I did not fully realize the impact of this decision until now. Just during JOE (the Johnson Outdoor Experience), Orientation, and a few weeks of the Core, I felt an amazing bond with my new B-school friends. The holidays can be tough on military members deployed overseas. Most people think about their family. I miss my family dearly, but thinking of all of my friends at B-school, in the military, from my hometown...it is what gets me by. Happy Holidays to all. Thank you for your support.

Greetings! I am a first-year Johnson School student with the Class of 2010, but I recently deployed to Iraq for my third tour of service since I graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2001. I was born on Suwon Air Base in South Korea, and ever since, military service has been in my blood. Uncle Sam gave me the opportunity to live in many locations: Texas, Germany, Afghanistan (twice), Virginia, and New York. Now a member of the New York Air National Guard, I expect to return to Ithaca in time for the fall semester where I'll resume my studies with the Class of 2011. I am also a volunteer CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) that advocates for abused and neglected children. I am excited to share my experiences with you all!

Introducing Kima McCoy