Funny Little World

Well at this point, I've kind of lost count of which week we're on here at business school. I do know that the wind is a tad bit cooler, a few tests and deliverables have been turned in, and thus it seems we're well under way here in Ithaca. It's actually quite crazy to think that we're halfway through the first quarter with fall break, literally right around the corner.

That's what's so interesting about business school is that fact that two or three weeks really feel like about a half a year. This isn't because time is passing slowly, on the contrary I believe...rather it's because the amount of experiences packed into a day are off the charts, especially when compared to that of real people out in the real world. You literally go to approximately four hours of class, probably present something in one of those classes, eat a couple times, converse with about 50 friends/colleagues, meet about 50 new ones, work out (hopefully), do homework, attend a corporate briefing, maybe even interview for a job, change back and forth from casual to formal attire, meet with a faculty member to discuss something vitally important regarding your future, set up more meetings, do something you wouldn't ordinarily do, have an emotional high AND an emotional low, and then start on more work or more socializing in the evening. Literally, this all fits in about 12 hours each day and mostly happens in one building, Sage Hall.

So with that in mind, one can start to understand how a couple of weeks in business school are equal to about six months in real people time. It's a funny little world we live in, but an exciting one at that.

A Simple Thought Piece

It's the end of week two as a second year student at the Johnson School. Judging that it's noon on Thursday and I'm on a bus to New York City typing a blog entry, the passing of time is clearly different than it was exactly one year ago today. So what is different? Let's first review the obvious; I'm not inundated with the core. A privilege very much appreciated and though in a way I miss the camaraderie of "getting through it together" I'll take my morning workouts and time to shower any day. Second, I've completed a summer internship, where to my delight, much of last year's material came into play in an extremely helpful way. Imagine that. Now I listen to my professors with endless gratitude, not just with the intent to make my way through the material and to graduation. Third, I no longer need to learn the lay of the land, but rather know where I like to have an evening cocktail, check my email, and who I should talk to about odds and ends at school.

What is not so obvious is the touch of pensiveness that's mysteriously entered into my way of being, combined with an awareness that these are likely the last few months of a relatively carefree existence. Maybe it's the desire to be carefree that makes me so pensive. Or perhaps, it comes from realizing that work is work and those who want to change the world, whether just their own or everyone else's, are going to put in long, hard hours for many years to come. I think though it comes neither from school, freedom of time, nor the prospect of a life long career, but rather the understanding that as much as we try, as much as we are careful to do the right thing, destinies are fragile and cannot truly be hand-picked in spite of our well tuned efforts.

Case and point is what is happening on Wall Street today. Two storied firms, who for all intensive purposes, fully intended to continue on for years to come. But after a weekend, these companies and those working within them are facing a very different type of Monday than they were just one week ago. As a student of business, this is a rather surreal event to watch from the sidelines. The disruption is worrisome, unwanted, and presumably a tough circumstance to navigate through. With that said, and even at the beginning of this commercial catastrophe, it seems to be understood that eventually the dust will clear and those involved will emerge relatively unharmed and perhaps in an even more prosperous situation - albeit a new destiny not previously planned upon, but somehow prepared for.

Bethany grew up all over the country but calls New Mexico, where she spent most of her childhood years, home. Prior to business school, Bethany worked as an Account Executive in both advertising and design firms, helping to build brands for companies such as Celebrity Cruises, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, and The Campbell Soup Company. She also has extensive experience in new business development, working in this function for The National Foreign Trade Council and Arnold Worldwide. This summer, Bethany interned at General Electric in the corporate marketing department for the Innovation and Strategic Connections group. While she loved her internship, she's so excited to be back in Ithaca and sharing the great experiences we have here with all of you!