It's Official!

As of today, I am officially done with school. Projects: done. Papers: done. Exams: done. Vacation: just starting.

This semester offered some interesting lessons both inside and outside the classroom.

Least favorite class: Case Studies in Project Management
What it was supposed to be: Case studies of companies at major business inflection points
What it actually was: Organizational Behavior for engineers and computer geeks

Most favorite class: Managerial Accounting
What it was supposed to be: Torturous accounting that might someday be useful
What it actually was: Not so torturous accounting that provided me with great insights into business management - go figure

Most interesting project team: Game Theory, "Chicks Ahoy" -Me, Grethe, Carolyn and Dana. This was an all-female study group that boasted one math geek (and I do mean geek), two finance gurus and me. Finally, a group in which I was free to slack! This group was refreshing in that everyone worked pretty hard and we were relatively flexible and respectable of each other's time. But it was challenging, too, because at least two in the group cared - A LOT - about our grade. I am all about learning the material as best I can but I could give a rat's ass about my actual grade. Unfortunately, only two of us in the group felt this way. That led to some tense moments. Also, at least one of them is someone I never would have spoken to if not for this study group. She is quite smart, if a bit odd. She is also pretty difficult to work with. I mean, she is a hard worker and obviously intellectually gifted. But she is also a control-freak and, like many men at school, likes to be in charge and likes to have the last word. She also called out another teammate once in front of the Professor, which I thought was pretty weak.

Least interesting project team: Case Studies in Project Management. We had one meeting for ten minutes at the end of class one afternoon. The computer/engineer nerds were frustrated with the MBAs because they finally realized that we don't care about grades (grade non-disclosure policy allows us to focus on more important things like networking and outside projects). We were frustrated by them because they really do lack social skills of any kind. Luckily we only had to meet once for those ten minutes.

Most ridiculous study group: Managerial Accounting. Me, Jenna and Brad. Talk about the blind leading the blind! We laughed our asses off as we fumbled our way through this difficult but important class. Yang, our tutor, ensured we didn't fail. And Kim, the transfer from the EWMBA program, with her rambo head gear and her inability to ever get an answer right, provided us with two things: (1) someone to laugh at and (2) someone who made us realize it could be worse.

Best project: Independent Study. Me, Niko and John. What an experience! We got off to a slow start. Tuesdays at the I House were not enough to get our project the momentum we needed. Then it all turned around that day that we decided to go down into the library and use a whiteboard to organize our thoughts. What we eventually created - a new social rating metric to be used specifically for Internet companies - is something of which I am quite proud and that I hope will help me land a job after graduation!