The MBA Student Voice

Winter 'Break'

Finals are over, campus is closed, and the class of 2012 spreads like the wind to different parts of the globe. 

Everyday I'm excited to see what part of the world my classmates are visiting.  Some are hiking to Patagonia, visiting companies in Hong Kong, New York, or Silicon Valley, and others are playing it more low key and spending time with friends and family.  After a truly hectic first quarter it's a time to recoup, recharge our batteries, and prepare for what is assured to be another intense quarter.  For me, it's been an opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep, do some self reflection on the past quarter, spend some quality time with my family, and make nice with my running shoes, which have been sadly neglected.

Even though this last quarter was intense, hectic, and sometimes scary, I definitely had the time of my life and wouldn't have preferred to be doing anything else.  I'll admit that I got so wrapped up in classes and other events that I didn't take the time to plan out my Winter vacation a little more, which is something I wish I'd taken a little more time to do.

With the Winter Quarter will come more fall classes, interviewing for Summer Internships, and a lot more fun.  I'd like to wish everyone a Happy Holidays and a great New Year.  I'd like to leave you with a picture that perfectly encapsulates the quarter.  As you might now, we had some pretty bad rains in Socal right before Christmas.  There was flooding, mudslides, and things got pretty bad.  But this moment reminded me that no matter how crazy or hectic things get, it's all worthwhile and something to look forward to at the end of it all.

 

Ferlianto Fall 2010 Recap

Greetings from Atlanta!  This time I'm writing you from my in-laws' place, where we will be spending the Christmas holiday.  It is so good to see them after being away for four months.

I am still getting my arms around the fact that we are 1/6th of the way through our MBA program at Anderson.  That Fall quarter went by too quickly!  While final exam prep accounted for a large portion of our time during finals week, it is always nice to have the perspective that grad school grades are merely a formality.  Two years focused on personal growth and learning is what we're paying for, after all.  Speaking of learning, let me take a second to reflect on some of my takeaways from the past 10 weeks:

1. Ask myself "why"?  There are so many opportunities to go after as an Anderson student - more than my 24-hr. day can handle.  Asking myself the "why" question before every decision helps me check my motivations and stay focused on my priorities, and gives me the discipline and discernment to say "no" when necessary.  I believe that most decisions we make in life involve choosing between "good" options and "better" options, rather than "good" and "bad" options.  Recognizing the subtle difference between "good' and "better" is not always easy, and asking myself "why" can help.
2. Enjoy the process.  I am often tempted to focus on the next major application deadline, the next assignment, the next presentation, the next vacation.  This thinking can get exhausting. I have found it rewarding to be in the present and to enjoy each experience to the fullest.  The reality of life is that there will always be another pressing deadline/goal to work towards.  If I'm too focused on the future, then the many beautiful things in life will simply pass me by.  Life is too short and too precious for that.
3. Make time to think.  A lot of b-school is doing.  So many things to do all the time.  We need to take time out of each day to pause for a bit, and think.  Makes the doing a lot more purposeful and focused.
4. Make time for exercise/hobbies.  Great stress reliever for the mind, good for the body.  Balance is the key.

Do I have more than four takeaways?  The answer is yes, but I'll save them for when I have writer's block next time.  :)  To my readers out there, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday.  See you in 2011!

-- Jesse Ferlianto, '12

 
* Hiking with Anderson friends at Topanga State Park to celebrate the end of Fall quarter finals.  (temperature was a lovely 75 degrees in the middle of December!)

Finally Over

Here's the punchline of this post: first quarter of Year 2 blows.  There's no other way to say it. 

The problem -- and in fairness, it's a high-quality problem -- is that there are too many things that come up in the first quarter.  Because 1/3 of my 2011 classmates are abroad, and none of the first years are bidding for electives, it's the perfect quarter to take any of the professors or courses that you are eager to take.  Plus, most of us still here in Westwood started our field study projects (the acronym here is AMR, for Applied Management Research).  On top of that, most people are now involved in some sort of club leadership.  So yeah, it gets to be a busy quarter.  I'm happy to see the back of it!

I'll confess that I overdid it.  AMR takes up a lot of time.  I also took Real Estate with Professor Sussman, as well as Business Plan Development.  Both classes were rewarding - Sussman is one of what I call the five rockstar professors here at UCLA Anderson, the others being Alderton, Cockrum, Osbourne, and Sood, in no particular order.  It's not just that they were a LOT of work, it's that I wanted to gain a lot from each of them.  In hindsight, I wouldn't suggest over-doing it.  Do as I say, not as I do!

* * * * * *

Not at all happy with this past week for the Capitals.  To me, there are two glaring problems right now.

One, the power play.  It's not just that it needs to score, it's that the power play should generate momentum for the Capitals.  At the moment it's lifeless.  I've never liked Ovechkin at the point on the power play, he's better suited down low or on the half-boards.  It took until the Colorado game for Coach Boudreau to put more grinders on the ice during the power play. 

Two, we need an offensive zone system change - or at least, a Plan B.  Too many teams are collapsing four guys into the crease and letting the Caps play around on the perimeter.  So of course shots and passes are getting blocked, and when they are getting through, they aren't difficult stops for the goaltender.  Colorado did this to near-perfection on Saturday night.  The Caps lost, 3-2, not because Craig Anderson was a terrific goaltender (he played well enough to win but wasn't stellar), but because the Avalanche stopped 42 shots from getting to the target.  Backstrom seems to be the only Capital to have figured out what other teams are doing, because now he stutter-steps off the boards before making a play to try to create more space.

Yes, I know that had nothing to do with UCLA Anderson.  So what?  It's Winter Break!

-- Sreesha

First Annual Anderson Latino Management Alumni (ALMA) Holiday Party!

The Anderson Latino Management Alumni (ALMA) had a great 2010!  Over the course of the past year, Anderson alumni and current students toasted away the summer at our August Happy Hour in West Los Angeles, reconnected with old friends at our first ALMA UCLA football tailgate complete with our very own Taco Stand, and now will be hosting a Holiday party as our final event of the year.  

As a current student, I've found the Anderson alum network to be invaluable and ALMA has been a great way for me to stay connected!  Now that Anderson finals are over, I'm looking forward to waffles and ice cream at the holiday party this Sunday.  If you are interested in joining feel free to get more more information or sign-up via the link below!  See you there!

http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/alum-event-details.xml?eid=2651

 

 

London Calling...

Fellow blogeteer Jesse Ferlianto reminded me today that it has been a long time since I've contributed to the blog, so you can thank him for the fact that I'm going to tell you all about how I spent the US Thanksgiving holiday. 

Last weekend, while most of you were enjoying the turkey and the NFL, a motley collection of 21 UCLA Anderson students went to London for the 7th annual career trek there.  This year, I organized it alongside three classmates of mine.  The trip is in conjunction with five other US MBA programs and is cut across three verticals: finance, consulting, and the newly-created sports / entertainment.  Across all of the schools, we were approximately 80 students.

The trek was a success all ways around!  Personally, I was on the sports / entertainment verticals, and the companies were extremely receptive to us being there.  We got to meet some very senior people from a variety of exciting firms, including the NBA, NFL, IMG, ESPN, Harrah's, Disney, Paramount, Fox, and NBC Universal.  Above all else, I learned that while they all work for US-based companies, they have loads of opportunities to expand their business in Europe - in many cases, moreso than their US-based colleagues, who are facing a fragmented saturation of the American sports market. 

I'm also really happy that the finance and consulting verticals came out really well, too.  On the finance vertical, we saw Prudential M&G (the asset management arm of the UK's largest insurance company), Aerium Finance, and State Street for asset management; Carlyle and Providence Equity for private equity; and Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Nomura, Credit Suisse, and Citi in investment banking.  The feedback I got was that the companies were all stellar, and within the finance industry there was a decent amount of variety as well. 

On the consulting vertical, we saw McKinsey, Bain, and BCG, as well as Deloitte, E&Y, PWC, A.T. Kearney, Roland Berger, and Gallup.  This was the longest vertical of them all: the first meeting was at 12noon on Wednesday, and the last meeting on Friday afternoon!  But the feedback I got was that it was worth it, especially given the breadth of the companies and divsions that we visited. 

I'm also very proud of how we at Anderson did in terms of setting up meetings.  We arranged all of the sports / entertainment vertical - the Anderson alums there were nothing short of fantastic for us - as well as 2-3 headliners in both of the other verticals (McKinsey, Deloitte, Prudential M&G, Providence Equity, Credit Suisse, and Aerium Finance).  Big kudos to Abhijit, Pete, and Vivek for helping me make this trip happen.

More than anything, I think we showed a lot of multinational companies that, contrary to popular belief, Anderson students are willing to seek out job opportunities outside of LA. We came prepared, had great questions, and were extremely professional as much as possible. 

One thing that US MBA programs are known for are these sort of career treks, where you get to visit a variety of companies in different verticals.  Anderson frankly has been lagging other schools in this endeavour, but hopefully as the London trip continues to expand, we will be able to catch up.  Organizing the trip is extremely rewarding because it gives you direct contact with all of the people that you want to keep up with anyway -- so now you have delivered something for them, which differentiates you from the rest of the crowd.

Bottom line: these are the trips that are so critical to the MBA experience, and this one in particular is one that you should keep in mind for next year should you get the chance to join us here in Westwood. 

Reach out to me off-line if you want more details!

-- Sreesha