Apologies to my mother, and the probably four other people who read my ramblings, for my absence. It appears that my last post was something like three weeks ago. Time sure does fly, and the reason for the hiatus was the cliffhanger from my previous entry: orientation.
The best way I can describe orientation at UCLA's Anderson School of Management is that it's an awful lot like summer camp. For example, there was a ropes course day. Somehow, the powers that be here convinced me to climb up a very tall pole, rotate 270 degrees atop said pole, and then jump from the pole to a trapeze that appeared to be hanging too far for me to grasp. I'm still grappling with how this relates to business exactly (not that it had to, as it sure did help build bonds between many of us), but I sure did learn a bit about myself. Mainly, I confirmed that I'll try almost anything given enough peer pressure. I just hope more of my friends don't start skydiving, because if they do, I'm hosed. The only reason I'm jumping out of a flying plane is if it's crashing. And if I see a tall pole, my first inclination is most definitely not to climb it. I'd be interested in meeting the first guy who had that yen. I bet he sees the world a whole lot different than me.
Anyway, in addition to the ropes course, we had a day of improv, a county fair of sorts, section olympics, and even a group skit. My section's theme was "pirates," so throughout the olympics day, for instance, we brandished blow up swords and eye patches and chanted, "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me." I believe the summer camp parallel is now complete. And needless to say, pretty much everybody was looking like a complete fool at one point or another. In fact, perhaps that is where the correlation to business kicks in. Plenty of photos were taken of all the insanity. Presumably, the possessors of said photos would have some nice leverage over those pictured. I should really invest in a camera. That might pay off down the road.
But orientation wasn't all fun and games. There were guest speakers, community service at local schools, and even one of our core classes. Overall, the days were jam packed and rather tiring. But now, I've had to make the transition from orientation to actual school, which is a bit rough. I barely looked at a syllabus during orientation, but as soon as it ended, I realized I had 70 pages of econ to read for the next day. A rude awakening to say the least, but I still made it out to the bar that night (using public transportation, I might add). I think the key from here on in will be to find that right work/life balance, and I'll let you (Mom) know how that goes on this here page. Wish me luck, day two of class is tomorrow.
