Yesterday is a perfect example of what my life has been like as a first-year here at Anderson. After an invigorating* 8AM session of Financial Accounting followed by an exciting* discussion of Marketing Management, I went to an information session regarding the Knapp Venture Competition, a fantastic opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs offered here at UCLA Anderson. The Knapp Venture Competition, put on by the Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurship, allows students to create business plans for their own ideas and present them to local venture capitalists, angel investors and entrepreneurs, and even win prize money to help launch these ideas. I hope to participate in the competition myself, and am looking out for the deadlines so I can be sure to become a part of it.
After the Knapp info session I headed straight to Managerial Economics class, and then to my ACT meeting for investment banking, my main career focus at this point in time. What is ACT, you ask? ACT stands for Anderson Career Team. ACT groups are industry-based career groups that consist of two second-year students in a particular industry/function and several first-year students who want to pursue a similar career path. These teams are invaluable in helping us first-years get ready to recruit for jobs. Our coaches help us with everything from resume editing to interview practice to networking strategies. The second-years have just finished internships in the fields we want to recruit in and there is no one else I’d want in my corner.
After my ACT group, I had a couple hours to do some homework and then it was time to head to the Investment Finance Association’s Investment Banking Career Night. That’s a mouthful. As my colleague, ML, mentioned in his post, this consists of several Anderson students networking with representatives from top investment banks. It’s no easy task to capture a banker’s attention and strike up a meaningful conversation, but that is what I attempted to do and boy, was it nerve-wracking! When it was all over, I could finally call it a day. To say that I am busy is an understatement, but I sure am having a blast. B school life is getting more and more interesting by the minute.
Kelly
*Note sarcasm
