I have got to hand it to them. 2nd year MBA students at Anderson know how to generously 'pay it forward' for the benefit of the 1st years at Anderson.
In one way or another, business school stretches the new student's ability to adapt, transform, and grow within a relatively short period of time. On day one, we hit the ground running hard and fast. The changes in environment come in many forms: new classes, new subjects, new faces, new social outlets, new career aspirations, new expectations, new resources, new love interests, and a torrent of event announcements flooding our inboxes at the rate of 100+ emails a day. Comfort zones are shattered left and right. 24 hours never feels sufficient, as the options to fill our time abound and every appointment penciled into our calendars comes with a palpable opportunity cost. Our brains generate an endless stream of questions and we realize that we need someone to help take the fire hose out of our mouths.
Where do we go?
Two words:
Second Years.
Talk about adding value to a campus. While they are some of the busiest people at Anderson, second years make themselves incredibly available. Here are only some of the ways they do it:
* Anderson Career Team (ACT) Coaches: On a weekly/bi-weekly basis, over 60 second year students volunteer their time to mentor and advise 30+ industry/function-specific teams of first year students in their career pursuits. The teams work together to review resumes, polish networking skills, and motivate each other to secure a summer internship. My ACT coaches, Justin and Matt, have been phenomenal to date.
* Club Leadership: Anderson is a heavily student-run campus, and it's the second years who have the institutional knowledge to make things happen, and therefore do most of the heavy lifting.
* Coffee Chats/Informational Interviews: On a weekday afternoon in Roma (Anderson's central cafe), I often see tables saturated with pairs of MBA students (one first year & one second year) chatting about a wide range of topics: summer internships, company and industry insights, recruiting advice, "can't miss" club events, candid professor assessments, case competition coaching, where to get a quality haircut or car wash, etc.
When you get in to Anderson and arrive on campus next year, don't forget to show your second years some love. They truly deserve it.
-- Jesse Ferlianto ('12)
* Picture of Section C (first year class is divided into 5 sections) after being awarded the coveted Section Cup during orientation. We were led by two fantastic second year orientation leaders: Andrew and Stef!
