Whew, made it through the first quarter! After four straight finals that required me to know...
Assets = Liability + Equities (Accounting)
That the Firm is at the center of everything (Economics)
And a variety of statistical methods (Data and Decisions aka Stats).
I then went off and had a relaxing winter break. Now, fully rested and recovered, here I am at the end of week one of the Winter Quarter, and now more than ever am super excited to be at UCLA Anderson.
Why am I super excited you might ask? Not that I didn't have an absolute blast in the fall quarter and learn a lot, this is the quarter where I get to experience many of the reasons I came to Anderson, starting with...
- Electives
This quarter we had more freedom in choosing our schedule, as the only two mandatory core classes for Winter Quarter are Operations Technology Management and whichever class out of Marketing and Finance you did not do in the fall (I'm in Finance). We had the option of doing Business Strategy now or in the spring (I'm taking it now), and of taking electives, whether at Anderson or classes offered through other graduate or undergraduate programs.
I'm taking Pay and Rewards in Organizations, since I thought it'd be pretty cool to learn about different ways firms try to incentivize employees. I don't have any action photos for this post, but here's a picture of Professor Phillip Leslie, who spoke at our Orientation closing ceremony and is the Business Strategy professor this quarter.
- Extracurriculars
While continuing to be involved in the Riordan Fellow Mentor program, I'm also going to start volunteering with Project Echo. Project Echo is a business plan competition for high school students who are mentored through the business plan development process by teams of Anderson students. Not only is it a great opportunity for me to give back to the community, but its a valuable experience to watch people go through the process of bringing their idea to life.
During the Winter Quarter, training for the Challenge 4 Charity sports weekend at Stanford will also begin, along with additional volunteering and fundraising activties. Right before classes started we participated in a Junior Achievement Bowl-a-thon, which proved to me that I should stick to team sports for Stanford weekend.
(The eight section C bowlers out of the ~50 or so bowlers. We rocked it.)
- LA Marathon
On Sunday, March 18, I'll finally get the up close and personal tour of Los Angeles that I've been waiting for when I run the LA marathon. According to Runner's World Magazine, the race was named the nation's best big city marathon - no wonder Anderson's location in LA was such a key factor in my decision to come (well, other than all of the career related opportunities LA offers as well)!
After starting at Dodger Stadium, I'll get the chance to run by landmarks such as the Pantages Theater, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Rodeo Drive, and ultimately finish at the Santa Monica Pier, where I can plunge in the ocean to immediately begin icing my legs down.
- Japan Trip
The shining light at the end of this quarter is the spring break trip to Japan organized by the Japan America Business Association (JABA). Last year over 90 students went on the trip, and I think we're on pace to easily top 100 this year. Highlights of the trip include visits to the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto and trying Zen meditation, checking out the entertainment district in Osaka, touring a Toyota factory and chilling out in the Atami hot springs, and of course, last but not least, SUMO!!!
That's all for now - I'll be back next week with more, as I'm heading out to Las Vegas tonight with members of the High Tech Business Association to attend the Consumer Electronics Show.
Until next time,
