In anticipation of my first Thanksgiving in the United States, I would like to write about leadership, initiative and team work at Anderson.
A bunch of my classmates have just started the project "Anderson Exchange" -they put together the first issue of the school's own newspaper.
Actually, the history of this newspaper stretches back to 1970s, but it has been out of sight recently. I was wondering, how this idea of relaunching was born and I asked my friend and editor-in-chief Michael Hirshman about it.
Mike, how and when the idea of Anderson Exchange struck to you?
I got the idea for relaunching The Anderson Exchange during 1st day of orientation. I had coffee with Kyle Forrest, a 2nd year deeply involved on campus. I was asking Kyle's advice on which of Anderson's many clubs and activities I should pursue. Kyle mentioned the Exchange, which had existed up until last year when no one had taken the torch to continue it. This was both a challenge and opportunity - the Exchange itself dates back to the 1970s, and had long been a fixture of Anderson life.
I felt very strongly that a business school like ours needs a publication like the Exchange as a community forum for both news and opinion. That's when and why we brought back The Anderson Exchange.
What was the most challenging in returning the Exchange to life?
The biggest challenge has been finding the time to put together high-quality content. The pace of business school, especially in the fall quarter of your first year, is relentless. Yet I've always believed that you make time for what's important. I and the others on our team have made the publication a priority and I'm proud of how the November issue came together. My teammate Zubin Davar helped me to bring together a great roster for the The Anderson Exchange, including those with backgrounds in journalism, printing, design, and digital media.
What you enjoyed most when you were working on the first issue?
What I most enjoyed about working on the issue is the opportunity the The Anderson Exchange affords to interact with those within the community. For me, I was able to sit down with and interview leaders from the Entrepreneur Association, the Price Center, and the Parker Career Center. For editor Eric Smith, he was able to interview a FEMBA classmate who was an Olympic swimmer who broke multiple world records. For editor John Kapteyn, he was able to interview two popular and widely-respected professors. Writing for The Anderson Exchange has given us all the pleasure to expand both our knowledge of and relationships within the community.
This particular example of a wonderful project that was born over the cup of coffee during the first week of school with about 20 people joining Mike in this venture highlights collaborative environment and ready to help community here at Anderson. And venture will you start at Anderson, dear prospective student?
Michael Hirshman, Editor-in-chief and Zubin Davar, Managing Director of The Anderson Exchange
You can read The Exchange in digital version: www.theandersonexchange.org
