My summer was a complete whirlwind, and it’s hard to believe I’ve already finished the first year of school, completed my long-awaited summer internship, and come back for year 2…AND that a week of class has gone by. Sadly, I know the rest of my MBA will be over in a blink. I’m thinking denial is a good way to approach this fact.
My summer ended very well (and quickly!). Although I was sad to leave my new General Mills intern friends, I was overly excited about my return back to Austin. Almost like déjà vu, when I reached the Austin skyline, my excitement from last year returned all over again. My mom (my travel buddy for the two-day road trip back from Minneapolis) told me she thought my head was going to explode when the UT tower came into view.
I had a few days to unwind, get some pool time in, and enjoy what has become one of the hottest summers Austin has ever seen (a stark contrast from Minneapolis jacket weather). The weekend before school started for the second years (we had a week after the first years began), I headed out to my friend’s ranch in Hunt, TX for a few days of R&R where my friends and I attended the Hunt, TX rodeo and got back in touch with our Texas roots (or pretend Texas roots for most of us). It was a blast, and it was so much fun being back with some of my favorite McCombs people – sharing summer stories and looking forward to what’s to come.
Our second year officially began last Wednesday, and admittedly, it was a little difficult to get back into the swing of things. I’m taking an assortment of classes – a few marketing classes, a management class and an elective accounting class (never thought THAT would be in my future) – and I think it’s going to be a great semester.
Being a second year has its advantages – less class stress first semester and an already existing group of friends – but the stresses of fall recruiting and our involvement as officers in student organizations definitely make up for it. It’s exciting to see where my friends have gotten in a year’s time, and I can’t wait to see what great things they do in the future – if last year is any indication, I will be very, VERY proud.
If I know anything, it’s that I’m jealous of the first years for one reason – they have two more years of this incredible experience as opposed to my one year. At General Mills this summer, one of my mentors (and a McCombs alum) said it best when he described his experience at UT as “two magical years.” I look forward to one more year of magic.
Despite the fact that I went to a D-3 University without a football team, I am a die-hard college sports fan. Whether it is a meaningless spring practice or the national championship game I am all in when it comes to athletics. However, there is one particular event that rises above the rest every year, and that is the Men’s NCAA Basketball tournament. Personally, I think March Madness is the single greatest event in all of sports and I have been known to forget birthday’s and blow off dates in an effort to catch a miracle upset during opening weekend.
First semester, while an incredible experience, was probably the most ridiculous four months of my life in terms of time and work commitments. The saving grace throughout the whole time was the common theme expressed from second years that after the first semester, it’s all downhill from there in terms of how much work is required of you. Wrong.
I’m not exactly sure where this semester went. It feels like yesterday I was driving south on I-35 with the UT tower, the Texas State Capitol, the Frost Bank Tower and the rest of Austin on the horizon. And now, one entire semester in (and sadly nearly one fourth of the way through my MBA), I’m shocked at how much I’ve learned in such a short period of time (AND absolutely terrified to be tested on it with exams)!