Category Archives: Student Life

extracurricular activites, UT sports and other campus events, student organizations, recreation, etc.

Best and worst of fall semester 2008

Worst

1 – Realizing, as I had just started the last problem on my first Intermediate exam, that there was a time limit and it was up.

2 – Seeing the Longhorns NOT go to the conference (and national) football championship despite our being the best football team in the nation.

3 – Witnessing the layoffs and struggles brought on by this crazy economy’s current situation.

4 – Interviewing for a management consulting position and finding my first case study interview to be “adversarial.”

5 – Seeing BYU, my undergrad alma mater, lose in football to TCU and to our arch rival, Utah (though I’m admittedly happy for Utah to be heading to a BCS bowl for the second time).

Best

1 – Receiving and accepting the job offer I wanted in my location of choice.

2 – Finishing the semester (we’re close enough) knowing a LOT more than I did coming into it.

3 – Spending time both inside and outside of class with a bunch of smart, interesting and fun MPA students.

4 – Receiving last-minute, free tickets to Las Vegas to celebrate my father-in-law’s 50th birthday with the entire family (you should have seen how excited my wife was!).

5 -Thanksgiving break (it was just so good!) and, soon, Christmas break! Can’t complain about five weeks!

Bonus Best – I was walking through the library one day early in the semester and I noticed a sign that outlined how to get a free locker. I jumped on the opportunity and have been able to cut down on my book lugging tremendously. I highly recommend it.

Dead week

Who:  All college students…except those communications majors.

What:  Operation Hell Week

When: Friday, December 5 – Tuesday, December 16

Where: Libraries, Study Lounges and Classrooms

Why:  I only wish I knew.

It’s the slang term for the time of year when college students become zombies and are forced to neglect their social lives in hopes of not failing out of college.  Dead week is upon us. I am not sure what your strategy is but if it has anything to do with pulling ridiculous all-nighters, drinking energy drinks and becoming “one” with a text book that you clutch to your chest…know that you are not alone.  Continue reading Dead week

The MPA Lounge

Welcome to the MPA Lounge. The door only opens for those with ID cards that have been activated to allow entry, making the GSB 4th floor room exclusively for MPA students.

Two girls are sleeping in the corner, one on each couch. Apparently the end-of-semester demands kept them up late last night.

In addition to those two couches, there are six comfy arm chairs (not lazy boys, but pleasantly comfortable), and five tables at which people can study, cruise the Internet, eat, or socialize.

Three guys just walked out after spending approximately five minutes socializing. For some, this is a place to make quick pit-stops between classes.

Of the remaining three students (besides me), two are working on an assignment at one of the tables, and another is studying at a separate table. Except for the sounds of my typing and the group studiers quietly discussing their assignment, it is relatively silent in here. Continue reading The MPA Lounge

Day in the life

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

6 a.m. – Alarm goes off.

6:20 a.m. – Roll out of bed to get ready for school.

7:10 a.m. – Grab hastily assembled lunch and backpack, hop in the car, and race down to campus (twenty minute commute from my house).

7:45 a.m. – Arrive on campus, kiss wife goodbye, stop by locker in the library (free lockers in the PCL are brilliant!) to pick up folder for Intermediate, log onto library computer to quickly check Google News.

8 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. – Learn about accounting for capital leases from the lessor’s and the lessee’s perspective. Professor Koonce thinks SFAS 13, which covers leases, is one of the worst accounting statements in existence because companies can easily adjust their lease terms to allow for their accounting alternative of choice. Continue reading Day in the life

Getting “plugged in”

Above and beyond the business school, UT in itself is massive. It is very easy to feel overwhelmed at times and even feel “lost in the crowd.” Regardless of one’s personality, it is difficult to shine at a school that hosts 50,000+ students. (Well, unless you are Colt McCoy or Jordan Shipley.) But remembering the words of my father, the greatest step to succeeding in college is “getting plugged in.” Continue reading Getting “plugged in”