November « 2014 « New Beginnings

Homestretch

November 23, 2014

Filed under: Fall 2014,Grad School Shenanigans,Life in Waco — carlosgieseken @ 12:31 am

Here we are just about a month before the hooding ceremony to take place on the 5th floor of Cashion followed by the big ceremony held at the Farrell (?) Center. On the one hand, yes! Bring it on! I’m ready to get going with the rest of my life. On the other hand, I’m trying to slow time down. I’m going to miss the friends I’ve made and I’m going to miss the consequence-free environment of grad school.

My friend Stephen, who I often refer to as a Zen master, rarely lets anything phase him. Lots of assignments to get done? No sweat. Difficult team member for a semester-long project? Bring it on. A native of Shreveport, the former Congressional aid doesn’t let anything get to him. “This is play time,” he said to me once when I was griping to him about this or that in one or more classes. He sees difficult team dynamics as an opportunity to grow, since we’ll all surely encounter that more than we’d care to admit during our future careers.

So I’m going to miss that part of grad school. Where everything is make-believe and any error in judgement assessing a case doesn’t result in anything other than maybe a bruised ego.

This afternoon, classmates and I gathered at my friend Todd’s house. He lives on what is basically the Western Frontier in the town of Robinson just south of Waco. He is a little more obsessed with his dog than I am with mine and invited a bunch of us over to celebrate the 2-year-old birthday of his dachsund, Legend. There were a total of 7 dogs there. I was afraid it was going to turn into a canine version of Fight Club, but for the most part, they all got along well.

I’m hoping we have more get togethers like that before we all go our separate ways.

Comments (0)

The Sport of Kings

November 19, 2014

Filed under: Fall 2014,Grad School Shenanigans,Life in Waco — carlosgieseken @ 12:15 am

I remember last year’s tournament fondly, as students from across the three cores practiced against each other in the days leading up to the single-elimination contest. I’m out of practice, since I haven’t spent nearly as much time in the grad lounge as I have in past semesters, but still excited. I met and developed friendships with a bunch of people I didn’t know at the end of the Spring 2014 semester because of the tournament. A few of us still exchange stories from some of the matches held then, pointing back to signature moves perfected by our since-graduated classmates.

This semesters I’ve come to know a few of the Core 1’s thanks to ping pong matches and I expect to meet more in the coming weeks. I wonder if any have developed that off-the-blackboard-bounce that former classmate Spencer Holmes made his trademark during last year’s event.

Comments (0)

You can’t change who you are

November 10, 2014

Filed under: Career,Spring 2014 — carlosgieseken @ 6:08 pm

One of the things I enjoy about social media, in addition to staying in touch with family and old friends, is the constant stream of motivational messages that are posted by people and organizations. Sure, they can sometimes be annoying. But they can also be exactly what you need to hear on certain days.

I’ve seen a lot lately about “staying true to who you are” and “following your passion.”

With that in mind, I’ve accepted a reporter position with the Pensacola News Journal in Pensacola, Fla.

I’m going back to my roots, since I went to grad school for journalism back at the turn of the century in Boston. My first job was as an editorial assistant at the Boston Herald. Later, I was a general assignment and higher education reporter at the Stevens Point Journal in Stevens Point, Wisc.

I have enjoyed learning about business the last year and a half. But I loved being a reporter. A few years ago, while living in Austin and working as a web content writer at the Texas Department of Transportation, I did a small article for a blog in the area. The process of researching, interviewing, and writing got my blood pumping like it hadn’t since I’d left the paper in Wisconsin. It was an overwhelming feeling that hadn’t completely left me.

Over the last couple of months I’d thought a lot about the abandoned dream I had of being a reporter for a magazine like Esquire or Newsweek some day and it ate at me that I’d given up on that. So when the opportunity in Pensacola presented itself, I decided it was worth it to give journalism another go.

The best part is I’ll be covering business, so I’ll get to use all these things I’ve learned in the past year and a half. I visited Pensacola this past weekend and absolutely fell in love with it. All the people I met at the paper were super cool and I can’t tell you how friendly the people of Pensacola are. I couldn’t be more excited to start there in early January.

Plus, living by the beach is probably not the worst thing in the world.

Comments (0)

“Stay after it”

November 8, 2014

Filed under: Career — carlosgieseken @ 5:52 pm

One of my favorite parts of the various classes we take is the real-world advice the professors give us. We get so caught up in assignments and projects that we don’t always take the time to step back and take a look at the big picture.

Our Operations core class professor, Dr. Gray, is great at sharing examples from the many projects he’s taken on over the years. But he’s also great at just giving general advice that can be applied to any field.

On the last day of the Operations module we discussed the value of increasing our “intellectual capital,” since we will be seeking to differentiate ourselves the same way we’ll be working to differentiate the products or services our companies provide.

“It’s not about how you dress, what kind of car you drive, or what kind of home you live in,” Dr. Gray told us. “What really matters is how you think.”

He then told us to spend time continuing to work on our own education plan. I’ve thought a lot about this over the last two months, since you really only scratch the surface of business in an MBA program. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard it described as an exposure that is a mile wide but only a few inches deep. I plan on going to most of my professors to get advice on how to expand on all these concepts we’ve learned in the last year and a half.

“I still spent time every day thinking about what articles I should be looking for,” Dr. Gray continued. “What topic should I be trying to learn more about? What projects am I involved in and what areas should I be reading into to help those people who have engaged me to help them?”

“Stay after it.”

My biggest fear is that the subjects that I won’t use every day, like accounting, for example, will fade without repeated use. Continuing education, even if it is periodic review on my own of the basics of what we learn, is going to be a big priority after graduation next month.

Comments (0)