Like, 12 days until graduation

December 8, 2014

Filed under: Fall 2014,Life in Waco — carlosgieseken @ 5:44 am

I can’t even believe it’s already Dec. 8. The semester is winding down nicely. Last week was my hell week. I’ve still got odds and ends to take care of but the worst is over. I’ve still got some GA work to catch up on, but the bulk of my stress is behind me.

And in less than 2 weeks, my friends and I will be at graduation. Which is going to be really, really weird. I’ve been daydreaming about that day for so long, I can’t believe it’s just around the corner.

Before I forget, this football season was awesome. I always tell anyone I meet who is in high school and starting the college decision process to pick a school that is high in academics and good at athletics. Because the school spirit you find at a school with good sports is not like anything else you will experience. Back in 1996, the Syracuse campus went balistic when the basketball team made it to the Final Four against Kentucky. It was the early part of spring where the days start to warm up a little bit and from one day to the next the whole campus became a carnival. It came alive after a long winter.

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Even though the football team didnt’ factor into my decision to come to Baylor, it really should have. Because I’m forming lifelong bonds with classmates while cheering for MBA classmate and offensive lineman Troy Baker and the rest of the Bears. This semester has been so much fun because of the football team. From the online football ticket distribution Hunger Games on Sundays to getting together for pre-game gatherings at my friend David’s house. Those are memories that are going to stay with me forever.

 

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.

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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.

 

 

 

The Sport of Kings

November 19, 2014

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

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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.

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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.

 

 

Bittersweet

October 27, 2014

Back in June of last year I started IMS. Graduation felt like it was 20 years away, even though it was only technically like 19 months away. And every week and month that passed, as we took more and more turns in front of the firehose of information pointed at us that summer, December 2014 just kept getting further and further in the distance. My brain took on a freshman’s mentality, where graduation was so far away, there was no reason to even worry about it.

Even as this Fall 2014 semester started, graduation was just around the corner but it still felt like a far off distance event. Well now it’s less than two months away, and it’s really hitting me. It’s bitter sweet for so many reasons.

I’ve made some truly amazing friendships in a really short period of time. You bond pretty quickly during high stress situations and the stress-relief activities that follow. I was an English major in college and a journalism student in my first grad school experience. So group projects were few and far between. Business school has been a completely new experience. We formed study groups almost immediately back in IMS, since we were getting so much accounting, finance, economics, and business math concepts thrown at us on a daily basis. I spent countless hours in the break out rooms that summer, by myself and with friends, wrestling with credits and debits, net present value, and with aggregate supply demand curves. It’s a special bond you make when you’re struggling to learn information at breakneck speed and sometimes the professor’s explanation makes no sense whatsoever. I’ve mentioned before how grateful I have been for the generosity of time and patience classmates extended to me that summer and in the semesters that followed.

Then the Fall 2013 semester started, and we were presented with a bunch of new people at orientation. And you better believe us IMS folks were a tightly wound clique. But then that new batch of people were all awesome and good, smart people. And we went through that semester, which was one of the most stressful I’ve ever been through. Every class felt like an oral exam. Regurgitating facts was never going to be enough. And then all the presentations we gave in our classes and in our Management Communication class. And we welcomed the “new” people into our circles of friends, camaraderie developed in the classroom, in late evening study sessions, and over laughs on the weekends.

I’ve grown so much over the last year and a half and made friendships that I know will last the rest of my life. From the summer IMS trip to the Cleveland Correction Center for the Prison Entrepreneurship Program to the Spring 2014 trip to Nike HQ in Beaverton, Oregon for Focus Firm, I’ve had some amazing experiences with some amazing people. And I’m really, really going to miss them all.

But at the same time I’m ready for the next chapter of life. I’m ready to use all these newly acquired skills and newly forged confidence. I’m looking forward to hearing about how successful my classmates are going to be. I’ve no doubt there a spattering of CEOs and chief financial officers in the bunch.

I can’t wait to cheer their successes, even if sometimes only through virtual fist pumps brokered by Facebook or text message.

 

 

Game on

September 29, 2014

Filed under: Fall 2014,Job Search — carlosgieseken @ 4:52 am

So the job hunt is in full swing. I went to a National Association of Hispanic MBAs event in Dallas a couple of weeks ago and I went to the NSHMBA national conference in Philly this past weekend. I’ve got a spreadsheet with 30 positions (and growing) that I’ll be applying to over the next couple of weeks. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t super scary.

I’m looking primarily in DFW and Austin areas, since my cousin and his family are up in Southlake and my friends and parents (6 months out of the year) are in Austin. I’m also going to apply in DC, because I have a bunch of family in that area and it’s relatively close to my sister, who is in Brooklyn.

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My aunt passed away last January and that recalibrated the way I look at where I want to work. I’ve decided that I’ll ideally either be within a 3 or 4 hour drive of my parents or of my sister. So Texas and the Northeast are the front runners right now. But if I find an awesome opportunity in a cool city somewhere else, I’m open to that, too. But I sure would love to stay in Texas, which has become my home over the last 7 years. Despite being forced to watch either Dallas or Houston football games every Sunday on network TV, it’s a pretty cool place to live.

 

“Wow, this is amazing!”

September 2, 2014

Filed under: Fall 2014 — carlosgieseken @ 12:34 am

I’ve driven by McLane Stadium on I-35 a gazillion times. I could see it from a distance looking out the window of the BRIC, where I interned this summer. So I was surprised it had the effect it did when I was walking north from University Parks Drive yesterday, the Law School on my left and the pedestrian bridge leading to the stadium ahead of me. I looked up from furiously texting anyone and everyone I know for tailgate locations when I saw  the stadium looming.

I don’t know if it’s because of the design or because of the placement of the stadium in relation to the path I was walking, but it looked like a docked space ship. It reminded me of the scene in the first of the two recent Star Trek movies when you first see the Starship Enterprise. You’ve seen it before, but suddenly it’s really way more impressive than what you are expecting.

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And it got more and more impressive as I walked up and over the pedestrian bridge. I mean, it looked freaking cool. When I got inside and took up my spot on the student berm behind the  south end zone, I was even more impressed. And I was pleasantly surprised to discover that although the berm was by no means empty, it wasn’t super ridiculously crowded. So the location was a really nice way to experience the game and take in the rest of the stadium.

Inside

The coolest view was looking back from the pedestrian bridge when leaving the stadium at night. (Disclaimer: I had to leave early in order to upload an economics assignment by the due date and time of last night at midnight. Let’s just say I didn’t manage my time well this weekend. I didn’t feel that guilty leaving, since the score was 31-0 and I had school work to do.)

Night

So well done, Baylor University, RGIII, and Art Briles. The house you’ve built is most impressive.