First Year MBA's Guatemala Trip

We will have several student bloggers checking in this summer about their internships, summer travel plans, why they chose BU, transitioning to Boston and to simply share with you their thoughts and experiences! While they get settled, we thought we'd share a video and some pictures from the Cohort D trip to Guatemala.

35 First Year MBA students left after classes ended for the Spring semester and headed to Primeros Pasos Medical Clinic located in the Palajunoj Valley of Guatemala. These students worked as volunteers, donating their time and their newly acquired MBA skills to help make a difference for this organization. This type of service isn't new to BU, in fact it mirrors Link Day which you can learn about here.

One of our students will be blogging about the trip and all the amazing experiences they had, but in the meantime please enjoy this video of highlights/fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUKbDBmPb2I

Pursuing a Legacy

[Posted by Betsy Stiles, MS·MBA in Public and Nonprofit Management, Class of 2011]

I gave my last presentation of the school year on Tuesday, for our team project this semester. It was actually a really fun project, studying Palm, which has a lot going on right now. My team this semester was a fabulous, laid back but still hardworking group. It was really easy to work with them. That was probably helped by having a semester under our belts and learning great lessons from our teams in the first semester. (Or they might just be fabulous…) And, I think the presentation went reasonably well. Actually, all the presentations were really good, and it was neat to see how far our first year class has come in a year. A lot has been accomplished and it went by really fast. It is kind of surreal. There are still two exams and an individual paper left, but little by little the semester is coming to a close.

We are also starting to make plans for next year already and getting excited about the incoming class of students. The 2012 class is mostly formed. Conversations are already buzzing on Facebook, and get togethers for admitted students are being planned all over the world. It has been great to see many of the new faces at the Open Houses, and the enthusiasm everyone has. I think the first years will really bring a lot to the program, and boy have we got plans for them. With all the lessons we have learned this year, I think many of the soon to be second years are really interested in finding ways to help incoming students and make their business school experience even better.

While we are making plans for next year, the second years are in the midst of “disorientation,” wrapping up classes, participating in their last Thirsty Thursday, singing at the last kareoke night, nailing down jobs, and getting in the facetime they can with all of their friends. I have had a chance to see some of the activities for the outgoing second years this year, including a celebration luncheon where professors and staff reminded students of the amazing contributions they made to the program and one another. It will be a hard act to follow. The outgoing second years really left an inspiring legacy and they will be sorely missed. I remember the first couple of weeks I was at school, and all the advice and encouragement that the second years gave me. Their words and comraderie were really helpful.

And though there is hardly any time to think about it with finals coming up, but here and there are momentary thoughts, questions, and reflections on the year. “Halfway through…” “Have I done what I wanted to?” “What’s left?” “What do I want to make sure I still do?” “How can I leave a legacy too?” Hopefully, the summer will give some time to regroup and we will all hit the ground running in Fall. At any rate, we will give it our best shot. Thank-you to the outgoing second years for setting the bar so high. I’m sure we will appreciate the challenge.

[Posted by Alicia May, MS·MBA in General Management, Class of 2011]

I figured after first semester I could take on anything, so I decided that in addition to overloading on coursework that I would also train for the Boston Marathon. Training for a marathon is like a part time job, so on top of school priorities, team meetings and managing to have a little fun, 2nd semester has been very busy. For those of you who aren't from Boston, "Marathon Monday" is Patriots Day and all the surrounding schools have the day off. The marathon course runs right past several colleges: Wellesley at mile 13, Boston College at mile 20, and Boston University at mile 24. I may be a little bias, but comparing all the cheering sections, Boston University had an awesome turn out this year! As I approached Kenmore Square, I was looking for all my classmates that came to cheer me on and felt so lucky because I REALLY needed it at that point! I finished the marathon and celebrated with my friends and family. Now that the marathon is over and classes are winding down I am going to have to find another hobby to occupy my time....it looks like it might be sailing lessons over the summer. Gosh, I love this city.

3 Days From Now...

[Posted by Jesse Brooks, MS-MBA, Class of 2010]

3 days from now I will be done. Done with my MBA degree and done with my MSIS degree. Only one presentation and one final paper left before I can call myself a master.

These two years in Boston have gone by faster than I could have ever imagined. When I arrived in Boston in the summer of 2008, I was excited and anxious for what I was about to get myself into. Now, I am started to get those same feelings again.

It is a relief to think that any future team meetings or presentations I have to be involved with, will be rewarded with annual compensation. No longer are the days of SmartArt + Google Image Searches to create a presentation that will be deemed useless after given.

Though we were not compensated for our hard work with immediate monetary rewards, we will get the lifelong reward of being better businessmen/women. As MBAs, we are able to analyze problems in a way that the standard bachelor cannot compete with.

To all my classmates, I want to say that I have enjoyed these past two years and I look forward to keeping in touch. For me, I am off to California to enjoy some real weather and the flip flop wearing laid back lifestyle.

The Farewell Tour

[Posted by Tyler Altrup, MBA in General Management, Class of 2010]

Finishing up an MBA program is, in many ways, not so different from the last few weeks of any undergraduate program or even high school. The same hallmarks are there---making sure you spend all of your free time with your friends, trying to setup the next big thing in your life, and enjoying every second.

Boston University has undoubtedly setup one great farewell tour for all of us. In the next few weeks, we will have a Fairwell Party for Dean Lataif, the Talent Show, a Second Year Party, a Graduation Reception, and a full week of awesome known as Disorientation. That list, of course, does not include all of the "informal" events I look forward to attending.

I have enjoyed every minute of my time here and am looking forward to enjoying every piece of the Farewell Tour.

Team Learning at BU

[Posted by Fillip Saraiva, MBA in General Management, Class of 2011]

Everyone always told me that the first semester of business school would be the busiest, and it certainly seemed true when I started the program in August. In particular, our professors and the second-year MBA students were quick to point out just how much work was in front of me with the Integrated Project. As I started to spent more and more time with my team each week during the first semester as we raced to finish the project, it certainly felt like my work load was as busy as it could get!

Fast forward to the second semester. As I write this, I am now working on four different team projects due before the end of April. (Ok… I'll confess… I have one more than normal because I am taking an extra elective class.) While none of them are as complex as the Integrated Project, the combination of four different projects is keeping me just as busy as last semester. Yet, it just does not seem to feel as busy. I credit that to the team skills that we all developed working through the Integrated Project; it not only made us better communicators, but it also made us all much more effective in prioritizing and meeting tight deadlines.

The projects for this semester are varied and cover a wide range of topics. For Operations Management, we are working with a local Toyota dealer to help them identify methods to deal with the sudden surge in demand driven by the recent accelerator pedal recall. In our Strategy and Information Systems classes, we are analyzing a non-profit firm to see how they have used information technology to create a competitive advantage, as well as identifying opportunities to further leverage technology to expand their capabilities. I am also working with technology in my two Marketing electives-- one project is to conduct consumer research to determine what features are most important in their decision to buy a Tablet PC, and what combination of features would achieve the best combination of market share and profitability; in the other project, my team is working with IBM Cloud Computing to help them develop a web and social media marketing strategy to increase awareness of their offerings.

These projects all have several things in common. They are all related to real-world products or services that are of real importance to businesses and individual consumers today. They all offer the ability to put the management concepts that we have learned in the classroom into practice. Most important, however, is the fact that they have helped my various team mates and I become more effective managers and have helped us better understand how to work in diverse teams to identify and solve problems in a short period of time.

In reality, there is probably more work involved in these projects when compared to the Integrated Project, but learning how to effectively work in teams has made it manageable. Based on this experience, I can confidently say that improved team learning skills will be one of my biggest "take-aways" from the MBA program.

The Beginning of Lasts

[Posted by Ioli Stathi-Dedaki, MBA in General Management Class of 2010]

In less than 7 weeks the Class of 2010 will walk. And even though Commencement has long been on our Academic Calendars, we, Second Years Students, are unaware. A combination of hectic schedules and denial has caused the “seniors” to not realize that this two-year program is quickly coming to its end. We are officially in the “beginning of lasts” period.

If you open my agenda, you will find an April full of last events - Cheers with Professors, Spring Gala, Celebration Brunch, Student Farewell to Dean Lataif, Talent Show – along with presentations, papers, interviews, and final exams. I have no time to think how quickly two years became two months.

Two years ago I was in my small country - Greece, working for Kraft Foods, getting ready - with a hint of fear – to move to Boston and be part of BU’s MBA program: a life-changing experience far away from home, family and friends. As it turns out, I had no idea what was to come and the reality at BU exceeded my expectations.

There are many unique ways that this program has changed me; but I will mention only one here: my classmates. The ones who helped me learn; who guided me and supported me; who taught me from their prior knowledge. The ones with whom I spent hours working on projects and studying for exams. The people who shared with me this experience and will walk by me on May 14^th. My friends.

In this program, I found people from different cultures, speaking different languages; people of all ages; with spouses and kids. People who got married or became parents during the program. From different industries and backgrounds. With unique interests. Passionate and determined to achieve their goals and dreams. I found diversity, but most importantly I found people who were understanding and supportive. My classmates, with whom not only I worked hard, but also I had all the fun in the world.

Now, two years after, I am getting ready once again to move away from home, family and friends. You see, Boston became my home and the people here, family. In less than 7 weeks, the life of 155 MBA students is about to change and I can ensure you that in this bright future we won’t forget the past.

Elections: More than enough work to go around…

[Posted by Betsy Stiles, MS·MBA in Public and Nonprofit Management, Class of 2011]

It’s election season. After Massachusetts went through its own nationally anticipated and tension filled election, similar processes got underway at the business school (though with less national attention).

The turnaround is pretty quick in a two year graduate program. In order to faciliate the smooth turnover of responsibilities for programs, clubs and student government, the second years start bringing on first years early on. Usually at the start of the school year, clubs recruit 1-3 first year representatives to participate in clubs. Each cohort also has a first year representative on the MBA Council. This helps guarantee that at least someone knows what happens behind the closed doors of club/council meetings. Just kidding. Actually, just about every meeting is open to everyone. Any student can go to a council meeting and find out what is going on, what issues are they discussing this week, how does the process work. Club meetings are pretty flexible as well. Because all of us are busy, it isn’t always possible to make every meeting, and students drop in on the club meetings they care about and contribute whenever they can.

However, in order to make sure that the business of the clubs and the council are completed, it is important to have a committed core in every group. Thus, elections are born. Enough effort for candidates to show that they really care about an issue and enough visibility to create some accountability when they take the position on. (That accountability bit works fairly well in small environments, like the more intimate business program at Boston University – sadly not as well for larger contexts like Massachusetts or the United States.) The first year representatives in clubs are often students that seem to have a good sense of their career direction and know early on that they want to commit to a club related to that career – since the clubs really are resources for career growth. Some of the rest of us are still narrowing down our options.

The trick for clubs is to keep everyone engaged throughout the year, providing opportunities to learn about their industry/functional areas, and building up a community of people with common interests. As the rest of the first years sort of settle on our career paths and better define our interests (hopefully by early to mid second semester, in time to pitch ourselves for internship positions), the clubs then have to think about transitioning responsibilities. Which means, about the time you are getting the hang of being a first year student and figuring out your next academic steps, you start getting thrown into leadership positions.

Thankfully, unlike congressional debates on healthcare, we are a congenial bunch and a bit more collaborative as we make plans to take over the business school next year. While, there is some jockeying for positions, there is more than enough work to go around. And because we all have very diverse interests and skills (thanks to the diligent admissions staff), there is usually a position or responsibility that you will find both interesting and helpful to your own career development. MBA Council holds elections first, this year right before Spring Break. Those positions are a big responsibility, and so the students elected to hold them cannot hold elected positions in other groups (though everyone is definitely encouraged to remain active in clubs).

Then the clubs hold their elections, which has resulted in a flurry of emails all month. “Submit your platforms for the MS∙MBA Association!” “The marketing club is looking for nominations for the VP of Finance position.” “ Don’t forget to vote for VP of Marketing for the PNP Club!” It can seem a bit overwhelming, when you are also in the midst of trying to nail your summer internship down. However, slowly those internships are coming in. And, the second years already have one foot out the door (if not more), so they realize they have to get all the information passed along to the next group of leaders. It is a real test of knowledge management. So, amidst career research, internship interviews, homework and team projects, the first years are also meeting as new club leaders to start to plan what the next year will look like. Nothing to it.