Cold Weather Advisory

There are two kinds of cold up at Tuck: the weather and the call.

The cold weather is easy. You read the forecast in the morning, choose the necessary clothing to guard yourself against the elements, take a deep breath and walk outside. You are mentally and physically prepared for the challenge.

The cold call is not quite so direct. There is no website to measure the chance of you being called or to calibrate the difficulty of questions if you are. Sunny skies turn into a lightning-round in an instant. The clouds of confusion move in, the torrent of unarticulated words pours out.

As the lucky girl who got the very first cold call of our business school adventure, I can tell you – the cold call is hard. In my previous classroom experiences, I preferred to speak only when I thought I had something valid to say. I practiced my answer in my head, maybe even took notes, and then I raised my hand. Here in business school, we don’t have that luxury. A professor wants my answer now. He doesn’t care if I didn’t fully understand the assignment, or if I spent an hour on the question about which he didn’t ask me, but 15 minutes on the one he did.

So- you may ask (or at least I certainly have)- why do they do this to us? Because, as it turns out, that’s the way the real world works. Sometimes, we don’t get asked the question we want to answer, and sometimes we need to make a decision without access to all the facts.

I would say the ability to speak about subjects I do not feel fully confident in has been one of my biggest challenges at Tuck so far. It is also a challenge I am working hard to conquer and whose import I am progressively understanding the value of. A recent conversation with an alumnus provided insight into the matter: He had a co-worker who would come to every meeting with methodically prepared notes. These notes served as both his guide and his script. They were also his limitation. If a subject arose that was not on his paper, he waited silently for the meeting to veer back to his original plan.

The alumnus, however, while prepared for meetings, was not chained to a notepad. He had the flexibility and ability to think on his feet. As a result, he could command confidence from his co-workers and offer creative solutions to unforeseen problems. His cold calls at Tuck prepared him for the cold realities of the work place in which– sometimes – the meeting does not go as planned.

As for me, I’m still working on it. But, I told myself I would push my boundaries while at Tuck, and the cold call will be one of those challenges. Until I’ve conquered it, I will take respite in the fact that as cold as that call may be, in 90 minutes, class will end, and the fun cold – the one that involves skiing, skating and hot tea – awaits.

Read the full article: Cold Weather Advisory

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