It has been a crazy month since GMSC presentation day, and the defined end of my first semester as an MBA student. That time, that stress has all washed away and given rise to a whole new (yet familiar) set of activities, known as the summer internship!
Let’s backtrack a bit, and fill you all in on the end of GMSC; after all, I was taking you through my journey, and so that is only fair. As classes ended, and the last finals were taken, the group of students in GMSC had the wonderful opportunity to spend a week keenly focused on achieving success on presentation day. Thanks to our awesome classmates, this task was fruitful, as we practiced our way to May 7th. Not really knowing what to expect on presentation day, my team focused on ensuring our props were delivered to our room on time, and that we could get one practice run in before the big show. And a big show it was…we arrived to a room full of 50 judges, and other members of the GMSC family….enough to make you realize you would be speaking to a full, full house.
As the presentation began, our team felt the sense of accomplishment, and as the last question (of a 30 minute session) was finally answered, we realized we were done….really, really done. We ended the evening with a wonderful reception and dinner, where top performers and teams were recognized, and the coveted “Best Presentation” prize was taken by one of the teams. While we all felt like we had done our best, we were all very proud of the winning team….everyone was a part of the process together, and we all deserved a big pat on the back.
As GMSC ended, the time to relax was upon me…and it was a great time indeed. Spending a few weeks enjoying free time was wonderful, and I complimented it with some light reading on Organizational Design (business school really does get to you). When this blissful time was over, I packed myself up for a summer of work in a new city as a Human Resources Intern.
I, like many other MBA students, showed up at my internship on June 1st, 2009, and spent 3+ days being oriented to the company, my office, my manager, and my projects….all 4 of them! This week was also my time to begin to kick-off my personal strategies for completing the work I was to accomplish over the following 10 weeks…a task which you cannot spend too much time on….after all, you have to deliver before you know it. The projects in my role, as a Labor Relations Intern, are challenging, enlightening, and unique for me. I am happy to admit that my previous experiences working in industry have given me a frame of reference for the landscape I am dealing with, and even happier that my curriculum at Goizueta has so far given me a glimpse of what I am set to deal with. In week one, I was excited to learn about a project which was related to a case I had read in my Marketing Management class, and I felt elated to realize that this baseline knowledge was really going to help me set the stage for the future of the project.
It sounds all too good to be true, and probably is, but for the first few weeks I am feeling back at home in the workplace, despite the 6am alarms, and am enjoying the experience I have had so far. I am sure there will be road blocks along the way, but I feel like I am somewhat prepared to address them….
When I look back at my first year at Goizueta, I have to smile…I entered the workplace again and I was ready….GBS has been a great compliment to my past experience, which is exactly as it should be in this new stage in my career. I can only wait and see what the future brings….
Stay tuned for more from the internship front, leadership activities over the summer (what!), and how to stay cool in business casual 
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