New Term, New Team

"Second years say second semester will be a lot easier than the first. I hope so..."

by Marjani Coffey

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Marjani Coffey
Wisconsin - Madison
MBA Class of 2008

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Imagine getting arrested for doing homework. That almost happened to me and my teammates while preparing for our biggest presentation of the first semester. All of the cohort teams had to pick a publicly traded company to analyze from an accounting, finance, and marketing perspective. We chose Wal-Mart (WMT), and like many other groups, we were up late the night before putting on the finishing touches. We worked in the library until it closed at 11 p.m., then headed to the grad lounge.

At that point, the engineers announced that the building was closed and we had to go somewhere else. They threatened to call the police if we didn't leave. How's this for a headline: "UW Students Arrested for After-Hours Studying"? And you thought Wisconsin was just a party school…

To avoid a brush with the law, my ever-defiant teammate Mike led us to a secret location I won't reveal in order to protect other students who need a place to work late at night. Funny thing is, a bunch of people were already studying there. Our attempts at remaining quiet failed miserably, but for some reason the engineers didn't bother us again. So much for closing the building.

Team Player

Drama aside, the Wal-Mart project was an excellent lesson in team dynamics. We didn't have the major fights some other groups did, but we had our tense moments. Mike and I are superperfectionists, Brian is the peacekeeper who works hard at his own pace, Ivan is more laid back, and Puneet always played devil's advocate. However, when it was down to the wire, there was no time to complain about who hadn't done what—we just had to band together and get it done.

Overall, I'm glad UW assigned us to teams for the semester. This taught me the importance of surrounding myself with people with diverse talents, instead of simply working with people you know. We developed much better projects as a group than I could've put together on my own.

I also learned how to assess a person's working style, offer constructive criticism, and motivate people to get their jobs done. I can tell you each of my teammates' strengths and weaknesses, and I know how to use that for the good of the group. I'll get a new group next semester, but I loved my old team, and I'm really going to miss them.

Time Shortage

Thus far, I'm happy with life at UW. My grades have far exceeded my expectations. Even though I'm a career switcher without a business background, I managed to catch on quickly. I spend a lot time studying, but I make time for my idea of fun. My classmate Kevin always teases me because he only sees me at a party about once a month.

Every Thursday, MBA students gather at a local bar. It's a time to drink, unwind, and catch up with people you haven't seen since…well, a few hours earlier in class. Seriously, it can be a good time to mingle with the second years that you rarely see. I've gone to a few, but you won't catch me there every week. I've never been a big partier, so I'm fine with going out every now and then. That's my definition of balance.

The hardest thing for me to make time for so far is extracurriculars. I'm the secretary of the Consortium Club and the co-communications chair for the National Association of Women MBAs. The Consortium Club is made up of students from various backgrounds who want to promote the inclusion of minorities in the corporate world. The mission of both groups is very important to me, but I haven't had time to take on an active role and lead projects. I hope to change that during the second semester.

Endless Exams

One initiative I have supported is the Consortium Club's effort to add a diversity component to the Wisconsin MBA. We've talked with school administrators about the need for a class, seminar, speaker, etc. to emphasize the role of diversity in a corporate environment. As the business community becomes increasingly global, it's critical that future leaders understand how to communicate across cultures and learn the importance of working with multicultural teams. So far, school leaders have been very receptive to the idea, and I'm confident we'll see changes in the future.

Academic-wise, second years say second semester will be a lot easier than the first. I hope so, because first semester left me feeling pretty fried at the end. All of my final projects and exams were challenging, but finance was simply impossible. Professor Ken Kavajecz told us on the first day of class that he will never write an exam that we can finish. On some level, that's comforting, because there's a huge curve. On the other hand, you find yourself staring at an 18-page exam, and the only question you're sure you've answered correctly is your name.

After the midterm, I beat myself up for days feeling like I hadn't done well. Surprisingly, I managed a decent score. After the final, I felt like I had done even worse than before, but I didn't care. This was the first time in my academic life that I cared more about just being done, as opposed to stressing over a grade. I was so happy to be done and off to a five-week break.

Winning Record

Second semester means the beginning of the internship-interviewing season for most of the brand-management students. Many of the other concentrations, like marketing research, HR, finance, and applied security analysis, did their interviews during the first semester. Other students interviewed at summer/fall conferences like the Consortium's Orientation Program, National Society of Hispanic MBAs, and the National Black MBA Assn.

The Brand Center has a 100% internship and job-placement rate, so students have lots of resources for landing a summer gig. However, that doesn't stop us from feeling the stress. No one wants to be the one to mess up that 100% track record. Of course, there are stories of second-year rock stars who had a gazillion offers last year. My mantra is: All you need is one.

Coffey is a member of Wisconsin - Madison's MBA class of 2008.