As I watched many of my friends graduate a few weeks ago, I was struck by how quickly time had passed. It seemed like just yesterday when we had all started together, gotten on buses along with 550 strangers to spend three days in cabins playing team building games, figuring out how to register for classes (the infamous bidding system), getting the internships we wanted (or didn't) and the classes we wanted (or didn't), and maybe most importantly, rediscovering that you can only truly get to know your classmates outside of class.

And here they were, two years later, graduating, most of my friends with jobs in hand, some ending up exactly where they thought they would, and some ending up in something they had never even considered. But all entering the real world again in a few months... and in the meantime, everyone seemed to have plans to travel around the world or around the country with an enthusiasm that can only be mustered when you know it will probably be the last time in a long time that you have a few perfect months with almost no responsibilities.

Yes, there THEY were, and there I was, watching, so happy for all of them, and glad I had another year to figure it all out (the pluses of a joint-degree) and thinking that next year, this would be me... And knowing that I would be calling on a lot of them next year, as I frantically began conducting my own full-time job search. Thanks in advance you guys, and thanks for all you've taught me so far too and for all your support, encouragement, and conversation over the past two years.

And nowhere have I gotten advice more often than on classes. My plan this year was to finish as much of my Middle Eastern Studies coursework as was possible, leaving me with only one more course for next year (ironically, a first-year student's Middle East History 1 course) and the rest business courses. This meant my schedule for the last two quarters consisted of two courses of Arabic, a Middle East history course, a competitive strategy class, corporate finance, and an economics class entitled "International Comparative Organizations".

To be honest, I had been warned not to waste time taking the competitive strategy course if I had already taken marketing strategy (which I completed the previous quarter). And while there was some overlap, I still thought this was a worthwhile class, especially in helping construct strategies with which to analyze business issues (very useful, especially in consulting interviews). My professor, Marianne Bertrand, was personable, and while she maintained a quick pace, her notes were straight forward, and the cases she chose really helped you to understand the topics of the class.

The corporate finance course was exactly what I expected, interesting enough class which met three hours a week, but a lot more time than that was spent outside class working on problem sets or answering case questions involving valuation. My professor, Augustine Landier, was quite helpful with some last-minute final examination questions, and classmates were helpful too, in figuring out how to solve cases using techniques that were not explained to us until after we turned in our homework. And I must say, while I appreciate being challenged, I would appreciate it even more if teachers taught examples more often, alongside the theories.

My final business course this year was an economics class entitled "International Comparative Organizations" which focused on how firms in (primarily) developed countries deal with managing their labor. While the subject matter could be less than thrilling at times, I thought our professor, Candice Prendergast, did an excellent job of keeping the class interesting, and really tried to make sure we were enjoying ourselves. I also appreciated the different project choices available to us in this class, which included a little of everything. Our class assignments consisted of a homework assignment to be done on our own and a group paper on privatization in the country of our choice, while the final and midterm exams could each be substituted with a paper on a relevant topic of our choice. This was great for me, as it allowed me to write and research papers on countries of interest to me in the Arab world, Egypt, and Jordan.

And getting back to my interests, nowhere did I get more support from first and second years than in what I'm most proud of this year, the creation of the Arab Business Group. During my B-school interview, I was asked what kinds of contributions I hoped to make to the GSB. At the top of my list, was the creation of an Arab Business Group. While I could not start it last year primarily due to time constraints, I decided it was going to happen this year. So after finding five first years who were as excited as I was to act as co-chairs for the group, we got our petitions signed (thanks to all those who signed!), wrote up our proposal, and got official (including a good size membership, 50-plus, for a group that didn't exist a few months ago). And while I realize that we may not be able, due to lack of time and funds, to make a large impact on the GSB community before I graduate, I am happy to at least have played a small role in creating something that will serve to remind the GSB that the Arab world does play a role in the global business community.

As for me, this summer at least, I decided to stick a bit closer to home, as who knows where the future will take me, and accepted an internship in Chicago doing research and strategy/business planning for a small start-up. I also hope to work with (if time permits) a company in Chicago that works towards developing healthcare in the Gulf Region through connections with U.S. and Canadian healthcare providers and suppliers. But it's no surprise that the focus of my summer will probably be starting the full-time job search. Resumes are due to our career center July 23, so it looks like I'll be calling on the 2004 graduates and former classmates sooner than I thought...