Lou Barkan: Riding the Wave

Now, there are many metaphors available to describe what you may be anticipating next, what is it really like to be an MBA? There are a lot of takes on this, but I like to think of my first plunge into the Carey program as a segment in the MBA adaptation of Stacy Peralta's excellent film, Riding Giants, which documents the history of big wave surfing.

Imagine that working through an MBA program is like surfing a famous world-class, paddle-in big wave point like say... Mavericks, south of San Francisco, except that instead of riding 20-to-30-foot towers of icy, raging, shark-infested ocean swells, you are shredding 20-to-30-foot monster waves comprised of a multitude of business cases, regression analyses, balance sheets, SWOT analyses and countless PowerPoint slides.

When classes start, it's as if the elemental forces of learning clash and tumble over an ocean of business information causing a storm surge which, by the third week, sends big swells of work rolling onto shore. By the fourth week, for sure, the W.P. Carey point is busting loose with a fury. Two OB cases due, the Wal-Mart valuation due, stats project due, stats quiz on Wednesday, TiVo write up due, plus on top of all these deliverables, there's the requisite reading and notes as well as an IBM info session...and who knows if there'll be a pop OB or Strategy quiz or both darting like submerged sharks waiting to drag down the weakest, slowest set of feet kicking in the water.

From the overlook high up on the seaside bluff, I can see the second-year students carving their ways on the waves beautifully and almost effortlessly. It looks so easy for them. Exhilaration grows within, as does fear. Walking down to the surf, I wonder if I'll survive this upcoming fourth week session. I keep telling myself that if they can do it, so can I. Repeating that mantra, I am resolved to succeed. I summon all my courage and run for the water diving headfirst into the massive break...The Carey program divides a semester into two terms, each about eight weeks long, and in the first term, one is required to take four core classes along with a career management workshop. While first-year scheduling changes from year to year, the faculty are very responsive to students and have tried to find the right balance of quantitative and non-quantitative coursework for each term. For example, in the core it is unlikely that one would have financial accounting, stats, finance, and cost accounting in one term. In my first term, I had Strategic Leadership (Five Forces/SWOT analysis/VRIO/etc.), Managerial Decision Analysis (stats, regression, etc.), Organizational Theory, and Behavior and Financial Accounting – two quantitative classes and two non-quantitative classes.

In any scenario, there still is A LOT of information to cover during each term, and it is crucial to stay on top of it all. In fact, it is much better to be way ahead of the curve, because all of the other things that come up in an MBA program (recruiting events, interviews, clubs, social events, etc.) conspire to create a strong rip current. Without remaining vigilant about staying focused and organized, one might easily find oneself pulled far away from the primary goals of learning the material and landing a great internship.

So, my typical weekday goes like this:

5:30 a.m.: Wake up, shower, make and down a smoothie, feed the cats, and get out the door by 6:30 a.m.

6:30 a.m – 7:05 a.m.: Commute to campus; NPR

7:15 a.m.: Venti iced "Old School," unshaken, unsweetened, from the Starbucks right next to the business administration building

7:30 a.m.: Ford Suite (MBA lounge) – review notes for first class or most pressing concern

8:00 a.m. – 9:50 a.m.: First class (Strategy on Monday/Wednesday; Financial Accounting on Tuesday/Wednesday)

10:10 a.m. – noon: Second class (Stats on Monday/Wednesday; OB on Tuesday/Thursday

Noon – 1:00 p.m.: Lunch with the "boys" (or team)

1:00 p.m. – 2:50 p.m., Tuesday only: Career Management workshop

1:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m., other days: Varies; generally includes team meetings to discuss group projects, individual reading of chapters and cases, meetings with career counselor, meetings with professors.

4:45 p.m.: Costume change; Superman (that's me) into business suit; also, one more grandι iced "Old School", unshaken, unsweetened

5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.: Recruiter info session

7:15 p.m. – 7:45 p.m.: Commute home – call Lisa and ask her to start the BBQ (yep, with Phoenix weather, BBQ-ing is a year round activity)

8:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.: Superman hits the kitchen, creates barbequed Salmon with Thai curry coconut sauce or some other equally delicious delight, eats with Lisa and watches 15 minutes of a Law & Order rerun

9:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.: More reading, notes, studying, etc.

12:35 a.m.: Superman succumbs to Sandman

Most Friday mornings were reserved for special workshops or guest-speakers who would address us on a variety of topics. Some of my favorite Friday guest speakers were Christine Probett (Goodrich Corp.; President, Aircraft Interior Products Division), Ken Ouimet (Khimetrics; Chief Technology Officer & Co-Founder) and Steve Reed (Intel; Director, Marketing & Ecosystems). All of the speakers were available for group and individual Q&A follow up and therefore made these Friday morning sessions a true "value-add." In fact, my post-address conversation with Steve was so compelling he inspired me to form a new MBA association called The Digital Society, which I'm really excited about. But more on that later...

Continued on next page>>  | 1 | 2