Happy Thanksgiving!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! We are off Thursday until Monday for the holiday - a much needed vacation. These past couple weeks have been pretty rough with presentations, another exam, papers and other homework piling up for the end of semester crunch. Only a couple of weeks left after Thanksgiving and still so much to do! We haven't been working the whole time as we have had a good time at the Fall Ball last weekend. It is a formal event that took place at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston. Dinner and dancing for over 300 1st and 2nd year Sloanies. A good time was had by all and a great bonding event for the 1st year LFM's. Definitely something to look forward to for you potential students out there.
Well, I need to pack and get on a plane to Detroit now, so Happy Thanksgiving and see you on Monday.

DREAM and a trip to Vermont

So this past weekend I went up to Burlington, VT with two members of my core team to go and work on our Organizational Processes project. We are working with a great non-profit based out of Burlington, called DREAM. They are a youth mentoring program who "build communities of families and college students that empower children from affordable housing neighborhoods to recognize their options, make informed decisions, and achieve their dreams." What a great program they have - from the moment that we arrived, we were welcomed not only by our gracious hosts and fellow staff members, but by a whole group of DREAM mentors and mentees! What an energy they all had for this program. We were invited to see a DREAM slideshow about a recent trip some of the mentors/mentees took to New York and Maine - every new picture was met with a loud cheer as all the kids yelled to support their fellow DREAMers. What a contagious energy! I walked in the door and immediately had a smile on my face. I would definitely recommend going to their website (http://dreamprogram.org/index.htm) and reading up on them and hopefully make a donation as they are doing some really good work up there in Vermont!

In addition to seeing DREAM in action, my teammates and I had a wonderful drive to and from VT. With the leaves changing colors and two beautiful days, we were met with some great scenery - another trip that anyone coming to New England should plan for. What better way to spend a weekend then driving, or even better - hiking, through the mountains with the fall colors. Something that I've missed since leaving New England 9 years ago! Also, on our drive, I had the great opportunity to gain a unique perspective on history, which even though I have an undergrad minor in history, I have never seen or heard before. It just so happens that my two teammates grew up in Russia and China. Two superpowers that I have heard many things about but mostly with an ethnocentric viewpoint. For the three hour car ride, I was exposed to the Russian and Chinese versions of modern history. What a great time to hear how America was viewed during the Cold War, etc. Definitely a ride that I won't forget!

Here's a challenge to all my readers: try to seek out someone/thing that you have had little exposure to and try to gain some insights on how they/it functions and how and why their/its position or perspective varies from your own. You are guaranteed to learn not only a ton about this person or thing, but you will learn a ton about yourself! Have fun with it too!
If you have any experiences you'd like to share, please leave a comment as I'd love to hear about it and so would my other readers!
More later....

LFM Video...you should check it out!

If you have a minute you should head over to http://mitsloan.mit.edu/mba/index.php and then click on the "Introducing the people of LFM" video link on the right hand side of the page. The Marketing and Admissions Committee put this together and we think that it does a good job portraying the program. Please take a look and let us know what you think!
More later....

LFM Infosession

I just wanted to thank everyone who came out to the LFM Infosession on Monday night. I felt that it was a great success! I know that I had a great time meeting everyone and it seemed that everyone I talked to had a good time and learned a lot about the program. If you can think of any way that we could have made your experience better, please let me know. Also, if you have any follow up questions that you need/want answered, please don't hesitate to e-mail me and I can do my best to answer them or get you in touch with those who can.


Other than the Infosession, the stress has already started again. The first week back to full classes and already I am feeling swamped with work. Can't believe how quickly that refreshed from a light week feeling goes away. I'm trying to get my stuff in order for a light weekend as some friends are coming in to town, but it looks as though it is going to be another long, work-filled weekend.

So just an update on classes, it seems that the first half of System Dynamics is the most popular part. We had our first class of the second half today and there were roughly as many visiting/listening students as there were students taking the second half and the total number of people in the room was under half! Wow. I'm still excited about the rest of the class though, even though it is a lot of work. For some reason, the current homework assignment isn't making all that much sense to me, but maybe that is because it is 1:10 am and I can't seem to think or sleep right now.

Well, I guess I should give it another go.
Good night and more later....

She said "Yes!"

I just wanted to share with everyone the fantastic news that Alicia and I are now engaged! Sat night/ Sunday morning I proposed to Alicia and she said "Yes!" We are both very excited about this development and most of our friends and family feel that it is way overdue (we've been together for 4 years as of the 10th of Oct!). It was fun (but taxing) calling everyone to let them know the good news. My mom and dad's response was great - my mom screamed in joy and my dad screamed "Goal!" as the Patriots had just scored again against the Dolphins. Oh well, we both know that they are excited. Alicia's step-mom had a funny one too. We just bought our friends old flat screen TV as they were upgrading to a larger model. Alicia's step-mom, when told about the engagement, asked how the TV looked on Alicia's finger. You may have to be there for that one, but we had a good time with that.
So, just wanted to pass on the news!
Take care and more later...

Finally, some pictures from the El Salvador trip (Part 1)

Pictures from the trip, starting from the top:
1) A giant mosaic in front of the Museum of Art
2) A photo of a stature inside the museum
3) A park in front of the Dell building
4) Our sponsor's HQ in El Salvador

Finally some pictures of the El Salvador Trip (Part 2)

Pictures from the top down:
1) Flying into San Salvador, a shot of the countryside.
2&3) Two artifacts from the anthropology museum.
4) The facade of the Metropolitan Cathedral that was designed by Fernando Llort.