I'm sorry, but something tells me my updates from now on might at times be slightly less comprehensive and more focused on description of occurrences. Here's an example pertaining to how the experience of going to business school in Chicago has started for me:
So I moved to Chicago. And a week afterwards took a trip to Fiji with a few class mates. It's what they call a Random Walk here, and it's a school backed program (which you pay for). Usually, you'll have 4 second-years serving as "trip-leaders", and 12 various first-years on the trip. It was a lot of fun, and it was mainly the beginning of my assimilation process, which now I'm starting to realize would probably never end (and it's not necessarily a bad thing). We all bonded, and since our return, we've been very close. It's understandable, I guess, now that we're meeting about a zillion new people a day, and so come to appreciate the deeper connection we have with the other members of this "old" group.
I'm growing used to the US, with all its tiny intricacies and huge differences. I'm happily discovering that I'm extremely open and thirsty to experience and meet and explore. And it also applies to myself – I decided I'm going to use this time to consciously develop and grow in at least some areas. It's a partially risk-free environment, so I can take chances and put myself in positions I'd never expect to find myself in, just for the sake of the lesson. I like it.
We started with Orientation, and that in turn began with 3 days of leadership/team-building/relationship-creating workshops in a resort in Wisconsin. We returned to Chicago, and aside from additional workshops, they slowly started introducing us to the academic and career management methodologies of this particular business school.
The autumn quarter started late September, and it's been hard to keep up almost from the get-go. I'm learning how to say "no", but so far I've been elected class-agent (in charge of the class's connection with the alumni network), started forming a group to take on a consulting project for a local company, and tons more. I like the fast pace, the genuine will to achieve and even the type-A atmosphere. Though it's subtle and rare, I don't really like the undertone of competitiveness I sometimes feel with some people. But it goes hand in hand with such a place, right (and I'm allowed to say that – I'm here, aren't I?)?
I was chosen to attend this alumni reunion event as a class agent, so I figured I should go. It was held in this fancy hotel and I didn't put on a tux, though I still think I didn't stand out in a bad way. All these things – tuxes, networking, alcohol (the entire drinking culture), infidelity. So much is so different.
I better get back to my Competitive Strategy homework now. This is a class I actually love. When I sit there in class, as tired as I might be, and listen to the young professor tell us about how a firm should differentiate itself and maintain its difference, I truly feel as though this is one of the things I came here for. Feeling like I take something with me and grow every week. And I'm starting to feel that way about so many other experiences, almost on a daily basis. And this feeling, I find, is purely amazing!
