Last Class in Section D

It's a sad and exciting day for me. The good news is, today is the last day of Q2 classes. The bad news is Section D will be disassembled and redistributed into new numbered sections come January. Twenty-five percent of my section will remain with me during the section transition, but besides Darden Cup Athletic events, there will be no formal gatherings of the section (though the social chairs are promising Q4 festivities). The last two days have been incredible and remind me why I love the banter within my section. I've been doubled over in laughter with little sign of relief.

Yesterday, we held the BGIA (Building Goodness in April) live auction. The direct competition between bidders made the spirit of the auction that much lighter. Of course, the borderline inappropriate comments flowing from the MC also enhanced the fun.

This morning didn't start as I expected. After three hours of sleep, I was rushing to get to school by 7:45a, the promised arrival time to our professor for our last day of class. Our marketing professor has Parkinson's disease. He hasn't exactly been shy, however, at the same time, he hasn't offered much. Today, he demonstrated a high level of humility and with that came vulnerability. He read a presentation he had written about acceptance and mindfulness. I was in aw, as this man, who has lived an incredibly full and "successful" life talked about his shock that brought him back to reality. His successes, in many minds, would be in the right places, yet, when was diagnosed, he realized that success don't simply encompass work. Some great lessons were stated in this masterful presentation, the first being, love thy self. As EB said, "the underlying point was that we are all human and sometimes people get caught up in their own successes and don't realize where they are failing until it is too late." There is a balance in life that we all hope to achieve and each of us needs to be mindful enough to figure out the aspects of that balance. As I sat in class, trying to hold myself together, I saw the emotion on the other side of the room. Everyone listened intently and after class let out, I personally, thanked him for sharing. It's hard to be vulnerable around peers and even harder around those you mentor.

Not to discount the importance of my last paragraph, but to brighten the mood, I will continue with the day. We had section superlatives during first coffee which consisted of categories such as most likely to be on the late show, cause the next financial crisis, get fired from their next job, stick their foot in their mouth, run for president, become CEO, etc... They were all in good fun and encompassed some good speeches and great laughs.

I'm going to miss the section and though I know we will see each other around grounds next quarter, it's hard not to feel a little solemn today. It's been an incredible first two quarters and I will never forget Section D (partly because I will still harass each individual to attend Darden Cup events next quarter).