LT7 Reunion

There are few things that make me more nostalgic than memories of LT7 from my first year at Darden. I'm still in disbelief on how or why learning teams disband prior to fourth quarter. While LT7 was convinced we'd continue to meet through the fourth quarter of first year, it became apparent quickly that the differing schedules made learning team a thing of the past. That said, LT7 lived on as a bowling team during fourth quarter and this year, we attempted to revive the LT7 bowling team. Yet again to no avail, differing schedules simply didn't allow it. Instead, we had LT7 bowling, with random additions of friends, roommates and significant others.

When I first walked into LT7, we noticed that many of us were "young" in comparison to Darden's average age. None of us were married, which also seemed like an anomaly in comparison to other teams. But today, two are engaged, four have signed their full-time offers and as we sat at dinner tonight, we talked of being like the LT of '67 which has three people who have donated large sums of money back to Darden. One has his name on Saunders Hall and another provided funds for the Abbott Center, though named it after the dean at the time instead of himself.

It's exciting to reunite with LT7 and I must say, I'm sad we don't do it more often. While second year schedules allow more flexibility, they also include what seems to be more activity, at least in a less structured manner than first year. Here's to great memories and more when we visit Sergio in Brazil for an LT7 reunion, which may just coincide with the next World Cup. Inadvertently, of course.

Summer Montage

Someone at Clear Admit made a comment that she would have liked to see more pictures of Atlanta. While, I have minimal pictures of Atlanta itself, I do have a plethora of pictures from the summer, so this is my summer in photos!

Damn am I lucky to have LT7

Learning Team is one of those experiences that some people hate and others love. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my LT. Not only are they fantastic people in and out of room 138, but they know when it's time to get to business. I feel that we are more efficient than most teams and know when you must agree to disagree. The case method can be hard as there is only a "more right" answer and sometimes even after class, it's hard to see what that answer is. Moreover, there are many LTs that forget there is a class to teach you what you can't figure out together. The experiences of my mates provide very diverse perspectives and though we sidetrack at times, everyone is open to bringing the conversation back to where it is supposed to be.

In passing, I often hear horror stories. People talk about LT members that are not willing to share notes without asking. Others say they will be "kicked out" if they haven't finished reading a case because they are perceived as not having anything to contribute. On one hand, I understand these strict guidelines, but they are not ones with which I agree. I like the fact that sometimes you just can't get to everything in life and there are 5 other people to bring me up, not down.

I survived!

I survived my first set of cases on my own.
I survived my first learning team and found it quite beneficial.
I survived 3 classes with 3 cases and perhaps even added valuable input.
I survived my first official day at Darden!

Wow! I know already that timing is tight and when they say the schedule is insane, I think that's an understatement. It's 2:10p and at 7p, I will be back on grounds to meet the other 5 members of my learning team. I'm tired, my mind is spent and I basically have a rug burn on my sides from crutches. Yes, crutches. After a long delay, I finally went to the doctor yesterday due to the swelling in my ankle not decreasing. Needless to say, the doc wants me off ankle for 2 days and onto PT on Friday. Sounds great and of course, I'm going to fit this in with all my extra free time. Free time, what's that? Oh yeah, I'm a Darden student. (Thankfully the first session is on Friday - no cases due on Saturday.)

It feels good to have survived, but in the essence of wanting to get some sleep tonight and perhaps a solid dinner, I'm off for the second crack at the case method. More on this later.

Learning Team

The unofficial stat is about 2% of learning teams don't work, so when you imagine who is going to be on this team, you hope and cross your fingers that your team doesn't end up in that 2%. There was much anticipation about learning teams and a few people even contemplated jumping Marsh (Director of Student Affairs)in advance. Today, after another class of logistics and one on career development, we received a slightly delayed intro to learning teams. After which we were instructed to look at the easels in the hall and go the the room number that corresponded with your name to meet your team. And you wonder why everyone views this as suspenseful? ;)

No one was in my room when I arrived, but I glanced at the envelope and immediately recognized 2 other names. We are a diverse group with vast experience for our young ages. And thankfully, we have a CPA! My man K tried to tell me he wasn't, but eventually divulged that important fact. I was afraid I was supposed to be the one with accounting knowledge. Let's just say, that wouldn't be a good thing even though it is one of my undergrad emphases.

My fellow female soccer star has all sorts of experience in international trade law. The Brazilian helped run multiple companies. Mr. Z helped build a company from scratch and finally, our Nigerian friend has lived all over the world - most recently in Singapore working on economic development. Definitely excited to get to know the gang!