Sorry for the inconvienence. If by some crazy chance you have a copy of my missing blogs (like an RSS feed) please send me a copy so I can reupload it. I would be very appreciative. Thanks
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
The holiday break
My blog got the flu and about 10 posts were lost.
Sorry for the inconvienence. If by some crazy chance you have a copy of my missing blogs (like an RSS feed) please send me a copy so I can reupload it. I would be very appreciative. Thanks
Sorry for the inconvienence. If by some crazy chance you have a copy of my missing blogs (like an RSS feed) please send me a copy so I can reupload it. I would be very appreciative. Thanks
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Big Time Snow Time
My blog got the flu and about 10 posts were lost.
Sorry for the inconvienence. If by some crazy chance you have a copy of my missing blogs (like an RSS feed) please send me a copy so I can reupload it. I would be very appreciative. Thanks
Sorry for the inconvienence. If by some crazy chance you have a copy of my missing blogs (like an RSS feed) please send me a copy so I can reupload it. I would be very appreciative. Thanks
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Woo Woo!
Finals are done! Of course, they were actually done on Tuesday but I have been a busy boy since then. Someone threw a monkey wrench into out Domestic Plant Trek (of which I am co-chair) and that has consumed a ton of my time this week. Anywho, school is out until February 2nd. No, that is not a typo. My MIT schedule finished on December 16th and I do not have another class until February 2nd 2009. There are 47.708333 days between when my final exam finished and when my first class begins. All I can say is that MIT love they vacation.
I want to reflect back on my classes this semester but before I begin, I have to discuss grades at the graduate level at MIT. For both my Sloan and Engineering classes it seems that almost everyone gets an A or a B. Some of the Sloan professors said the policy was 40% A's, 50% B's, and 10% C's. This may be a policy but I have never seen it written. From my limited experience, there seems to be similar policy in the engineering college. I already know what you are going to say...grade inflation. Having lived it, I have to pleasantly disagree. When I look back at the workload requirements and the effort that everyone puts in, you can't say that anyone did not work for their grade. Generally speaking, no one skips deliverable assignments...though people tend to not read all assigned readings. And on top of that, everyone seems to be performing at such a high level, it would seem odd to assign someone a C or a D because they were excellent but not exquisite. For the few people who skip assignments or do not attend class, they do give out C's and you must maintain a B average, so you can't take that approach for more than half of your classes. It is not like undergrad where people are just going through the motions of college. Everyone here typically wants to learn the material and has taken out large loans to pay for their education. So, on to the classes:
10.25 Industrial Chemistry and Chemical Process Pathways
This was one of my chemical engineering classes and I must say that it was enjoyable. Half of the time I had no idea what was going on, but the professor was so much fun that it was worth it. In the end, this class was everything I expected out of MIT engineering. The professor was quirky, funny, and brilliant...and the exams were insane (average for the first exam was in the 30s or 40s out of 100). Luckily for me on this one, everyone pretty much gets an A or a B. As far as the actual content goes, it was hard to be very interested in the material because I don't think I will ever be designing an industrial chemical reaction or calculating rate information for reactor design...but I did get an appreciation for the extent of uncertainty that goes into new industrial reactions and the plants required to attempt these reactions. Seems to be a risky endevour that is hard to scale up...sort of a learn as you go mentality...but with million dollar plants.
10.579 Application of Technology in Energy and the Environment
This class was also fun to attend. There were two lecturers for this class with very different personalities. One was outgoing and humorous and the other was very dry. I really liked the material and wish everyone could learn the material that we covered. We took an honest look at different forms of energy/technology (wind, thermal, coal, gas, nuclear, etc.) and analyzed the positives, negatives, challenges of using, etc. of using that technology. I think some people take a very "hippy" view of how we can fix the energy situation and do not admit the major challenges we would face if we actually implemented policies that are being proposed. That does not mean this class did not advocate change...but the professors were very honest and sensible about what effects these changes would encounter and how they could be overcome.
15.010 Economic Analysis for Business Decisions
This was your basic economics course. I took an economics course in undergrad so there was nothing significantly new or mind blowing for me, but all in all a good class. Useful material. The professor was a little disappointing, but he was very young and eager to improve. He requested feedback nearly every week and made an honest effort to implement suggestions.
15.277 Leadership and Personal Effectiveness Coaching
The title is deceiving. This was the lab course for communications class. Overall we tried to put into practice the tools we learned in communications class. Mostly we got to practice presenting on the fly (called impromptus) with other themes (different each week) mixed in. Basically, we would be given a prompt and have to stand up and immediately deliver a speech on that topic. This is a good opportunity to practice your presentation skills and then work on the "theme" of the week. For example, we had to give our group members critical feedback, negotiate with another party, outline a vision, etc. The lab takes place with your 6-7 person core team and a Teaching Assistant (2nd year Sloanie TA). I was extremely lucky with the quality of my group's TA. She picked up on so many subtle things during our discussions and I was very impressed by her intelligence (and I was not surprised to hear that she got a job with Apple). I have heard some horror stories from other people, but my TA offered insightful feedback and I found the lab useful (I think I am in the minority here among other LFMers I talked to, but again it comes down to the TA).
15.280 Communication for Managers
Overall we just reviewed a number of forms of communication and talked about the different aspects of them. I definitely learned some new things...and at other times was incredibly bored. I don't blame them for covering some of the material that bored me though. For some of the foreign people on my core team who had never worked in America before, it was certainly necessary. And I had to fight tooth and nail to keep everyone on my core team from overloading our slides with text. When you are presenting, you are the focus of a presentation...not your slides! The slides should add to what your saying, not contain every word you will say. /Rant. Communication is one my biggest weaknesses (one of the reasons I blog) so I will be taking the second part of this class (Advanced Communications) next semester. That class is with the same communications professor, who is an excellent teacher.
15.311Organization Process
This class was the surprise of the semester for me. I actually enjoyed what I would call "fluff" material. We basically covered all of the people aspects of an organization. It helped that the professor was...eccentric? He was from New York (the state, not the city) and embodied some of the typical stereotypes of a New Yorker. He certainly had a fun time (and he reminded of this constantly) of getting us to hotly debate controversial topics. I definitely have a new outlook on motivation and interacting with people. This class also included a project where our core team selected a company, analyzed a change in their organization using the tools we learned in OP, and then presented to that company our findings and recommendations. The project was moderately enjoyable and I honestly believe that we helped the company that we worked with. We were able to analyze an issue they did not have time to address and offer a good solution. At the same time, we were basically consultants and this project reconfirmed my distaste for consulting. In the end, we delivered a "package" of what the organization can do to fix their problems...and though we gave very specific actions..in the end, we did not DO anything. It was all talk. It is up to someone else to actually do the work. That is why I am in LFM. I want to be that person that DOES something. To me, consulting is dumping and running. No matter how nice of a "package" you deliver, in the end you are still taking a crap.
15.401 Finance 1
What can I say, this was your basic finance class. While it is not required at MIT for the MBA program, it should be. Every MBA should know the material that we covered. As for the class, the lectures were so boring. I probably fell asleep in every single class. It did not help that the professor had a monotone voice and dimmed the lights so we could see the power point slides. When you asked the professor a question or when the class was discussing issues as a group, it was easy to see how brilliant the professor was...but when it came to lectures, he was not the best. Still, a useful class and it was interesting to be in the class during this credit crisis...it led to some very revealing conversations.
15.515 Financial Accounting
Brace yourself. Accounting was the best class I have taken at Sloan and I don't think it will be topped. Really, it all came down to the professor. This guy was so good at lecturing, that he made accounting fun. We gave him a standing ovation on the last class...and he deserved it. He was engaging with all of the students, bluntly told you when you asked a ridiculous question that was beyond the scope of the class and did not waste time on it, and made you laugh in every single class. He was so good at stressing what part of accounting we would actually use when we left Sloan, and made sure to cut out the useless stuff. He would just say, let your accountant worry about the details, all you need to understand as a manager is the implications your decisions have on the business. I'm sorry to say, for you incoming students, that he is going on sabbatical for the next 2 years so the next Sloan class that can have him is the class of 2013.
15.792 Proseminar in Manufacturing
This is an LFM class where companies (not necessarily partner companies) come into present to the LFM group on a range of topics. The people and topics are organized by the current LFM class so ti comes as no surprise that they were all engaging and interesting. Sometimes they were general topics and sometimes they were company overviews with extensive Q&A sessions. Either way, they were always interesting. I would like to take this opportunity to express my disappointment with some of my fellow LFM members. Toward the end of the semester, our attendance was down to about 30-35 out of 48 and this is just insulting to the companies that come to present to us. I believe that we have addressed the issue as a class and I think we will show improvement in the future, but it is disappointing nonetheless.
15.972 Leadership and Ethics
This is another LFM exclusive class. Before class begins you meet with Bill Hanson to discuss leadership and a number of other career devlopment and personal issues. I found this conversation to be extremely useful for finding my direction at Sloan and after Sloan. After that comes the class discussions with Don Davis. The class is led by Don Davis, former 20 year CEO of Stanley Works (they make tools) and I must say the class was a joy to attend. Where else can you get the opportunity to openly talk to someone who has run a large public company about the issues of leading? The experience was invaluable. To be fair, the class started out sort of slow. The first two or three classes Don read us some of his opinions on business (his mantras) and while I appreciate the learnings, they comes off as generalities without actual context. The invaluable part of the class was when Don got into discussing challenges he faced, how he handled them, and his reflections on his decisions. And this was not a one way conversation, we were free to interject, disagree, or probe all of the topics and stories. Like I said, invaluable. Unfortunately Don is getting up there in age (though you would not have guessed that from the way he partied with us after the last class) and will not be able to support the class as much as he used to in the past. A driven and motivated person such as Don can't stay away completely, but at his age there are physical limitations. I hope I can be as active as Don when I reach his age, and the idea of teaching (he basically teaches for free) during retirement is awesome.
All in all, the fall core semester was an enjoyable expereince. It is exicting and sad to think that my fellow LFMers and I are half way done the classwork part of the program.
I want to reflect back on my classes this semester but before I begin, I have to discuss grades at the graduate level at MIT. For both my Sloan and Engineering classes it seems that almost everyone gets an A or a B. Some of the Sloan professors said the policy was 40% A's, 50% B's, and 10% C's. This may be a policy but I have never seen it written. From my limited experience, there seems to be similar policy in the engineering college. I already know what you are going to say...grade inflation. Having lived it, I have to pleasantly disagree. When I look back at the workload requirements and the effort that everyone puts in, you can't say that anyone did not work for their grade. Generally speaking, no one skips deliverable assignments...though people tend to not read all assigned readings. And on top of that, everyone seems to be performing at such a high level, it would seem odd to assign someone a C or a D because they were excellent but not exquisite. For the few people who skip assignments or do not attend class, they do give out C's and you must maintain a B average, so you can't take that approach for more than half of your classes. It is not like undergrad where people are just going through the motions of college. Everyone here typically wants to learn the material and has taken out large loans to pay for their education. So, on to the classes:
10.25 Industrial Chemistry and Chemical Process Pathways
This was one of my chemical engineering classes and I must say that it was enjoyable. Half of the time I had no idea what was going on, but the professor was so much fun that it was worth it. In the end, this class was everything I expected out of MIT engineering. The professor was quirky, funny, and brilliant...and the exams were insane (average for the first exam was in the 30s or 40s out of 100). Luckily for me on this one, everyone pretty much gets an A or a B. As far as the actual content goes, it was hard to be very interested in the material because I don't think I will ever be designing an industrial chemical reaction or calculating rate information for reactor design...but I did get an appreciation for the extent of uncertainty that goes into new industrial reactions and the plants required to attempt these reactions. Seems to be a risky endevour that is hard to scale up...sort of a learn as you go mentality...but with million dollar plants.
10.579 Application of Technology in Energy and the Environment
This class was also fun to attend. There were two lecturers for this class with very different personalities. One was outgoing and humorous and the other was very dry. I really liked the material and wish everyone could learn the material that we covered. We took an honest look at different forms of energy/technology (wind, thermal, coal, gas, nuclear, etc.) and analyzed the positives, negatives, challenges of using, etc. of using that technology. I think some people take a very "hippy" view of how we can fix the energy situation and do not admit the major challenges we would face if we actually implemented policies that are being proposed. That does not mean this class did not advocate change...but the professors were very honest and sensible about what effects these changes would encounter and how they could be overcome.
15.010 Economic Analysis for Business Decisions
This was your basic economics course. I took an economics course in undergrad so there was nothing significantly new or mind blowing for me, but all in all a good class. Useful material. The professor was a little disappointing, but he was very young and eager to improve. He requested feedback nearly every week and made an honest effort to implement suggestions.
15.277 Leadership and Personal Effectiveness Coaching
The title is deceiving. This was the lab course for communications class. Overall we tried to put into practice the tools we learned in communications class. Mostly we got to practice presenting on the fly (called impromptus) with other themes (different each week) mixed in. Basically, we would be given a prompt and have to stand up and immediately deliver a speech on that topic. This is a good opportunity to practice your presentation skills and then work on the "theme" of the week. For example, we had to give our group members critical feedback, negotiate with another party, outline a vision, etc. The lab takes place with your 6-7 person core team and a Teaching Assistant (2nd year Sloanie TA). I was extremely lucky with the quality of my group's TA. She picked up on so many subtle things during our discussions and I was very impressed by her intelligence (and I was not surprised to hear that she got a job with Apple). I have heard some horror stories from other people, but my TA offered insightful feedback and I found the lab useful (I think I am in the minority here among other LFMers I talked to, but again it comes down to the TA).
15.280 Communication for Managers
Overall we just reviewed a number of forms of communication and talked about the different aspects of them. I definitely learned some new things...and at other times was incredibly bored. I don't blame them for covering some of the material that bored me though. For some of the foreign people on my core team who had never worked in America before, it was certainly necessary. And I had to fight tooth and nail to keep everyone on my core team from overloading our slides with text. When you are presenting, you are the focus of a presentation...not your slides! The slides should add to what your saying, not contain every word you will say. /Rant. Communication is one my biggest weaknesses (one of the reasons I blog) so I will be taking the second part of this class (Advanced Communications) next semester. That class is with the same communications professor, who is an excellent teacher.
15.311Organization Process
This class was the surprise of the semester for me. I actually enjoyed what I would call "fluff" material. We basically covered all of the people aspects of an organization. It helped that the professor was...eccentric? He was from New York (the state, not the city) and embodied some of the typical stereotypes of a New Yorker. He certainly had a fun time (and he reminded of this constantly) of getting us to hotly debate controversial topics. I definitely have a new outlook on motivation and interacting with people. This class also included a project where our core team selected a company, analyzed a change in their organization using the tools we learned in OP, and then presented to that company our findings and recommendations. The project was moderately enjoyable and I honestly believe that we helped the company that we worked with. We were able to analyze an issue they did not have time to address and offer a good solution. At the same time, we were basically consultants and this project reconfirmed my distaste for consulting. In the end, we delivered a "package" of what the organization can do to fix their problems...and though we gave very specific actions..in the end, we did not DO anything. It was all talk. It is up to someone else to actually do the work. That is why I am in LFM. I want to be that person that DOES something. To me, consulting is dumping and running. No matter how nice of a "package" you deliver, in the end you are still taking a crap.
15.401 Finance 1
What can I say, this was your basic finance class. While it is not required at MIT for the MBA program, it should be. Every MBA should know the material that we covered. As for the class, the lectures were so boring. I probably fell asleep in every single class. It did not help that the professor had a monotone voice and dimmed the lights so we could see the power point slides. When you asked the professor a question or when the class was discussing issues as a group, it was easy to see how brilliant the professor was...but when it came to lectures, he was not the best. Still, a useful class and it was interesting to be in the class during this credit crisis...it led to some very revealing conversations.
15.515 Financial Accounting
Brace yourself. Accounting was the best class I have taken at Sloan and I don't think it will be topped. Really, it all came down to the professor. This guy was so good at lecturing, that he made accounting fun. We gave him a standing ovation on the last class...and he deserved it. He was engaging with all of the students, bluntly told you when you asked a ridiculous question that was beyond the scope of the class and did not waste time on it, and made you laugh in every single class. He was so good at stressing what part of accounting we would actually use when we left Sloan, and made sure to cut out the useless stuff. He would just say, let your accountant worry about the details, all you need to understand as a manager is the implications your decisions have on the business. I'm sorry to say, for you incoming students, that he is going on sabbatical for the next 2 years so the next Sloan class that can have him is the class of 2013.
15.792 Proseminar in Manufacturing
This is an LFM class where companies (not necessarily partner companies) come into present to the LFM group on a range of topics. The people and topics are organized by the current LFM class so ti comes as no surprise that they were all engaging and interesting. Sometimes they were general topics and sometimes they were company overviews with extensive Q&A sessions. Either way, they were always interesting. I would like to take this opportunity to express my disappointment with some of my fellow LFM members. Toward the end of the semester, our attendance was down to about 30-35 out of 48 and this is just insulting to the companies that come to present to us. I believe that we have addressed the issue as a class and I think we will show improvement in the future, but it is disappointing nonetheless.
15.972 Leadership and Ethics
This is another LFM exclusive class. Before class begins you meet with Bill Hanson to discuss leadership and a number of other career devlopment and personal issues. I found this conversation to be extremely useful for finding my direction at Sloan and after Sloan. After that comes the class discussions with Don Davis. The class is led by Don Davis, former 20 year CEO of Stanley Works (they make tools) and I must say the class was a joy to attend. Where else can you get the opportunity to openly talk to someone who has run a large public company about the issues of leading? The experience was invaluable. To be fair, the class started out sort of slow. The first two or three classes Don read us some of his opinions on business (his mantras) and while I appreciate the learnings, they comes off as generalities without actual context. The invaluable part of the class was when Don got into discussing challenges he faced, how he handled them, and his reflections on his decisions. And this was not a one way conversation, we were free to interject, disagree, or probe all of the topics and stories. Like I said, invaluable. Unfortunately Don is getting up there in age (though you would not have guessed that from the way he partied with us after the last class) and will not be able to support the class as much as he used to in the past. A driven and motivated person such as Don can't stay away completely, but at his age there are physical limitations. I hope I can be as active as Don when I reach his age, and the idea of teaching (he basically teaches for free) during retirement is awesome.
All in all, the fall core semester was an enjoyable expereince. It is exicting and sad to think that my fellow LFMers and I are half way done the classwork part of the program.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
I'm lovin' it
I love stupid and brazen gestures like this: The executives from the big three automakers drove from Detroit to Washington to again address congress about possible bailout funds. The financial situation of the big 3 US automakers is further discussed in the following two articles, Article 1 and Article 2. Why did these executives drive instead of fly? Some senators thought it would be cute (and it certainly got television coverage) to ask the auto executives why they needed to take private jets to fly from Detroit to Washington on the executive's first trip to Washington for bailout discussions.
I'm not here to defend the private jets the automakers took because I don't know the details the situation. The jets may or may not have been merited. When you think about it, executives are not that different from any other employee. They only have a limited amount of time to dedicate to work and the private flight may have actually made financial sense when you consider what their time costs the company and what else they need to accomplish that week. This may lead you to say that their salaries are too high, but really that is a separate issue. Of course with high profile events like this its not about what makes sense, its about how things look.
My big complaint with this whole scenario is the glariing hypocracy. I'm willing to bet that every senator sitting on that committee has flown on a private jet at some point in recent history (on the taxpayers dime). Sadly, our government doesnt have to worry about their budget like GM does, they just spend, and spend, and then spend more. When you think about it, our government shows Americans the solution to managing finances. Just don't manage them.
Which brings me back to these executives driving from Detroit to Washington. Kudos on a clever response to a stupid issues that is distracting everyone from the actual issue at hand (the whole "is the bailout in the best interest of America" thing).
I'm not here to defend the private jets the automakers took because I don't know the details the situation. The jets may or may not have been merited. When you think about it, executives are not that different from any other employee. They only have a limited amount of time to dedicate to work and the private flight may have actually made financial sense when you consider what their time costs the company and what else they need to accomplish that week. This may lead you to say that their salaries are too high, but really that is a separate issue. Of course with high profile events like this its not about what makes sense, its about how things look.
My big complaint with this whole scenario is the glariing hypocracy. I'm willing to bet that every senator sitting on that committee has flown on a private jet at some point in recent history (on the taxpayers dime). Sadly, our government doesnt have to worry about their budget like GM does, they just spend, and spend, and then spend more. When you think about it, our government shows Americans the solution to managing finances. Just don't manage them.
Which brings me back to these executives driving from Detroit to Washington. Kudos on a clever response to a stupid issues that is distracting everyone from the actual issue at hand (the whole "is the bailout in the best interest of America" thing).
Booyeah!
It is fair to say that when someone is addressing a class of MIT Sloan students and refers to that school down the river, there are more than a few boos in the crowd. I have no problem admitting, some of this animosity is due to jealousy. Harvard is an impressive school with an incredible history. With Harvard located so close (2 t-stops away), I've been on their campus a few times and I even went to this year's Harvard/Yale football game (Harvard won 10-0, but I must say...coming from Florida and the glory of SEC football, I felt like I was watching a high school game). On top of being a great school, walking around Harvard's campus is much more ascetically pleasing than walking around MIT the campus.
So while it is depressing to see how poorly our economy is doing, some part of me enjoys seeing how much money Harvard's endowments lost in the first four months of their fiscal year. While the linked article goes into further detail, all you really need to know is that their endowment lost 8 billion dollars between the end of June and the end of October. Please take a moment to let that sink in. It is tragic really. My best guess is that they are going to have to tighten their belts and only line this year's yearbook with gold, instead of platinum.
So while it is depressing to see how poorly our economy is doing, some part of me enjoys seeing how much money Harvard's endowments lost in the first four months of their fiscal year. While the linked article goes into further detail, all you really need to know is that their endowment lost 8 billion dollars between the end of June and the end of October. Please take a moment to let that sink in. It is tragic really. My best guess is that they are going to have to tighten their belts and only line this year's yearbook with gold, instead of platinum.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Blood Pumping Awesomeness!!!
Nothing...absolutely nothing else in the world...gets my blood pumping like Rocky IV. Somehow that movie captured the entire range of human emotion while singlehandedly winning the cold war against the USSR. Every time Rocky Balboa landed a body blow on Captain Ivan Drago...somehow...somewhere...a brick fell from the Berlin wall. After grossing $127.8 million in the United States and $175 million outside of the US (thank YOU NATO countries) it is no wonder the Berlin Wall came down. The timeliness is just too convenient. The movie released on November 27th 1985 and by November 9th 1989, (after dominating the theaters and following that with an amazing VHS release)...obviously, the wall was structurally unsound. All of the the scenes that you may have seen on TV of the wall being torn down were probably staged by the US government to hide the true power of the Rocky Franchise and Hollywood. Reagan (being an actor, he understood the power of American movies) even staged his famous speech where he challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall". Now I love Reagan as much as any other American, but lets be honest...it was easy for Reagan to make such bold claims considering the damage the Italian Stallion had caused.
Sadly the history books won't properly document how the cold war was really won (though, the Versus channel does its best to show Rocky I - IV at least once a week) and America will continue to believe that we won the war through diplomatic, military, and economic pressure on the Soviet Union...luckily some of us still remember what Stallone did for this country (not to mention his contributions as Rambo rescuing POWs in Vietnam). I leave you with a picture of Rocky draped in an American flag and the chorus to Hearts on Fire (the song that plays during the classic Rocky workout and mountain climbing montage).
hearts on fire
strong desire
rages deep within
hearts on fire
fever's rising high
the moment of truth draws near
Note: This post is what happens when I start homework at 1 AM (having successfully put it off all day) that I don't want to do...I should be writing an Executive Summary for my Applications of Technology class and instead I'm blogging until 2 AM...which means I'll be up doing homework until 3 AM.
Sadly the history books won't properly document how the cold war was really won (though, the Versus channel does its best to show Rocky I - IV at least once a week) and America will continue to believe that we won the war through diplomatic, military, and economic pressure on the Soviet Union...luckily some of us still remember what Stallone did for this country (not to mention his contributions as Rambo rescuing POWs in Vietnam). I leave you with a picture of Rocky draped in an American flag and the chorus to Hearts on Fire (the song that plays during the classic Rocky workout and mountain climbing montage).
hearts on fire
strong desire
rages deep within
hearts on fire
fever's rising high
the moment of truth draws near
Note: This post is what happens when I start homework at 1 AM (having successfully put it off all day) that I don't want to do...I should be writing an Executive Summary for my Applications of Technology class and instead I'm blogging until 2 AM...which means I'll be up doing homework until 3 AM.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Sad, Sad Halloween
So I forgot to follow up on a previous post about my Halloween costume disaster. So I really like Halloween and dressing up. My favorite part is making a costume. I'm not saying buying a costume is bad, but I enjoy making the costume as much as I enjoy wearing it out. My senior year of undergrad I made a chicken wire/papermache Mr. Potato head. That costume had changeable face accessories. It was awesome.
[caption id="attachment_270" align="alignnone" width="110" caption="Go on and say it, I could have reused the costume the next year and gone as poo "]
[/caption]
Anyway, I wanted to do something special this year and I had a good idea. Voltron! For those of you who don't know, Voltron was a terribly awesome 80's cartoon. Basically, in every episode the evil King Zarkon tries to find a way to conquer the planet Arus...which requires him to somehow defeat Voltron. So Zarkon sends a robobeast monster to Arus and shoots him with a laser that makes the robobeast incredibly big. The components of Voltron fight the evil robobeast monster Zarkon has sent and they are always unable to beat it...so someone decides that they need to work together and form Voltron. At that point, it is game over for the robobeast and Zarkon. Voltron is unbeatable. I'm pretty sure Voltron could beat up Chuck Norris...or at least give him a run for his money.
Still confused? What exactly is Voltron? Voltron is an awesome human shaped combination of 5 massive mechanical lions. It doesn't have to make sense, its from Japan. Here are some pictures of Voltron:
[caption id="attachment_272" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="The toys that I had. This shows the 5 individual lions and how they form together to make Voltron"]
[/caption]
So anyway, I spent a good portion of my SIP week making a Voltron costume. I started with white 1/4" foam board. I cut out pieces and glued them together to make the arms, legs, head, and a chest plate. I'm not going to lie...it looked amazing. I took a good deal of time bracing all of the pieces I glued together. The hands were the most difficult part. Voltron's weapon of choice is a large sword, so I needed to be able to grip a sword with my lion-head hands. For this to work I had to I create lion-head hand with a movable jaw. I did not get it right on the first try, but eventually I got it and it looked great.
I know that parties are not the place you want a costume coming apart, so I had to make my costume as party-proof as possible. All of the pieces were very sturdy. You could pick up any piece and shake it hard...and nothing came apart. The rubber cement was holding all of the foam board together well. At this point, the only problem remaining was that everything was still all white. Anywho, I bought some acrylic paint and tested it on a few small pieces (this part is key to my mistake). So the next day I check the small painted pieces and everything looked GREAT! After that, I went about painting all of the major pieces of the costume and set everything out to dry. The next day I came out and inspected the pieces...I had major structural problems. The paint warped all of the foam board and any pieces longer than six inches long bent enough to rip the rubber cement joints. For some of the smaller pieces like the hands and head, this was not a very big problem. These smaller pieces were a little warped and no longer fit together well (you could see inside at the corners) but they were holding together. The shoulders, legs, and chest/back pieces were a different story. There was at least an inch between some pieces that had previously been glued together. This made a majority of the costume beyond repair. At this point it was late in the week and Halloween was just a day away. I spent a few hours trying to salvage what I could but in the end I had to admit defeat. I learned in economics that you can't consider the sunk costs (all my hard work) when making your future decisions....there was just not enough time to complete everything...plus, I did I want to spend a significant amount of more money. I think I spent about $120 total on foam board, a special straight edge razor and other cutting accessories, and of course, the wrong paint.
There was no way the large painted pieces would make it out of the house. In the end, I gently balanced the pieces of the costume on my body and snapped a few pictures. Literally, when the pictures were done, I stepped forward and all of the large pieces completely came apart. No exaggeration, one step was all it took. I was sad, but in the end I did have fun making the pieces...and I am proud of how well everything looked before I painted it. I wish I had taken some pictures before I painted...but I did not expect such a disaster. I did record all of the dimensions (designing on the fly took much longer than constructing the parts) so maybe sometime in the future, I'll take another shot at this costume. Maybe this time, I'll do my homework on which paint to use. :-)
I'm making a sad face in all of my pictures. Woe is me. I could not attach some of the detailed pieces (chest plate, back-wings, leg and head accessories) because of how warped everything was. I also had not yet purchased my face paint, shirt, or pants...so I'm not fully dressed up.
[caption id="attachment_275" align="alignnone" width="112" caption="The detailed attachments were painted but not yet glued to the legs or head, so the legs are white on the front and the head is lacking the signature ears"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_276" align="alignnone" width="112" caption="Here you can see the movable jaw on the hands so I could hold my sword. you can also see how how the yellow leg is separated at the seam (near my knee)"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_277" align="alignnone" width="112" caption="Lisa and I making a sad cat face"]
[/caption]
In the end, I was sad so Lisa and I stayed in and passed out candy to the little kids in my apartment. Oh well, maybe next year.
[caption id="attachment_270" align="alignnone" width="110" caption="Go on and say it, I could have reused the costume the next year and gone as poo "]
[/caption]Anyway, I wanted to do something special this year and I had a good idea. Voltron! For those of you who don't know, Voltron was a terribly awesome 80's cartoon. Basically, in every episode the evil King Zarkon tries to find a way to conquer the planet Arus...which requires him to somehow defeat Voltron. So Zarkon sends a robobeast monster to Arus and shoots him with a laser that makes the robobeast incredibly big. The components of Voltron fight the evil robobeast monster Zarkon has sent and they are always unable to beat it...so someone decides that they need to work together and form Voltron. At that point, it is game over for the robobeast and Zarkon. Voltron is unbeatable. I'm pretty sure Voltron could beat up Chuck Norris...or at least give him a run for his money.
Still confused? What exactly is Voltron? Voltron is an awesome human shaped combination of 5 massive mechanical lions. It doesn't have to make sense, its from Japan. Here are some pictures of Voltron:
[caption id="attachment_272" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="The toys that I had. This shows the 5 individual lions and how they form together to make Voltron"]
[/caption]So anyway, I spent a good portion of my SIP week making a Voltron costume. I started with white 1/4" foam board. I cut out pieces and glued them together to make the arms, legs, head, and a chest plate. I'm not going to lie...it looked amazing. I took a good deal of time bracing all of the pieces I glued together. The hands were the most difficult part. Voltron's weapon of choice is a large sword, so I needed to be able to grip a sword with my lion-head hands. For this to work I had to I create lion-head hand with a movable jaw. I did not get it right on the first try, but eventually I got it and it looked great.
I know that parties are not the place you want a costume coming apart, so I had to make my costume as party-proof as possible. All of the pieces were very sturdy. You could pick up any piece and shake it hard...and nothing came apart. The rubber cement was holding all of the foam board together well. At this point, the only problem remaining was that everything was still all white. Anywho, I bought some acrylic paint and tested it on a few small pieces (this part is key to my mistake). So the next day I check the small painted pieces and everything looked GREAT! After that, I went about painting all of the major pieces of the costume and set everything out to dry. The next day I came out and inspected the pieces...I had major structural problems. The paint warped all of the foam board and any pieces longer than six inches long bent enough to rip the rubber cement joints. For some of the smaller pieces like the hands and head, this was not a very big problem. These smaller pieces were a little warped and no longer fit together well (you could see inside at the corners) but they were holding together. The shoulders, legs, and chest/back pieces were a different story. There was at least an inch between some pieces that had previously been glued together. This made a majority of the costume beyond repair. At this point it was late in the week and Halloween was just a day away. I spent a few hours trying to salvage what I could but in the end I had to admit defeat. I learned in economics that you can't consider the sunk costs (all my hard work) when making your future decisions....there was just not enough time to complete everything...plus, I did I want to spend a significant amount of more money. I think I spent about $120 total on foam board, a special straight edge razor and other cutting accessories, and of course, the wrong paint.
There was no way the large painted pieces would make it out of the house. In the end, I gently balanced the pieces of the costume on my body and snapped a few pictures. Literally, when the pictures were done, I stepped forward and all of the large pieces completely came apart. No exaggeration, one step was all it took. I was sad, but in the end I did have fun making the pieces...and I am proud of how well everything looked before I painted it. I wish I had taken some pictures before I painted...but I did not expect such a disaster. I did record all of the dimensions (designing on the fly took much longer than constructing the parts) so maybe sometime in the future, I'll take another shot at this costume. Maybe this time, I'll do my homework on which paint to use. :-)
I'm making a sad face in all of my pictures. Woe is me. I could not attach some of the detailed pieces (chest plate, back-wings, leg and head accessories) because of how warped everything was. I also had not yet purchased my face paint, shirt, or pants...so I'm not fully dressed up.
[caption id="attachment_275" align="alignnone" width="112" caption="The detailed attachments were painted but not yet glued to the legs or head, so the legs are white on the front and the head is lacking the signature ears"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_276" align="alignnone" width="112" caption="Here you can see the movable jaw on the hands so I could hold my sword. you can also see how how the yellow leg is separated at the seam (near my knee)"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_277" align="alignnone" width="112" caption="Lisa and I making a sad cat face"]
[/caption]In the end, I was sad so Lisa and I stayed in and passed out candy to the little kids in my apartment. Oh well, maybe next year.
Letters of Recommendation
Lets talk about those letters of recommendation. My opinion on letters of recommendation is that it is MUCH more important to get someone who knows you and worked with you than it is to get someone with a big title or some fancy degree. If you read the type of questions they need to be able to answer (listed on the LFM application page) you will see that the recommender does not even need to be your boss...they just need to know you. Now I do think it is a good idea if one of the recommenders is your current boss or a previous boss (I understand that someone people don't want their current employer to know that they are thinking of leaving for MBA school), but it is NOT a requirement. Having addressed the supervisor issue, lets get back to that whole "personal knowledge" of you...thing. You want your recommender to be able to answer questions about you with actual real life examples. This means that they need to have worked with you on more than one occasion (sitting next to you in a meeting does not count as work). It is not a bad idea to sit down with your recommender and talk to them about why you want to go to back to school and what you hope to get out of it. This helps them understand where you are coming from and it gets the recommender to start thinking about your abilities (if they have not already). I am not saying that you should tell the recommender what to write about or focus on. I think that is overstepping the line. They need to be free to give an honest assessment of you and your abilities. I just think it helps them write about you if they have an idea about your career goals and the LFM program. Plus, this should be a good opportunity for you to talk about applying to business school and your career with someone you respect and hopefully have a good relationship with. This will help you with your application essays.
[caption id="attachment_267" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Why do you want to go back to school?"]
[/caption]
You will notice that you need one recommender to be able to speak to your technical abilities if you apply through MIT Sloan and two recommenders if you apply through MIT's School of Engineering. I know it says "academic source"...but this can be misleading...I say focus on the part that says "someone who can speak definitively of your technical skills." Personally, I don't think professors make very good recommenders unless you did research with that professor or spent extensive time with him or her. Again, this gets back to the recommenders ability to speak about you and your personal traits. Some professor that taught you a few days a week...and that you visited in office hours a couple times in a semester...does not really know you. Getting an A in a class is not a technical skill. The admissions committee has your transcripts if they are interested in your grades. (assuming you are currently in an engineering or R&D field) I think your supervisor or co-worker should easily be able to speak to your technical skills. This might be one aspect of the questions that you want to explain to them beforehand. Just let them know that technical skills include technical problem solving or really anything engineering related.
[caption id="attachment_265" align="alignnone" width="112" caption="You need someone who knows that you can navigate this chart to "No Problem""]
[/caption]
Also, I think it is a great idea for one of your recommendators to be from outside the work environment. This goes along with what I said about your application essays. I think it is important to show how well rounded you are. Show the admissions committee that you have a life and passion outside of work.
And once again (as mentioned in the application essay blog) when selecting a recommender, think about their ability to speak to your leadership abilities and potential. LEADERS for manufacturing. Lets just say the leaders part is kind of a big deal.
[caption id="attachment_267" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Why do you want to go back to school?"]
[/caption]You will notice that you need one recommender to be able to speak to your technical abilities if you apply through MIT Sloan and two recommenders if you apply through MIT's School of Engineering. I know it says "academic source"...but this can be misleading...I say focus on the part that says "someone who can speak definitively of your technical skills." Personally, I don't think professors make very good recommenders unless you did research with that professor or spent extensive time with him or her. Again, this gets back to the recommenders ability to speak about you and your personal traits. Some professor that taught you a few days a week...and that you visited in office hours a couple times in a semester...does not really know you. Getting an A in a class is not a technical skill. The admissions committee has your transcripts if they are interested in your grades. (assuming you are currently in an engineering or R&D field) I think your supervisor or co-worker should easily be able to speak to your technical skills. This might be one aspect of the questions that you want to explain to them beforehand. Just let them know that technical skills include technical problem solving or really anything engineering related.
[caption id="attachment_265" align="alignnone" width="112" caption="You need someone who knows that you can navigate this chart to "No Problem""]
[/caption]Also, I think it is a great idea for one of your recommendators to be from outside the work environment. This goes along with what I said about your application essays. I think it is important to show how well rounded you are. Show the admissions committee that you have a life and passion outside of work.
And once again (as mentioned in the application essay blog) when selecting a recommender, think about their ability to speak to your leadership abilities and potential. LEADERS for manufacturing. Lets just say the leaders part is kind of a big deal.
Come on US Auto...I'm clapping
Eric Roseman has a descent article about the coming demise of the US auto industry...check it out...but I have faith in the old boys. In some versions of Peter Pan, Tinkerbell drinks poison to save Peter from Captain Hook's trickeration. Peter then explains that Tink is actually dying because not enough people believe in fairies...then he implores the audience that if they show their belief and clap, Tinkerbell will come back to life. In the spirit of Tinkerbell, I'm just going to keep clapping and hope for the best for US auto. At this point, it may be the best idea someone has had.
[caption id="attachment_256" align="alignnone" width="131" caption="They just need a little fairy dust...and of course, happy thoughts"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_256" align="alignnone" width="131" caption="They just need a little fairy dust...and of course, happy thoughts"]
[/caption]
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Duh...
The other day in class my finance teacher said "demand and supply" and it was so awkward that it hurt my ears. I don't make up the rules...but for some reason everyone says supply and demand. Why in that order? I have no idea! At this point, saying it the other way just seems absurd. As I think about which word should come first...its really just the whole "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" thing. Without demand, there is no reason for supply..and without a supply...well, you end up with the "wishing in one hand and pooping in the other...see which hand fills up first" situation.
This thought lead me to think of other A and B word combinations...where B and A combinations seem crazy. Now some of these make sense and some don't....but either way, I've listed some of my favorite combinations backwards. Feel free to comment with other fun combination. Please remember, we're running a "work safe" blog...so no vulgarity.
ice cream and cake (this is ice cream and cake...not ice cream cake)
female and male
Eve and Adam
cheese and mac
match and mix
pepper and salt
out and in
shine or rain
swim or sink
gentlemen and ladies
This thought lead me to think of other A and B word combinations...where B and A combinations seem crazy. Now some of these make sense and some don't....but either way, I've listed some of my favorite combinations backwards. Feel free to comment with other fun combination. Please remember, we're running a "work safe" blog...so no vulgarity.
ice cream and cake (this is ice cream and cake...not ice cream cake)
female and male
Eve and Adam
cheese and mac
match and mix
pepper and salt
out and in
shine or rain
swim or sink
gentlemen and ladies
LFM application essays
I am way behind on when I said I would write a blog about LFM application essays. Oh well, maybe they will be up for next year's students.
So what advice do I have? First, let me throw out some generalities like...be yourself...use gude grammah and propah spellin...followed by non-relevant pictures that hopefully motivate you
On to the serious stuff. Let me start by saying that these are just my opinions so don't take anything I say as the final or best way to approach the essays. This is just some things that came to mind when I remembered my essays.
How I started: When the essay prompts were posted I wrote each one down and started brainstorming. I had a thirty minute ride to work so I just thought as I drove and wrote down any ideas I had. I would say think about one prompt at a time and maybe write the first sentence or two and some of the main points for your favorite 3 examples that you brainstorm. This will help you get a feel for what your particular example will bring to a prompt.
Once you have some of these examples down on paper, start looking at all of the prompts together and decide which example works best for which essay. I am assuming that you want to use your best example and that your best examples could apply to multiple essay prompts. This is similar to what you do on interviews. You have a couple of key stories and find a way to apply your story to the question you are asked. Anyway, I am on the lower end of the experience pool within the class (I only worked 3 years) but I also had some volunteer/leadership work during that time. Some of my essays came from work and some came from my volunteering/leadership. I think it is a good idea to have some non-work examples. To me, undergrad/school does not count for this...think extracurricular activities when you were in undergrad...and if you do anything outside of work after you graduated, think about that. These non-work examples show how well rounded you are. You are well rounded aren't you? If you find yourself less than round, eat more. See the perfect circle:
[caption id="attachment_225" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Fat Bastard"]
[/caption]
So now you have thought of some of your best examples that answer the prompts...but before your write, there are some other things to think about. When you think about what life examples you use for you essays, you need to think about what does LFM stand for (psst...it stands for Leaders for Manufacturing). You would be on the right track if some of your stories talked about your leadership skills and the challenges you have overcome as a leader. I can't stress enough how important the leadership component is. Honestly, it's in the program name. They (LFM) have a whole page dedicated to it on their website. Let me say this about the sponsor companies...the partner companies stay involved with the LFM program because of the quality of leaders this program produces. They don't put up their cash for our degrees...or because we are smart and hard working (though those are added bonuses)...they put up their cash because of our leadership potential. Leadership is an investment that will pay off for years and years.
The next part, manufacturing. Now yours truly is interested in manufacturing...but MANY of the people in LFM are really interested in operations (think supply chain...though it is not fair to generalize, I'll do it anyway). Checkout the LFM career page for a taste of what I am talking about. It is important to remember that everyone applying for LFM is interested in manufacturing/operations (m&o) so you have to explain what about m&o really gets you excited. That is something you will find here at LFM. Everyone in the program is honestly excited about m&o. I take pride in being associated with manufacturing. Before LFM, I made toilet paper and I am proud of that. I like telling people that I made toilet paper. I am proud of the fact that I made something of value, something that someone wants bad enough to spend their hard earned dollars on (or as my high-school government teacher said...buying something is casting your economic votes for that thing). Back to you and your essays...what motivates you to want to be associated with m&o? Do you want to get involved because you have an interest in companies operating "greener" (hippy! Go hug a tree)? Do you want to ensure that Americans (or some other country) have jobs in 20 years? Love working with complicated systems? What motivates you about m&o? That passion is not something the admissions people will see in your resume, academic record, or GMAT. Passion needs exude out of your essay.
Once you get a first draft down on paper, read your essay and try to think about it from the admission group's point of view. Does your essay stand out? Does it pop? Remember, these people are going through thousands of essays. You want them to remember yours. Each essay needs to have a purpose, it has to be telling a story about you and what makes you special. Each essay needs to show what you will bring to LFM. Let me say that again...each essay must show what YOU bring to LFM...not what LFM can do for you. If one essay shows your problem solving skills, your next essay needs to show your leadership skills, and your next one should show what you are passionate about. Don't double dip on any subject. Between all of the essays, you only have a couple hundred words to define yourself.
The editing process: When you are ready to submit, I would recommend you have someone you trust read your essays for grammatical errors and overall cohesion. My wife came in very handy here. She gooder at grammer than me be.
Word count: I am always reading on business school message boards..."Does it matter if I go over the word count by X?"...my opinion, YES! If the point was to write the longest essay, people would just go on and on and on about all of their magical accomplishments. It takes a skilled writer to say more with less (hence my obnoxiously wordy blogs :-) ). All of my essays were at least 30 words (or much more!) less than the limit. I think you need to go through your essay and really ask yourself...is this word...is this sentence necessary. Am I saying anything new? Don't forget "Shift-F7" which pulls up the thesaurus on Microsoft Word.
[caption id="attachment_231" align="alignnone" width="97" caption="Think abridged"]
[/caption]
Other information: The admissions group really does want to get to know you...they really do read these essays. Don't rely on your credentials...everyone has amazing credentials. It won't be like a business interview where you come in and the interviewer reads your resume in 30 seconds and ask you a question about your interests to break the ice. If you interview at LFM, the admissions person will know your stories from memory and will ask you questions about what you wrote. I remember the first week of class, the teachers would see a name tag and say "Oh X, you worked at Y doing Z right?". Funny thing I heard at an LFM student recruitment committee shortly before the class of 08 graduated. Someone on the LFM staff said that "product ships on X" meaning the LFM class of 2008 graduates and goes out into the world. LFM is in the business of producing leaders (particularly those interested in m&o) and they are very interested in the quality of the raw materials coming in (you!).
So what advice do I have? First, let me throw out some generalities like...be yourself...use gude grammah and propah spellin...followed by non-relevant pictures that hopefully motivate you
On to the serious stuff. Let me start by saying that these are just my opinions so don't take anything I say as the final or best way to approach the essays. This is just some things that came to mind when I remembered my essays.
How I started: When the essay prompts were posted I wrote each one down and started brainstorming. I had a thirty minute ride to work so I just thought as I drove and wrote down any ideas I had. I would say think about one prompt at a time and maybe write the first sentence or two and some of the main points for your favorite 3 examples that you brainstorm. This will help you get a feel for what your particular example will bring to a prompt.
Once you have some of these examples down on paper, start looking at all of the prompts together and decide which example works best for which essay. I am assuming that you want to use your best example and that your best examples could apply to multiple essay prompts. This is similar to what you do on interviews. You have a couple of key stories and find a way to apply your story to the question you are asked. Anyway, I am on the lower end of the experience pool within the class (I only worked 3 years) but I also had some volunteer/leadership work during that time. Some of my essays came from work and some came from my volunteering/leadership. I think it is a good idea to have some non-work examples. To me, undergrad/school does not count for this...think extracurricular activities when you were in undergrad...and if you do anything outside of work after you graduated, think about that. These non-work examples show how well rounded you are. You are well rounded aren't you? If you find yourself less than round, eat more. See the perfect circle:
[caption id="attachment_225" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Fat Bastard"]
[/caption]So now you have thought of some of your best examples that answer the prompts...but before your write, there are some other things to think about. When you think about what life examples you use for you essays, you need to think about what does LFM stand for (psst...it stands for Leaders for Manufacturing). You would be on the right track if some of your stories talked about your leadership skills and the challenges you have overcome as a leader. I can't stress enough how important the leadership component is. Honestly, it's in the program name. They (LFM) have a whole page dedicated to it on their website. Let me say this about the sponsor companies...the partner companies stay involved with the LFM program because of the quality of leaders this program produces. They don't put up their cash for our degrees...or because we are smart and hard working (though those are added bonuses)...they put up their cash because of our leadership potential. Leadership is an investment that will pay off for years and years.
The next part, manufacturing. Now yours truly is interested in manufacturing...but MANY of the people in LFM are really interested in operations (think supply chain...though it is not fair to generalize, I'll do it anyway). Checkout the LFM career page for a taste of what I am talking about. It is important to remember that everyone applying for LFM is interested in manufacturing/operations (m&o) so you have to explain what about m&o really gets you excited. That is something you will find here at LFM. Everyone in the program is honestly excited about m&o. I take pride in being associated with manufacturing. Before LFM, I made toilet paper and I am proud of that. I like telling people that I made toilet paper. I am proud of the fact that I made something of value, something that someone wants bad enough to spend their hard earned dollars on (or as my high-school government teacher said...buying something is casting your economic votes for that thing). Back to you and your essays...what motivates you to want to be associated with m&o? Do you want to get involved because you have an interest in companies operating "greener" (hippy! Go hug a tree)? Do you want to ensure that Americans (or some other country) have jobs in 20 years? Love working with complicated systems? What motivates you about m&o? That passion is not something the admissions people will see in your resume, academic record, or GMAT. Passion needs exude out of your essay.
Once you get a first draft down on paper, read your essay and try to think about it from the admission group's point of view. Does your essay stand out? Does it pop? Remember, these people are going through thousands of essays. You want them to remember yours. Each essay needs to have a purpose, it has to be telling a story about you and what makes you special. Each essay needs to show what you will bring to LFM. Let me say that again...each essay must show what YOU bring to LFM...not what LFM can do for you. If one essay shows your problem solving skills, your next essay needs to show your leadership skills, and your next one should show what you are passionate about. Don't double dip on any subject. Between all of the essays, you only have a couple hundred words to define yourself.
The editing process: When you are ready to submit, I would recommend you have someone you trust read your essays for grammatical errors and overall cohesion. My wife came in very handy here. She gooder at grammer than me be.
Word count: I am always reading on business school message boards..."Does it matter if I go over the word count by X?"...my opinion, YES! If the point was to write the longest essay, people would just go on and on and on about all of their magical accomplishments. It takes a skilled writer to say more with less (hence my obnoxiously wordy blogs :-) ). All of my essays were at least 30 words (or much more!) less than the limit. I think you need to go through your essay and really ask yourself...is this word...is this sentence necessary. Am I saying anything new? Don't forget "Shift-F7" which pulls up the thesaurus on Microsoft Word.
[caption id="attachment_231" align="alignnone" width="97" caption="Think abridged"]
[/caption]Other information: The admissions group really does want to get to know you...they really do read these essays. Don't rely on your credentials...everyone has amazing credentials. It won't be like a business interview where you come in and the interviewer reads your resume in 30 seconds and ask you a question about your interests to break the ice. If you interview at LFM, the admissions person will know your stories from memory and will ask you questions about what you wrote. I remember the first week of class, the teachers would see a name tag and say "Oh X, you worked at Y doing Z right?". Funny thing I heard at an LFM student recruitment committee shortly before the class of 08 graduated. Someone on the LFM staff said that "product ships on X" meaning the LFM class of 2008 graduates and goes out into the world. LFM is in the business of producing leaders (particularly those interested in m&o) and they are very interested in the quality of the raw materials coming in (you!).
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Whaaaa! Cold weather!
I am from Florida so I don't really understand this cold weather. In northern Florida, it may get down to freezing on a handful of nights a year, but by noon the next day it is 65 F or above. I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen flurries and it snows (enough to make the ground white) about once every 100 years. This happened in 1989 and if you ask anyone who lived in Florida in '89...they will remember the year and where they were. It's as big as the moon landing was. I lived at the bottom of the only hill in town (I grew up on an island on the NE coast of Florida so it is relatively flat with one hill that is a whopping 18 feet above sea level) and there were a ton of people who showed up for "sledding". I'll call it "sledding" because people in Florida don't have sleds...so we improvised. My favorite "sled" was the kiddie pool...you know those 5 foot diameter plastic tubs for toddlers that are about 1.5 foot tall? Yeah, a group of guys would pile into one of those kiddie pools and just go until they hit something.
Another fun fact about where I grew up is that they close the schools if it is freezing during the day (doesn't happen often). We don't have snow days...we have cold days. Why do they close the schools? Because the schools don't have a heating system...cause you don't need one.
The point of all this? It's starting to get cold here (just the tip of the iceberg) and my body is very confused. What's is a jacket? How do you put on a scarf? Hopefully someone will help me and any of those from even warmer climates.
Another fun fact about where I grew up is that they close the schools if it is freezing during the day (doesn't happen often). We don't have snow days...we have cold days. Why do they close the schools? Because the schools don't have a heating system...cause you don't need one.
The point of all this? It's starting to get cold here (just the tip of the iceberg) and my body is very confused. What's is a jacket? How do you put on a scarf? Hopefully someone will help me and any of those from even warmer climates.
Midterms came and went
So...it HAS been a while since I last posted. I can't say I'm really sorry for the long gap...well, I could give you one of those little kid apologies when your parents make you tell your sister you're sorry...but you're not sorry, you just want ice cream. Anywho, the week leading up to midterms was very time consuming for me just because a number of things were culminating all at once (LFM hockey registration and domestic plant trek committee meetings)...and after that my busyness led right into midterm week. So for me, midterms were not that bad. I didn't spend too many hours studying, but I have been keeping up with my economics and financial accounting homework, so for me studying was just a bit of review. Some people went insane on the studying, making intricate cheat sheets with tiny writing (financial accounting allowed 1 sheet of paper, econ was not so nice). All I can say is I hope those people got As...cause I did pretty well and the text on my cheat sheet was readable from 3 feet away. The point is, the tests were not that stressful and there was no homework those weeks, so the workload was not THAT bad. Some of the second years had horror stories for us at the beginning of the semester...but I'm not passing on any horror stories. This continues on with the theme that the workload is as bad as you let it be. You can get your schoolwork done and still have time in the day for yourself...or you can take on 100 extra activities and run from one thing to another. The choice is yours.
So after midterms is SIP. So if there is one thing I have absorbed about MIT it is that they LOVE they days off. MIT takes every imaginable holiday off and once a month we get a day off (anti-suicide day..apparently MIT students are stressed). So in the MIT tradition, after mid-terms the Sloan school takes a whole week off. Sure, they give it a fancy name, Sloan Innovation Period (SIP), and sure they require you too attend seminars during the week...but for most people it is just a sweet week of vacation. I know a number of people went on fun exotic trips but yours truly is pretty lame, so I just sat around the house. I did go on a long a strenuous 20 mile hike the first Saturday of the week. A couple of the rugged outdoorsy-type LFMers put together a hike along the Presidential range in New Hampshire and they made the mistake of inviting everyone in LFM (j/k). I have not been hiking in quite some time, so I took them up on their offer. I wont lie, the damn hike was tough for all of us, but I was in the worst shape so I was the "herbie" of the group. Read "The Goal", you'll understand. The hike begins with an 1,100 meter assent and for those of you other non-hikers out there, that is bloody hard. Checkout the elevation profile and path of the hike in the pictures below.
[caption id="attachment_203" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Elevation Profile"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_204" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Hike Path"]
[/caption]
The terrain was very tough (extremely rocky and tough on the knees even on the way down) and to top that off, it was icy on the summits. In the end, I was in such bad shape that we split up into two groups and so that I could bypass some of the out-and back summits...so i did not walk the entire path from the picture. I've attached some of Amy's pretty pictures from the hike.
[caption id="attachment_211" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="We started at 4:30 AM...very dark"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_212" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Here you can see me trying not to throw up while the rest of the group enjoys the light stroll up 1,100 meters"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_213" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Needless to say, it was pretty up there"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_214" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="More pretty"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_215" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Post lunch...and on the way DOWN...I look less like death"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_216" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="A good example of the tough icy rocks"]
[/caption]
Back to SIP week...I did have to go to my engineering classes, but my Engineering load on its own is a light schedule. Quick Fact: LFMers are not required to attend SIP seminars because we still have our engineering classes going on...nice. With the rest of my week I watched a large assortment of movies including, but not limited to, Braveheart, Patton, A Bridge Too Far, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the live action one), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II (the one with Vanilla Ice), 300, Harry Potter 1 - 5 (I cant wait until July 17 2009) , Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and a few more movies that are escaping my memory right now. What an awesome week. I was not sitting around idly during these movies...I was working on my Halloween costume. My costume has become a bit of a tragedy. More to come on this later, but the point is it HAD potential...until things fell apart.
So after midterms is SIP. So if there is one thing I have absorbed about MIT it is that they LOVE they days off. MIT takes every imaginable holiday off and once a month we get a day off (anti-suicide day..apparently MIT students are stressed). So in the MIT tradition, after mid-terms the Sloan school takes a whole week off. Sure, they give it a fancy name, Sloan Innovation Period (SIP), and sure they require you too attend seminars during the week...but for most people it is just a sweet week of vacation. I know a number of people went on fun exotic trips but yours truly is pretty lame, so I just sat around the house. I did go on a long a strenuous 20 mile hike the first Saturday of the week. A couple of the rugged outdoorsy-type LFMers put together a hike along the Presidential range in New Hampshire and they made the mistake of inviting everyone in LFM (j/k). I have not been hiking in quite some time, so I took them up on their offer. I wont lie, the damn hike was tough for all of us, but I was in the worst shape so I was the "herbie" of the group. Read "The Goal", you'll understand. The hike begins with an 1,100 meter assent and for those of you other non-hikers out there, that is bloody hard. Checkout the elevation profile and path of the hike in the pictures below.
[caption id="attachment_203" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Elevation Profile"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_204" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Hike Path"]
[/caption]The terrain was very tough (extremely rocky and tough on the knees even on the way down) and to top that off, it was icy on the summits. In the end, I was in such bad shape that we split up into two groups and so that I could bypass some of the out-and back summits...so i did not walk the entire path from the picture. I've attached some of Amy's pretty pictures from the hike.
[caption id="attachment_211" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="We started at 4:30 AM...very dark"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_212" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Here you can see me trying not to throw up while the rest of the group enjoys the light stroll up 1,100 meters"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_213" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Needless to say, it was pretty up there"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_214" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="More pretty"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_215" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Post lunch...and on the way DOWN...I look less like death"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_216" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="A good example of the tough icy rocks"]
[/caption]Back to SIP week...I did have to go to my engineering classes, but my Engineering load on its own is a light schedule. Quick Fact: LFMers are not required to attend SIP seminars because we still have our engineering classes going on...nice. With the rest of my week I watched a large assortment of movies including, but not limited to, Braveheart, Patton, A Bridge Too Far, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the live action one), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II (the one with Vanilla Ice), 300, Harry Potter 1 - 5 (I cant wait until July 17 2009) , Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and a few more movies that are escaping my memory right now. What an awesome week. I was not sitting around idly during these movies...I was working on my Halloween costume. My costume has become a bit of a tragedy. More to come on this later, but the point is it HAD potential...until things fell apart.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
IM Foosball
So I played on the Sloan Intramural Football team today. My core teammate Chris helped organized the team and he talked me into participating. Originally we were going to have an A and a B team (I am 100% B league) but we went from 30 people to 10 people when it came time to play so now we only have an A team. Overall it was fun, we won, and personally I got my butt kicked. I forgot my cleats today and the grass was a bit wet...but that was only a small portion of my butt kicking. Mostly it was my lack of talent, size, or physical ability. Think Rudy without the heart to captivate America and gross $22,750,363 domestically.
I'm a good team player though and I don't mind riding the pine. There is just no room in football for a small guy who is slow and can't catch. The surprising thing about flag football at MIT is that it IS physical. Flag football at UF is more or less no contact. O-Linemen can get in the way of rushing defensemen, but they have to keep their arms down so really they are just big pylons. AT MIT pretty much anything goes.
Don't get me wrong, it wasn't Necessary Roughness out there (Staring Scott Bakula, Sinbad, and of course Kathy Ireland)...though we were playing iron man football.
Overall we were more or less civil, but who knows what will happen when we play a super competitive team. We might stand a chance though because one of our big guys is a former Navy Seal (super badass) and he more or less looks like the Hulk, we have a speedster who played track at Georgia Tech, and we're lead by a former Army football player.
Again I will reinforce that I was sapposed to be on the B team with the foreigners who have never played football before. Anyway, back to the physicalness, the refs at the games are just players from the team playing before or after you...so they are not really in control of the game. Like I said, who knows what happens when the serious contenders get on the field.
I'm a good team player though and I don't mind riding the pine. There is just no room in football for a small guy who is slow and can't catch. The surprising thing about flag football at MIT is that it IS physical. Flag football at UF is more or less no contact. O-Linemen can get in the way of rushing defensemen, but they have to keep their arms down so really they are just big pylons. AT MIT pretty much anything goes.
Don't get me wrong, it wasn't Necessary Roughness out there (Staring Scott Bakula, Sinbad, and of course Kathy Ireland)...though we were playing iron man football.
Overall we were more or less civil, but who knows what will happen when we play a super competitive team. We might stand a chance though because one of our big guys is a former Navy Seal (super badass) and he more or less looks like the Hulk, we have a speedster who played track at Georgia Tech, and we're lead by a former Army football player.
Again I will reinforce that I was sapposed to be on the B team with the foreigners who have never played football before. Anyway, back to the physicalness, the refs at the games are just players from the team playing before or after you...so they are not really in control of the game. Like I said, who knows what happens when the serious contenders get on the field.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Ghost Busters said "Don't cross the streams"
The LFM class of 09 is back in town for their Mid-Stream Review. This review is a great chance for the returning LFMs to discuss how their internship is going, reconnect with their class, interview with potential companies for post-school jobs, meet the new class of LFMs, etc.
I've learned most of my life lessons from Ghost Busters, so I would like to look at this in Ghost Busters terms.
Background Life Lesson Example 1: Winston tells Ray, "Ray, when someone asks you if you're a god, you say YES!" Obvious life lesson...because if you say no, Gozer tries to kill you.
[caption id="attachment_156" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Gozer is scary. It/He/She turns people into dogs."]
[/caption]
Background Life Lesson Example 2: Ladies love a pimp ride. I give you the Eco 1...need I say more.
[caption id="attachment_143" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Back when they knew how to pimp rides"]
[/caption]
Case at Hand: The 09 LFM class meeting the 10 LFM class...or to keep with the Ghost Busters analogy...crossing the streams.
[caption id="attachment_160" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Note how carefully these two Chost Busters avoid crossing the streams as they attempt to apprehend Slimer"]
[/caption]
The movie Ghost Busters clearly teaches the extreme risk/reward potential of crossing the streams.
The Risk: As described by Egon Spengler, "Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light."
[caption id="attachment_157" align="alignnone" width="127" caption="I'm not sure if this means a nuclear explosion"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_158" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="or a black hole"]
[/caption]
Maybe it is both. Either way, it sounds bad.
The Reward: You might tap into the power required to explode a Destructor who has taken the form of a giant Stay Puft Marshmallow man. The real bonus of taking down a giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is all of the free smores. I estimate that the city of New York got enough marshmallow from this incident to make 341,768,480 smores (assuming of course that they could find 113,922,827 Hershey Bars and 5,340,132 boxes of graham crackers).
[caption id="attachment_159" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Don't worry, I showed my work"]
[/caption]
As for the two LFM classes, we started to mingle this week but our camping trip set for this weekend has been canceled due to rainy weather. This may be a bad sign...only time will tell. The two classes are having a party this Friday and hopefully some type of fun bonding event this Saturday. If you reading this Blog after Sunday...the world did not end...and hopefully someone made smores.
I've learned most of my life lessons from Ghost Busters, so I would like to look at this in Ghost Busters terms.
Background Life Lesson Example 1: Winston tells Ray, "Ray, when someone asks you if you're a god, you say YES!" Obvious life lesson...because if you say no, Gozer tries to kill you.
[caption id="attachment_156" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Gozer is scary. It/He/She turns people into dogs."]
[/caption]Background Life Lesson Example 2: Ladies love a pimp ride. I give you the Eco 1...need I say more.
[caption id="attachment_143" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Back when they knew how to pimp rides"]
[/caption]Case at Hand: The 09 LFM class meeting the 10 LFM class...or to keep with the Ghost Busters analogy...crossing the streams.
[caption id="attachment_160" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Note how carefully these two Chost Busters avoid crossing the streams as they attempt to apprehend Slimer"]
[/caption]The movie Ghost Busters clearly teaches the extreme risk/reward potential of crossing the streams.
The Risk: As described by Egon Spengler, "Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light."
[caption id="attachment_157" align="alignnone" width="127" caption="I'm not sure if this means a nuclear explosion"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_158" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="or a black hole"]
[/caption]Maybe it is both. Either way, it sounds bad.
The Reward: You might tap into the power required to explode a Destructor who has taken the form of a giant Stay Puft Marshmallow man. The real bonus of taking down a giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is all of the free smores. I estimate that the city of New York got enough marshmallow from this incident to make 341,768,480 smores (assuming of course that they could find 113,922,827 Hershey Bars and 5,340,132 boxes of graham crackers).
[caption id="attachment_159" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Don't worry, I showed my work"]
[/caption]As for the two LFM classes, we started to mingle this week but our camping trip set for this weekend has been canceled due to rainy weather. This may be a bad sign...only time will tell. The two classes are having a party this Friday and hopefully some type of fun bonding event this Saturday. If you reading this Blog after Sunday...the world did not end...and hopefully someone made smores.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Let's Play Dress Up
This past Saturday night (after Florida walloped Tennessee) we had an awesome costume party. The theme was G.I. Joes and Barbie Hos. Officially the party was for Orietta's birthday and LFM represented well. I am not very good about reading my emails thoroughly so I did not find out that it was a costume party until a couple of hours before it started...so the wife and I were scrambling. I went as Snake-Eyes.
Here is what Wikipedia has to go say about Snake-Eyes:
"Snake-Eyes is the code name of a member of the G.I. Joe team. Much of his history and information, including his real name, place of birth, as well as most everything else about him, have remained classified throughout all depictions of his origin. All that is known for certain about his military standing is that he holds the rank of U.S. Army Sergeant First Class (E-7) and has undergone Drill Instructor training. He is also the team's resident hand-to-hand combat instructor. Very little else about his past has been revealed."
Basically...I went as a bad ass.
Here is my outfit (keep in mind I had an hour to throw it together): Basic blank pants, black shoes (I wish I had boots!), a long sleeve black t-shirt turned inside out, a black undershirts tied on my head as a ninja mask (see this you-tube clip to understand what I am talking about), black gloves, my ski-goggles, and two guitar hero straps for my military suspenders.
Weapons: I created a knife out of duct tape and cardboard (I have real knives but I did not want to carry them on the T dressed as I was) and I rocked dual Hasbro Nerf N-Strike Maverick Blaster plus additional ammo.
As for the wife, she went as Barbie stewardess. Again, given the limited time I think she did quite well. She had a tray with drinks (she made tips running beer out to everyone and paid for our cab ride home!), snacks, and barf bags.
All-in-all a good night as seen by the additional photos below. All photos were stolen from Becca. Check out her blog!
[caption id="attachment_146" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Lets say this is Duke and obviously I am Snake-Eyes"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_148" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Snake-Eyes and Barbie (she provided the photos, thank her)"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_149" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="The hosts, Erin and Orietta"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_150" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="I don't know if it counts as dress up if you were in the military"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_151" align="alignnone" width="112" caption="Barbie Stewardess"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_152" align="alignnone" width="112" caption="In case you were wondering, the Navy GI Joe was called Shipwreck"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_153" align="alignnone" width="112" caption="I think the German was protesting GI Joe. The whole WWII thing. Disturbing either way."]
[/caption]
Here is what Wikipedia has to go say about Snake-Eyes:
"Snake-Eyes is the code name of a member of the G.I. Joe team. Much of his history and information, including his real name, place of birth, as well as most everything else about him, have remained classified throughout all depictions of his origin. All that is known for certain about his military standing is that he holds the rank of U.S. Army Sergeant First Class (E-7) and has undergone Drill Instructor training. He is also the team's resident hand-to-hand combat instructor. Very little else about his past has been revealed."
Basically...I went as a bad ass.
Here is my outfit (keep in mind I had an hour to throw it together): Basic blank pants, black shoes (I wish I had boots!), a long sleeve black t-shirt turned inside out, a black undershirts tied on my head as a ninja mask (see this you-tube clip to understand what I am talking about), black gloves, my ski-goggles, and two guitar hero straps for my military suspenders.
Weapons: I created a knife out of duct tape and cardboard (I have real knives but I did not want to carry them on the T dressed as I was) and I rocked dual Hasbro Nerf N-Strike Maverick Blaster plus additional ammo.
As for the wife, she went as Barbie stewardess. Again, given the limited time I think she did quite well. She had a tray with drinks (she made tips running beer out to everyone and paid for our cab ride home!), snacks, and barf bags.
All-in-all a good night as seen by the additional photos below. All photos were stolen from Becca. Check out her blog!
[caption id="attachment_146" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Lets say this is Duke and obviously I am Snake-Eyes"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_148" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Snake-Eyes and Barbie (she provided the photos, thank her)"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_149" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="The hosts, Erin and Orietta"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_150" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="I don't know if it counts as dress up if you were in the military"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_151" align="alignnone" width="112" caption="Barbie Stewardess"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_152" align="alignnone" width="112" caption="In case you were wondering, the Navy GI Joe was called Shipwreck"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_153" align="alignnone" width="112" caption="I think the German was protesting GI Joe. The whole WWII thing. Disturbing either way."]
[/caption]
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