OwenBloggers: Ami - MBA '09

Week 1, Year 2

I am officially one week in to my second year and I am reminded of something I heard from last year's second year class (Class of 2008). I was told that although we expect to be less busy as second years, we aren't. We have a less stressful set of classes (hopefully) and definitely a better schedule since the workload shouldn't be as crazy as first semester in year one, but it is a different kind of busy.

This week, I found myself busier than ever and homework wasn't the problem; all of my extracurricular activities had me running around. Don't get me wrong, it is great to be involved and I enjoy it...just wasn't expecting it to be so crazy so fast! I think this is the issue for every second year- you sign up for stuff in year one because you want to make a difference and you think you will have time for it all and then you get to year two and realize you have to learn how to manage your time again!

It is good to be back in school but it is amazing what you forget during the three months off between years. I guess I am back to scheduling my entire life in outlook again! =)

Goodbye Kat Murray...

When I first met Kat Murray, it was at a tailgate at the beginning of the year. I was just starting to learn about Mattel (where she will be working after school).I was so excited to learn as much as I could and she was really awesome about it. As the year went by and I got nervous about the job search and about interviewing I would talk to Kat and I got to know her much better than "some second-year that helped me with interview advice." I found out that Kat is a roller derby rock star and that she is all about getting creative with her hair (not in a strange way, she just gets lots of highlights)! What didn't change is that she is still awesome!

Kat- Good luck in California- you are definitely going to rock it! I hope you have a fabulous time and you will be missed! Who's going to be "the girl that hangs out with all the first-years" anymore?!

xoxo,
Ami

It May Have Only Been One Point But At Least We Got On The Board!

Last weekend I had the opportunity to experience something that can only happen in B-school - the  Duke MBA Games.  Every year Duke invites schools to participate in raising funds for its charity of choice: the Special Olympics. Many schools from the Midwest, East coast and South agree to raise money in exchange to participate in what is essentially a field day in Durham, North Carolina. This year about 12 of us went - six first years and six second years and it was a blast! Not only did we have the chance to get to know each other better, party (some more) together and make fools of  ourselves but  got to meet MBA's from other schools too.

My favorite part of the entire weekend was during the competition when our team realized that, yes, we were down...actually we had no points...but we were not out! It was one of the last competitions of the day - we had been through the briefcase toss, swimming relays in business suits and tug of war (to name a few) and we had nothing. While we are all tired from the day and lack of sleep, every team member was supportive and positive but at the same time we had come to the realization that  if we could get just one point we could get ourselves on the board and even in front of another team!  And that's when it happened: it was on! Although,at first, we were not thoroughly convinced, the team decided we were going to place in the crab-walk relay. We needed four people- two guys,two girls to participate in the race. We had walk-offs for the four spots. We picked our fastest crab-walkers and pumped ourselves up for the big win!!! it was SO exciting - we placed in the first race and qualified the for the second. When the second race was over, we place third and were awarded one point - the victory was sweet and our team acted like we had just won the gold! We were the happiest team in the entire  gym!

So you may ask , "why was this your favorite moment?" The answer is that  I love that my team had such  heart and I love even more that they represent every student at Owen.  That experience reminds me why I love it here at Owen: even when the chips were down, everyone was supportive and when we won we reveled in it together...even though it took it was only four of us who participated, we were a team and we did it together. 

To Thomas, Rachel G., Marissa, Rachel B. , Dan, Dave, Jeff, Lanny, Jane, Chris and Lisa - Thanks for a fabulous weekend - you guys rock!