ALL POSTS BY: Alex Tellez

As the title says, this will be my final post of my MSF 2008 career – a career which ended last Monday at 1pm to be exact. It’s amazing that time went so fast but here I am, done with my collegiate career (getting an MBA is still unclear at this point) at 23.

I’ll be leaving behind a lot of good friends but I made them all a promise that I would come back and see them graduate assuming I get some time off. I can safely say that the MSF certainly prepares you to be a quantitative analyst. Through this program I was able to take classes such as VBA programming, Derivatives Securities and Corporate Valuation. Prior to entering Owen I worked as an Equity Research Analyst for a mutual fund. They had their own proprietary model in which the analyst simply puts in the inputs. Now, with my skills I’ve attained here, I feel that I can create that model, Macros and all. I know what the inputs mean and feel I can make more sense of the result. For that, I am very grateful to my teachers and my peers for their patience with me as I learned.

As the title says, this post concerns my favorite place to chill on campus, key word: campus.
I should start by saying that I do my best studying when both of my feet are up, usually in a slouched position. I know it doesn’t sound conducive to studying effectively but that’s just how I roll you know what I’m saying. I also don’t study well in libraries, the stress levels are usually in excess of my golf score (high hundreds) and I find it to be contagious (your stress + someone else’s stress = 2 * stress exposure).

That said, my favorite place to study on campus is the language lab located in Furman Hall. The language lab is located in the basement. From Owen, Furman is a 3 minute walk (and that’s with my slow pace!). It’s really nice because you can wear their language headphones which block out any noise (not many people go there anyways though). There is ample seating so feel free to make make-shift footstands/footrests and things of that sort. I know it well because I did must of my studying for Owen classes and Japanese there. The lab stocks close to 40 computers that have everything the average MBA student needs plus more. One thing, you must use your Vanderbilt ID as your Owen one is no good there.

Yep, it’s true, it’s true, Darren McFadden (aka Run DMC) has been selected by the Oakland Raiders. To all other AFC west teams, you’ve got to be nervous at this point. The raiders have a qb (JaMarcus ‘the Messiah’ Russel) whose bigger than your linebacking corp (he’s 6’8″, 275) and now the explosive playmaker that is Mr. McFadden. In fact, they are beginning to sell RUN DMC shirts at Oakland Raiders shops! An awesome draft, despite we only had one pick. Oh yeah, I’m supposed to talk about my favorite memory of studying right? I leave you with this quote by an NFL that was PRIOR to McFadden running his 4.33 40-time.

Scout 1: “What is that up there, a bird?”
Scout 2: “No that’s Darren McFadden running stairs before his 40-time”

Like many second-years, today will be my last day of classes EVER at the Owen School. Crazy just to write that sentence. But, as the title of the post says this is about my favorite place to study and as such let me start by saying I dislike studying at the Owen Library. True, its close to campus, but there are so many other places that are also good study spots outside of Owen that are apart of the Vanderbilt Campus.

My favorite place is located in Peabody Campus (5 minute walk from Owen) and it is the newest building built. It is called ‘Commons’. They have the following amenities:
A Gym
Copy Centers
Many Computers
A huge dining hall that you can use Vandy Card or Cash
It’s open 24 hours
Spacious couches
2 Plasma TV’s to watch NBA
2 Foosball tables
2 Pool Tables
…and finally, you get to see the Peabody campus which is truly beautiful now that Spring has arrived. Very close to ‘Commons’ is the Peabody Library. There you will realize that:
No need to reserve study rooms,
Can use computers without logging in,
It opens earlier than Owen Library (7am) and closes later than owen (2am), Monday thru Thursday.
It’s very very very spacious.

It’s amazing that I even wrote that title! 2 weeks left and then I’m done.  I can’t really begin to describe the expereince in one post, two post, hell, even 20 posts.  So much has happened in such a short period of time that it’s kind of overwhelming to think about it.  I’ve been asking myself a lot of questions such as whether or not to return to get an MBA and the short answer is: not any time soon.  That doesn’t mean I won’t rule it out, but as I see it, I need more experience.  Many of my MBA friends come from various backgrounds and have been out in the working world for quite some time and thus, getting an MBA has some specific premise behind it. 

Consider this: last year this time, I was finishing my thesis at Brown.  For me, it’s just been school, school and school, straight shot.  I think for many of my fellow MSF’s, this is what has happened.  A lot of us just went straight out of undergrad.  I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but the feeling of finishing up at Owen may be different than it would be for a second-year MBA.