OwenBloggers: Sharran Srivatsaa

Michael Hyatt, President and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing

It was Monday morning. The colorful leaves on the trees around campus, the crisp air with traces of pollen sparked the occasional sneeze, and the relatively warmer sunlight streaming through the windows somehow put a calm smile on people. I love this time of the year, it is a time that reminds me, humbly, that I am not in charge. It is a time that something greater than me instantly makes me feel like a better person when I wake up and look outside the window.

It was Monday morning, and I walked into Leadership class, found a seat and put my stuff away. We had a guest speaker that day, so I pulled out my Moleskine and got ready. A gentleman, with an aura of confidence and humility, sat across the table from me talking to Professor Dick Daft. When he saw me, he got up, reached his hand out to me and introduced himself. "Mike Hyatt," he said... "I love the Moleskine too!" We talked for a minute about blogs and the moleskine notebooks before class started.

There were a few things that Mike talked about in his presentation on Culture and Leadership that really resonated with me. He talked about the importance of history: learning how the organization was built, understanding the inspiration of the founders, and feeling the culture of the organization. Then he talked about the importance of taking the history, culture, vision, and mission into perspective and building a core set of values. While I have heard many leaders talk about this, I liked how Mike took it a step further... he talked about how it was important to map those values to behavior. While talking about values, Mike said,

"Its not good enough to have a fancy plaque in your lobby, it should be embodied by every single person in every single thing they do... and good leadership is showing how an organization's core values translate into behavior and everyday action."

Another aspect of Mike's presentation that I enjoyed was the spirit of intentionality and its effect on personal development. People in Mike's position are constantly pressed for time... in fact, most of us feel like there is not enough time in the day and we are constantly spinning our wheels trying to get things done. Mike talked about how he intentionally takes a retreat during the month to gather his thoughts and think about his organization and his personal life. For someone who likes to have a packed calendar, I enjoyed the idea of an intentional retreat...even if it is for a couple of hours where I just sit down, observe the world, collect my thoughts, and dream big.

Thank you, Mike, for taking the time to share your story with us.

You can read Mike's blog at: www.michaelhyatt.com

Technorati Tags: michael hyatt,sharran srivatsaa,vanderbilt,mba,owen,ogsm,leadership,daft

Owen Transitions, Part 2: Batman Bruce

I am living proof that business school makes you smarter... that is if you at least take it halfway seriously.

People often say that you go to business school to network and learn the buzzwords... I guess, but the networking and the buzzwords are absolutely useless if you have no idea what you are talking about when you network and use the buzzwords. That's why, as Isaac would say, we need to get our learn on.

Looking back, the core curriculum at Owen is fantastic. I admit...I whined and complained about the material, assignments, professors, and group members from time to time, but it was definitely worth it. Everyone struggles with the core... or at least some part of the core... and now they (we) are better for it.

Batman Bruce taught us core Statistics... this class was a good wake up call for Isaac and me. I remember we spent six hours in the library one Thursday evening over numerous plastic cups of our regular Thursday evening beverage trying to decipher every single component of a one page regression output. I can proudly say that it was the best six hours spent studying anything in Mod 1... and it was probably the reason that I was (personally) able to walk out of the final without any hurting body parts. I also served as Batman Bruce's Teaching Assistant (along with Asif and Isaac) and the Batman is one brilliant bird.

In Mod 3 of my second year, I used one of Batman's regression model lectures to build a pricing model in our New Product Development marketing class. Isaac saw it and said, "Whoa, that is awesome" and I even sent Batman a copy of my paper. I did not care who liked it and who didn't, but I was able to take something that I had learned in core and apply it, without any direction or syllabus-oriented-coercion, to a problem that I was faced with in a completely different scenario... and it worked like a charm.

If you come to Owen, you need to take a class with Batman... He knows all about the rhythm of the samba.

Technorati Tags: cooil,sharran,owenbloggers,srivatsaa,vanderbilt,mba

Owen Transitions, Part 1: Changing of the Guard

With only a few weeks till graduation, this is a time filled with transitions.

I have officially relinquished my position as the President of the Owen Student Government. OwenBloggers' very own Ryan Dix is taking over the reins along with a new executive board comprised of members from the class of 2009. This is a great tradition at Owen because it allows for graduating second years on the Owen Student Government to transition their responsibilities to the new executive board while a whole academic module to spare before graduation. This gives the outgoing board a chance to enjoy their last seven weeks after having served the student body for a year, and at the same time it allows the new board members to get acclimated to their new roles while still having access to the members out the outgoing board for advice and guidance.

This is also the standard operating procedure for the other Owen student clubs and organizations. Isaac, Sam, and I, transitioned the leadership of OwenBloggers to Jared, Colleen, Matt, and Neeraj in early January. Everyone talks about the strong tie that founders have towards the organizations that they have built from the ground up, but my range of emotions were on the other end of the spectrum. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with good friends and take OwenBloggers from an idea to what it is is today... and I am excited for the new leadership team to infuse this community with their new energy, excitement, and ideas, while taking OwenBloggers to new heights.

We are in the process of transitioning Project Pyramid to the next year's leadership team. This upcoming year is going to be an important year for Project Pyramid as it goes into its third year as one of the only student-driven MBA organizations in the world that has a cross-campus mission of using interdisciplinary thought to explore the business responses to the alleviation of global poverty. You can read more about Project Pyramid here and read about the amazing things that they are doing on the Gold Pyramid Blog, right here on OwenBloggers.

The Owen Corporate Ambassador Program (OCAP) has had a very successful first year. The mission of OCAP is to be the student ambassadors to alumni and corporate executives while working with Alumni Relations, Corporate Relations and the Dean's Office. We already have recruited, chosen, and trained five new members of the class of 2009 to serve as Corporate Ambassadors for the next academic year. Through OCAP, I have had the opportunity to travel with Dean Jim Bradford to alumni receptions across the country. host corporate executives and recruiters, connect with alumni, and have coffee with Presidents and CEO's. I am very thankful for the opportunity to be an Owen Corporate Ambassador and to be able to work closely with Sylvia Boyd and Peter Veruki at Owen Corporate Relations. Sylvia and Peter together know almost every single Owen alum, and if they don't, they are actively working towards doing that. My hats off to Sylvia and Peter... being a Corporate Ambassador has been one of the highlights of my Owen experience.

The changing of the guard is a nice way of kicking us out in style. I am enjoying seeing the members of the Class of 2009 take charge of the many initiatives that we recently called "our babies." My extra-curricular and community activities at Owen have tremendously shaped and molded my Owen education... I have pitched ideas over coffee, attempted to save the world, interacted with wonderful people in the Owen administration, and most importantly made some great friends.

The guard might change, but the rhythm of the samba will live on.

Technorati Tags: owen,vanderbilt,mba,owenbloggers,project pyramid,dean bradford,ocap,osga

What are you taking in Mod 3?

 
I saw this during the holidays...

A lot of prospective students (both the ones who visit and the ones who send us emails) have been asking questions about course loads, types of courses, and in general what we are doing in the classroom. Everyone's course load varies based on the other commitments outside the classroom. Most students take at least one lighter module in their first year when it is peak recruiting season for the careers that they are interested in, and the first part of the first year is filled with the core curriculum anyway. 

I have one of my heaviest academic loads this Mod. It just so happens that all the courses that I want to take before I graduate are somehow offered in Mod 3... and I know that I will not have the inspiration to take a very heavy load in Mod 4 when graduation is just around the corner ;-)

1. Equities Markets
   > Professor Nick Bollen
2. Game Theory
   > Professor Mike Shor
3. Developing and Marketing New Products
   > Professor Dawn Iacobucci
4. Derivatives
   > Professor Bob Whaley
5. Project Pyramid: Economic Development and Global Poverty Alleviation
   > Professor Bart Victor

Each class deserves a blog entry of its own but I want to write about the Taxation class that Isaac and I are taking...

Taxation of Business and Investment Transactions
> Professor Bill Henderson

Owen students talk about Corporate Valuation being the most challenging class they take at Owen, I am starting to think otherwise. Taxation is probably the most challenging yet intellectually rewarding course that I have taken in my educational career. Professor Henderson is "old school" and will cold call you until you are blue in the face... which means that you don't dare show up for class unless you are prepared (oh, and if you don't come to class, he will pick on you more the next time... so you are done for either way ;-). Isaac and I just go to class prepared, and it is awesome... Professor Henderson knows the tax laws inside out and does a phenomenal job of giving us real-life examples and bite-sized information so that we can understand the material. The take home final (which is a mini-binder) which he gives you in Week 2 is to prepare an entire tax return (yes, the complicated kind) which on average has taken students about 75 hours to complete in the past. This is a class that I will remember forever, and every Owen alum who has taken it raves about it. I am particularly enjoying this class because it brings a whole new dimension to what I learned last semester in the law school in my Trust and Estate Taxation class.

My favorite part of his syllabus for the class:

What is Expected of You as a Student:

You are expected to perform as a professional -- with dedication, integrity and a commitment to excellence. You are expected to attend all classes; to arrive on time and remain until dismissed; to arrive with all assigned reading and homework problems completed; to participate actively and effectively; and to demand of yourself and your fellow students complete fidelity to OGSM’s Honor System in all aspects of your course work.

Oh, and he means every word.

Bottom Line: This class is not for the faint-hearted and it jives to the rhythm of the samba.

Technorati Tags: sharran,srivatsaa,owen,ogsm,henderson,whaley,tax,mba,nashville,vanderbilt

Chat with a Prospective Student

A prospective student from India and I had been exchanging emails on potential times when we can connect to talk on the phone. It was a little challenging to synchronize schedules so we decided that we would talk over Google Chat as and when possible. We got a chance to catch up and chat today.

She threw some tough questions my way... and those were similar to the questions that I had when I was looking at MBA programs. Here is one of the questions that she asked me... and a summary of my answer:

How are career opportunities at Owen different from those at other schools?

This is a tough question and I can only give my perspective... I am very fortunate. I believe that I got the "best" internship and the "best" full-time job for me. I would have probably gotten the same job if I had ended up at one of the Ivys. US News ranks it as one of the Top 3 most desirable companies to work as an MBA, so I am very grateful.

Now this is what I told her... In my experience, the students who I have seen who have been successful in their job search are the ones that have a story. A story that show where they are coming from, why they are here, and how all of it ties into where they want to go with their post-MBA lives. Recruiters have told me that it is challenging to tell one candidate apart from the other, and having a story that can uniquely identify you and show your fit with the company and the career path makes you a very attractive candidate.

For finance careers on Wall Street, it seems like schools that are away from the Street are at somewhat of a disadvantage. This goes for any school outside the NYC area. I have heard this from many interns this summer and I think we have a challenge just like other schools. But I feel like there are two things that set up apart:

1. Owen has an amazing finance faculty. We have experts in almost every branch of finance and I feel that is one of Owen's biggest Assets. Hans Stoll created the put-call parity. Bob Whaley wrote the textbook on Derivatives. Craig Lewis is a rockstar in valuations. Nick Bollen's research in Hedge Funds has been featured in the Wall Street Journal. Dewey Daane was a Fed Bank Chairman and the last appointment of JFK. Bill Henderson is an authority in taxation. Associate Dean Bill Christie's research changed the way trading happens today on the exchanges. We have new professors who have just joined us who I have yet to take a class with, but they were recruited specifically because of their research and teaching excellence. I recently took a law school class that has a direct impact on my finance learning and I am happy about the opportunity that I had to do that over at the Vandy Law School.

2. We bring NY to you. Rather we take you to New York during Wall Street week. Owen collaborates with its alumni and corporate contacts on Wall Street to setup an entire week for students to visit different companies in the financial world in New York. The Owen alumni around the world play an integral part in supporting the school and in the recruiting. I spoke with about 30 alums before I even had my first interview... and these people take time out of their days to support Owen students. Dean Jim Bradford and Peter Veruki (Director of Corporate Relations) are constantly developing our relationships with companies around the world, and I know this first hand as I serve as Owen's Corporate Ambassador.

Owen also has regular visits from experts who run seminars on valuation, financial modeling, etc. every semester which give students a chance to learn about how exactly things are done on the street and a way to build their skills before they actually get there. The Finance club does a whole program with sector leaders specializing in each of the different areas of finance. These sector leaders help with resume reviews, cover letters, mock interviews etc. The school really goes out of its way to give students career resources and tools. I appreciate that and definitely took advantage of it during my career exploration.

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Whatever. If something sucks, it sucks.

Today one of my colleagues ripped on me, in the presence of numerous other folks, and plainly stated that he/she was ticked off at my lack of support for one of the administrative entities of the school on a particular matter. First, I am glad that this was said... 1. I serve in some official, elected capacities and it is my responsibility to hold up my end of the bargain 2. It takes courage to say "what the heck," especially in public and at the right time... and most importantly 3. It is the right thing to do... if not it would get brushed under the rug and there would be all that harboring-negative-feelings-crap, which I hate.

Then I got to thinking... should I be all PC and support the administrative entities of the school (maybe it be faculty, staff, deans, admissions, career management, library etc.) at all times, no matter what I thought? I think I am blessed with enough common sense to not bash the school... but if I am having a discussion with three friends in the hallway and we talk about how one of the recent projects done by one of the schools administrative entities sucks, well... if I think it sucks, I will say that it sucks. That's the friend and Owen student in me talking. Now what is unacceptable given my role on campus as a member of the student government is that I don't do anything about it... that is wrong. And I try very hard to make sure that never happens. But that is a discussion for another time.

The Owen Student Government is a body has elected officers... elected by the students. The interest and development of the student body is my primary responsibility and I feel very strongly about it. I see it as my right as well as obligation to call a spade a spade... if something sucks, it sucks. Well, I probably shouldn't say that it "sucks," (i.e. I should probably substitute it with another word) but I am going to call it as I see it... and its going to offend a few people in the bargain, but I am sorry that I cannot deal with mediocrity, especially when excellence is clearly within reach.

So how does this quasi-rant help potential students: The Owen culture is not one of accepting what is given to us. We try to challenge it. I try to challenge it. We should challenge it. Change is challenging in an educational institution, and at the very least it takes a whole academic year for a new initiative to get rolled out just because that's the way everything works. But that should not change the way we look at problems and potential solutions. This is a school that embraces change... and is constantly looking for ways to make this place better. That is one of the fundamental reasons why I love Owen. Please...call a spade a spade when you come to visit. Tell us what you like about Owen and also share your ideas that will help us make this a better place to live and learn. For that matter, send us an email right now... to owenbloggers at gmail dot com and tell us what you think. We want to hear from you. If something sucks, we want to know.

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Whatever. If something sucks, it sucks.

Today one of my colleagues ripped on me, in the presence of numerous other folks, and plainly stated that he/she was ticked off at my lack of support for one of the administrative entities of the school on a particular matter. First, I am glad that this was said... 1. I serve in some official, elected capacities and it is my responsibility to hold up my end of the bargain 2. It takes courage to say "what the heck," especially in public and at the right time... and most importantly 3. It is the right thing to do... if not it would get brushed under the rug and there would be all that harboring-negative-feelings-crap, which I hate.

Then I got to thinking... should I be all PC and support the administrative entities of the school (maybe it be faculty, staff, deans, admissions, career management, library etc.) at all times, no matter what I thought? I think I am blessed with enough common sense to not bash the school... but if I am having a discussion with three friends in the hallway and we talk about how one of the recent projects done by one of the schools administrative entities sucks, well... if I think it sucks, I will say that it sucks. That's the friend and Owen student in me talking. Now what is unacceptable given my role on campus as a member of the student government is that I don't do anything about it... that is wrong. And I try very hard to make sure that never happens. But that is a discussion for another time.

The Owen Student Government is a body has elected officers... elected by the students. The interest and development of the student body is my primary responsibility and I feel very strongly about it. I see it as my right as well as obligation to call a spade a spade... if something sucks, it sucks. Well, I probably shouldn't say that it "sucks," (i.e. I should probably substitute it with another word) but I am going to call it as I see it... and its going to offend a few people in the bargain, but I am sorry that I cannot deal with mediocrity, especially when excellence is clearly within reach.

So how does this quasi-rant help potential students: The Owen culture is not one of accepting what is given to us. We try to challenge it. I try to challenge it. We should challenge it. Change is challenging in an educational institution, and at the very least it takes a whole academic year for a new initiative to get rolled out just because that's the way everything works. But that should not change the way we look at problems and potential solutions. This is a school that embraces change... and is constantly looking for ways to make this place better. That is one of the fundamental reasons why I love Owen. Please...call a spade a spade when you come to visit. Tell us what you like about Owen and also share your ideas that will help us make this a better place to live and learn. For that matter, send us an email right now... to owenbloggers at gmail dot com and tell us what you think. We want to hear from you. If something sucks, we want to know.

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Social Impact at Owen

We have many great initiatives at Owen. We are doing some very exciting things to contribute to a greener world. We have a whole new system of low-flush restrooms. The entire building has energy efficient lighting. Isaac and I created the Green Room last year... a printing resource room that has energy efficient printers, recycled paper, full-duplex printing, no cover pages, and handy paper recycling bins. We use recyclable cups at our social events and we got some very cool social event glasses that students are using instead of using the plastic cups. Recycle bins all over the place. Recruiters and companies cannot spam our mailboxes with recruiting flyers. Baby steps.

What I am particularly excited about is the new set of positions we have created as part of the Owen Student Government. We have a first and second year position on the student government executive board that focuses entirely on Social Impact. Daniel and Jeff and doing a wonderful job building a strategy to integrate the students, clubs and organizations, recruiters, and alumni... all using the power and responsibility of Social Impact. These guys just shared the strategy and timeline they have built with me and I am so impressed. The goals for integrating Social Impact into the student government was to have a central clearinghouse and repository for social impact activities related to Owen, to make a formal commitment to recognizing and supporting the impact that we can have on our community, and most importantly to allow the students to be stewards of the community.

Jeff and Daniel, thank you for doing such an amazing job. I am proud of our team and I am excited to see the new initiatives that you are going to roll out over the next six months.

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Forced to Focus

As I sit at the most coveted table at the Starbucks across the street from Owen, listening to some old Matchbox 20, I stare right into the java jacket of my neighbor's Eggnog Chai... deep in thought, more like lost in thought. I realize that I am so darn tired. I still go from 6am to midnight every day... but these last few weeks have been very different. Everything that is on my plate has demanded an extraordinary amount of focus... that is if I want to get through all of it in decent time and still do a good job with every task. My pathological disgust for mediocrity only drives me to focus harder.

But before I lose focus, I want to tell you about a class that demands unwavering focus every single second...Corporate Valuation Management.

Fondly called "Corp Val" and taught by Professor Craig Lewis, it is considered the most demanding class at Owen. A right of passage, if you will. The class is a deep dive into the valuation of companies and is every aspiring Investment Banker's dream and nightmare rolled into one. There are many classes that I have taken at Owen that have had interesting material and/or taught by engaging professors... but you could still find a few minutes during a 90 minute class period to tune out before you needed to tune back in. (Its hard to tune out in T-Love's class because he is always switching it up) You cannot afford to tune out even for a single minute in Corp Val. I am constantly learning, writing, or trying to get un-lost in the class. Craig is such an amazing professor. There is no redundancy or padding in his lectures, everything he says is right on... measured, organized, clear, context-sensitive, and extremely useful. My head hurts after Corp Val because it is 90 minutes of unwavering focus.

The class is amazing. We definitely have an advantage taking it as second years because we have had the core classes, we have had our summer internships and everyone on my team has multiple job offers (i.e. more relaxed than the gunner first-years), we all know each other and are flexible with each other's schedules since we know each others significant others/personalities etc., and we are a lot more efficient than we were a year ago... i.e. we can sit down a bang out the tough parts in an hour or two and then break away to write up the rest of the assignment. We do have a dream team, but sometimes we feel like the Lakers. The class is demanding... the assigned reading is technical, there is a deliverable every class, your understanding of the material better be sound because you can get cold-called, and the lectures demand every ounce of focus you have.

Isaac and I joke about how we would take Corp Val with Craig if it was offered every module. And he is just too nice a guy with an amazing understanding of the material from both a practical and academic perspective. My advice to you if you are an incoming student.... 1. Take Corp Val before you graduate no matter what your concentration is 2. Pick your team wisely and hopefully it is people who you like spending a lot of time with... make sure you have a breadth of talent/skills and one person who definitely knows his/her statistics.  3. Make sure you don't take it during a Mod when you are going to be away multiple weekends 4. Do not take it after lunch!

The rhythm is back...

Technorati tags: sharran, srivatsaa, owenbloggers, owen, mba, vanderbilt, corp val

Best of Nashville

Glenn sent me Nashville Scene's "Best of 2007" ranking...

Best Place to Meet Intelligent Men

1. Vanderbilt University
2. Nashville Public Library
3. Borders (tie)
3. Trivia Time (tie)

Best Place to Meet Intelligent Women

1. Nashville Public Library
2. Vanderbilt University
3. Trivia Time

Check out the full rankings here... I would say for most of the sections I tend to agree!

One of my good friends also sent me a link to the last lecture by Randy Pausch, professor at Carnegie Mellon. Its kinda sad because the guy's days are numbered but he is a great speaker... definitely worth your time.

Technorati tags: sharran, srivatsaa, cmu, nashville

Golf for Business and Life

I spent many years at some of the most beautiful golf and tennis resorts but I never took full advantage of the free golf. Every single time a golfer looks at my Kaplaua shirt, he/she shrieks in excitement... and then proceeds to bang his/her head against the wall when I tell him/her that I only played the Plantation course once in my 2.5 years there.

Vanderbilt runs an awesome class called Golf for Business and Life. The program runs on a group instruction format and we get access to some amazing golf pros who walk us through fundamentals, etiquette etc. I like it because it gives me a chance to get out on the course once a week, to practice at my own speed, and to have personalized instruction from time to time. I particularly enjoy my Tuesday afternoons because the Vanderbilt Legends Golf Course is about a 20 minute drive from campus. I hardly drive my car (well, unless I am visiting N) in Nashville, so this gives me a chance to get away from campus and enjoy the lovely outdoors before it gets too cold to wear a polo shirt.

I was a decent golfer to start off, but just getting out and playing once a week has made me so much more comfortable. I still love tennis... and I am glad N does too. I somehow need to hit a lot more balls per minute... and I am not so fond of the little, white sucker just sitting there staring at you... I prefer whacking yellow fuzz.

Technorati tags: sharran, srivatsaa, owen, ogsm, vanderbilt

Golf for Business and Life

I spent many years at some of the most beautiful golf and tennis resorts but I never took full advantage of the free golf. Every single time a golfer looks at my Kaplaua shirt, he/she shrieks in excitement... and then proceeds to bang his/her head against the wall when I tell him/her that I only played the Plantation course once in my 2.5 years there.

Vanderbilt runs an awesome class called Golf for Business and Life. The program runs on a group instruction format and we get access to some amazing golf pros who walk us through fundamentals, etiquette etc. I like it because it gives me a chance to get out on the course once a week, to practice at my own speed, and to have personalized instruction from time to time. I particularly enjoy my Tuesday afternoons because the Vanderbilt Legends Golf Course is about a 20 minute drive from campus. I hardly drive my car (well, unless I am visiting N) in Nashville, so this gives me a chance to get away from campus and enjoy the lovely outdoors before it gets too cold to wear a polo shirt.

I was a decent golfer to start off, but just getting out and playing once a week has made me so much more comfortable. I still love tennis... and I am glad N does too. I somehow need to hit a lot more balls per minute... and I am not so fond of the little, white sucker just sitting there staring at you... I prefer whacking yellow fuzz.

Technorati tags: sharran, srivatsaa, owen, ogsm, vanderbilt

Dean's house + Faculty chefs = good party

The Owen community not only welcomes new ideas but quickly steps aside and lets the entrepreneurial spirit ride free allowing new clubs and organizations to be born year after year. OwenBloggers and Project Pyramid are two unique ideas that were born in recent years that have had a solid impact. We hear a lot about these two organizations because they have significant portion of external association… i.e. there is a way for people outside the Owen community to connect with them in some way. Today I want to showcase a unique organization that was born at Owen last year… the Owen Culinary Society.

I am going to paraphrase the mission, vision, and values of the Owen Culinary Society (OCS) because its my blog and I can do whatever I want :-) …To bring the community together by exploring the various cuisines of the world. That simple, and that cool. Members and friends of the OCS often pick a theme and cook a great meal… and people show up, eat, drink, and are merry.

The last OCS event was “Dinner with the Dean” where Dean Jim Bradford hosted the dinner at his house and the chefs were Jim, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications Yvonne Martin-Kidd, Professor of Finance Craig Lewis, and Professor of Accounting Richard Willis. The spread included everything from grilled shrimp to flat-iron steak… it was awesome! The greatest part was that after we ate… we packed ourselves to-go-plates. Yum! I particularly enjoyed it because it was held during a weeknight and I got a chance to speak with new first-year MBA students… many of whom have been spending hours on end in the library trying to cope with the heavy workload of Mod 1. Ha, Suckers!

Liz and I were swapping engagement stories :-) Way in the background Jim and Yvonne... right behind me in the white shirt is our very on Jared

Nice job putting the event together, Isha.

Technorati tags: sharran, srivatsaa, owenbloggers, owen, vanderbilt, ocs, bradford, dean, mba, ogsm

Samba goes to Law School

While my most of my fellow business school students (yes Tony, I know you are taking Mergers & Acquisitions) are grooving to the MBA tune, I have ventured across the conceptual divide to take a class at the Vanderbilt Law School. Here are some random thoughts:

1. They don't speak English at the law school.
2. I thought it was a great idea to take a class in Estate and Gift Taxation as it would give me a good foundation to speak with ultra high net-worth clients when I am in the wealth management world post-graduation... but now I have realized why we all need Trust and Estate lawyers
3. I am an avid reader. I have read most of the classics and have finished every book I have picked up except for War and Peace... I am still working on that. I even read text books on compiler construction and android epistemology in college... but nothing comes close to the utter lack of comprehension I experience when I read my law school text book.
4. The law class is harder than all the business school classes I have taken... and for those who think I am slacking this module... take a hike.
5. I am so impressed with the law school faculty. Our professor for the course makes the material so enjoyable... I love going to class because it is a completely different way thinking and teaching. He is a distinguished trust and estate lawyer... he cleverly breaks down the material by filling each part with stories... all while backing it up with the statues.

I wish I had a career counselor who would have advised me to get a JD/MBA. I strongly believe that it arms you with the ability to understand the world from the perspective of an economist while being able to articulate thoughts and ideas based on the lessons that we have learned from years judicial history. Law school provides some much needed conceptual context that most of us in the business school could definitely benefit from.

L to R: Jose, Yujin, Samba, Kat, Markus - and no, the picture has no relevance to this blog entry.  

The samba has definitely lost his rhythm...

Technorati tags: sharran, srivatsaa, vanderbilt, vandy, law school, jd/mba, mba, owen

Greatest Impact: OwenBloggers

Last week I met a few hot-shot, first year MBA students for coffee. One of them asked me the question:

Which organization has had the greatest impact on your experience at Owen?  Which one have you enjoyed the most?

The answer is very easy... OwenBloggers.

I believe that OwenBloggers is one of the coolest things to be born at Owen. OwenBloggers has very special meaning to me as it was something that we thought about and built from the bottom up. I remember how excited I was when Dean Jon Lehman agreed to support the initiative. In hindsight,  I think Isaac, Sam and I would have built some form of OwenBloggers even if Jon had not offered the support from the administration... because we truly believed in the value of bringing transparency to the Owen experience.

I am so proud of what OwenBloggers has evolved into today. More importantly I want to give Isaac Rogers every ounce of credit for taking OwenBloggers to the next level. OwenBloggers is more than just a blogging community... it is a mini-Owen... if you take a step back and look at OwenBloggers, we have almost everything that technology will allow us to have on the site. We have everything from satellite maps of the area to OwenBloggers: The Movie.

OwenBloggers has allowed us to reconnect with long-lost alumni. We have faculty that read our blogs everyday. We have students sharing their international travel experiences. We have a Dean who blogs. We have podcasts, videos, and more. We have students from every single professional program at Owen sharing what it means to be a student here... both inside and outside the classroom. If you cannot make it to 401 21st Ave South, in Nashville, Tennessee... you can get a glimpse of our stressful yet wonderful lives at www.owenbloggers.com

Oh I would have never had my first date with Neeti without OwenBloggers... but that's a story for another time. How's that for the rhythm of the samba?

Future to my back

Today I got ribbed for not posting in a while. Thanks N ;-)

It is amazing how the summer realigned my priorities. After an academic year of packing in my schedule tight and living in my outlook calendar, I took the summer to focus on my internship. The bank blocked out all external email programs and chat software, which kept me glued to my reuters bridge making me a market maniac. (No I could not get on meebo)

 I had high hopes for the summer... I thought I would be able to read for pleasure, get together with my fellow classmates and alumni in the area, lounge by the pool and sip umbrella drinks, and engage in obsessive cell phone use. I did read... although I did not get past page 19 of War and Peace, I did read several whitepapers on Volatility (not the kind that blows stuff up but the kind that tells you that the capital markets are going to blow up). I did get together with classmates and alumni a couple of times. I did not sip any umbrella drinks and I did not lounge by the pool. I did engage in some obsessive cell phone use from time to time though. I worked this summer, and I worked my bottom off. I learned a lot and I felt like I made a decent contribution as well.

It has been good to be back in the work force again. My compulsive nature to be uber productive went on a rampage... and it made everyday fun. The first few days I felt important wearing a suit. The next few weeks it felt like a drag. Towards the end of the summer I started to feel extremely comfortable in it. Here is a story for you...I was flying to the big stinky (NYC) last week and while I was standing in the airport line to check-in for my flight at 615am, I pulled a tie out of my bag... and in my semi-awake state, proceeded to knot it up and slide it into place.

My colleague was watching me intently as he hurriedly sipped his white chocolate mocha... and when I was done tying the tie (in about 30 seconds) he exclaimed, "Dude! How in the world did you do that? You got a perfect knot with a sexy 'lil divot in the corner, perfect length... all in one try, without a mirror and with your eyes closed?"

I guess I am ready to be a banker. Word to the rhythm of the samba.

Technorati Tags: sharran - srivatsaa - owenbloggers - vanderbilt mba - internship

What's in your wallet... er, locker?

Adapting the good things from high school… and the gym, every Owen student gets a locker in the building. It is super convenient and I would recommend using it wisely. I have seen people put shelves etc. in it - which I think is a great idea but turns out to be too much effort for me.

Things that I keep in my locker:

1. Tie and Blazer: I always have a blazer and a tie in my locker. You never know when you will need one… and it has come in handy many times.

2. Fleece: The library and the classrooms can get very cold sometimes… and not only has the fleece helped me but I have even lent it out numerous times. So you are welcome to borrow my fleece if I am not using it ;-)

3. Pillow: Yes I have a mini pillow in my locker. Its great when I can take a power nap in a library room from time to time.

4. Earphones: I like working on the main floor of the library and it is a good idea to have your earphones to drown out the noises so that you can be uber productive.

Some of the other things that I have seen an a locker: shoes, gum, glue, shoes, more shoes, mini ironing board, iron, chopsticks, granola bars, soup cans, umbrellas, beer, tequila (Jose...busted!), textbooks, binders, 3 hole punch, laffy taffy, brawny, wig (yes a wig), socks, a case of red bull, and of course a pink shirt.

If you have the extra czash, I would recommend getting a second AC adapter/charger cable for your laptop. That way you can leave one in school and have one at home. I would highly recommend this if your laptop is not a widely used model… i.e. if it is not the school's standard issue or a mac… because you can always borrow those.

Samba is back in two wzeeks!

What's in your wallet... er, locker?

Adapting the good things from high school… and the gym, every Owen student gets a locker in the building. It is super convenient and I would recommend using it wisely. I have seen people put shelves etc. in it - which I think is a great idea but turns out to be too much effort for me.

Things that I keep in my locker:

1. Tie and Blazer: I always have a blazer and a tie in my locker. You never know when you will need one… and it has come in handy many times.

2. Fleece: The library and the classrooms can get very cold sometimes… and not only has the fleece helped me but I have even lent it out numerous times. So you are welcome to borrow my fleece if I am not using it ;-)

3. Pillow: Yes I have a mini pillow in my locker. Its great when I can take a power nap in a library room from time to time.

4. Earphones: I like working on the main floor of the library and it is a good idea to have your earphones to drown out the noises so that you can be uber productive.

Some of the other things that I have seen an a locker: shoes, gum, glue, shoes, more shoes, mini ironing board, iron, chopsticks, granola bars, soup cans, umbrellas, beer, tequila (Jose...busted!), textbooks, binders, 3 hole punch, laffy taffy, brawny, wig (yes a wig), socks, a case of red bull, and of course a pink shirt.

If you have the extra czash, I would recommend getting a second AC adapter/charger cable for your laptop. That way you can leave one in school and have one at home. I would highly recommend this if your laptop is not a widely used model… i.e. if it is not the school's standard issue or a mac… because you can always borrow those.

Samba is back in two wzeeks!

OwenBloggers Summer Advice: 5 Orientation Fortune Cookies

Hope y'all got to read Tony's post on Orientation Do's and Dont's. I read his post and 20 minutes later I bumped into him at lunch... haven't seen the kid all summer and he works a block away from me. Swayzee.

Orientation is going to have a little different feel that what our class experienced last year. Its going to be a lot more hectic for two simple reasons:

1. Its been cut down from 2 weeks to 1 week (you are welcome)
2. The incoming class is going to have about 50+ more students this year, so get ready!

In light of those two reasons, here are a few Orientation tips:

1. Go to all the sessions: A lot of the students, staff, and faculty have been working on the structure and content of orientation since the beginning of the year. We were ruthless in how we cut out things from the schedule that we thought were not completely useful. I am sure you are going to dislike some sessions…but treat it as your time to get acclimatized… its only a week, we had two.
2. I hate to do this in a public forum but I think this needs to be said… make an effort to interact with your classmates from different cultures. So if you are an international student, make an extra effort to connect with the domestic students… and vice versa. The reason I say this is because most international students arrive 2 weeks early for USBCC/International Student Orientation. Its very easy for everyone to stay in comfortable groups formed from this time…
3. Orientation is the only time when you can randomly walk up to people and say Hi… without feeling awkward. You might be introducing yourself to the same people more than once…especially when you under the enchantment of certain beverages… trust me, it happened to us all.
4. Ask better questions… seriously, I was sick and tired of telling people where I was from and what I used to do before Owen. But please don’t bore your classmates with the same questions… be creative. Stand out. You might not be able to keep everyone’s hometown and prior career straight – but I am sure you will find it easier to remember the more unique traits of your classmates.
5. If you have not quit your job yet – please put in your two weeks now. You are going to be so slammed and it takes a while to get into the rhythm of school. I would try to get settled at least a week before orientation and get into a sleep cycle that you are going to follow when start school. (wake up before 7 and sleep after midnight).

Leave me a comment if you have questions and I will be happy to write about them. I will be around during Orientation, so I look forward to sharing some buckets of samba with you across the street.

OwenBloggers Summer Advice: 5 Orientation Fortune Cookies

Hope y'all got to read Tony's post on Orientation Do's and Dont's. I read his post and 20 minutes later I bumped into him at lunch... haven't seen the kid all summer and he works a block away from me. Swayzee.

Orientation is going to have a little different feel that what our class experienced last year. Its going to be a lot more hectic for two simple reasons:

1. Its been cut down from 2 weeks to 1 week (you are welcome)
2. The incoming class is going to have about 50+ more students this year, so get ready!

In light of those two reasons, here are a few Orientation tips:

1. Go to all the sessions: A lot of the students, staff, and faculty have been working on the structure and content of orientation since the beginning of the year. We were ruthless in how we cut out things from the schedule that we thought were not completely useful. I am sure you are going to dislike some sessions…but treat it as your time to get acclimatized… its only a week, we had two.
2. I hate to do this in a public forum but I think this needs to be said… make an effort to interact with your classmates from different cultures. So if you are an international student, make an extra effort to connect with the domestic students… and vice versa. The reason I say this is because most international students arrive 2 weeks early for USBCC/International Student Orientation. Its very easy for everyone to stay in comfortable groups formed from this time…
3. Orientation is the only time when you can randomly walk up to people and say Hi… without feeling awkward. You might be introducing yourself to the same people more than once…especially when you under the enchantment of certain beverages… trust me, it happened to us all.
4. Ask better questions… seriously, I was sick and tired of telling people where I was from and what I used to do before Owen. But please don’t bore your classmates with the same questions… be creative. Stand out. You might not be able to keep everyone’s hometown and prior career straight – but I am sure you will find it easier to remember the more unique traits of your classmates.
5. If you have not quit your job yet – please put in your two weeks now. You are going to be so slammed and it takes a while to get into the rhythm of school. I would try to get settled at least a week before orientation and get into a sleep cycle that you are going to follow when start school. (wake up before 7 and sleep after midnight).

Leave me a comment if you have questions and I will be happy to write about them. I will be around during Orientation, so I look forward to sharing some buckets of samba with you across the street.

Pursuit of Happiness

I just finished watching The Pursuit of Happiness with Will Smith and I am a ball of mixed emotions. With its close tie into my current career path of choice, the message hit pretty close to home. Set in 1981, the movie talks about how Will Smith is one of twenty hot shots who get into a high flying, non-paying internship program at Dean Witter... and only one of the interns gets a full-time offer. One!

We MBA interns have it easy. When I finished watching the movie, I could not stop to think about whether my summer would be different if that was the kind of program I was in... and I don't know why, but many parts of me wished it was like that.

We are all different and it has taken me all these years to realize that I work best when I am overloaded with work. The more work I have to do, the better I do... I eat better, I am healthier, I am less stressed, and I sleep more... weird. Somehow seeing my Outlook calendar jam-packed gives me a sense of calm... one of my classmates at Owen made fun of me because I had quick meetings scheduled for the 10 minute break between classes. If it works for you, and works for the person you are meeting with, I think anytime is a good time.

Advice for incoming students: Spend the extra time early on building your schedule and putting the effort into being organized and managing your time. Take the time to put things into you outlook calendars. Take the time to file the handouts and the articles in the right binders. Take the time to print off the slides and make notes. The few times during which my organization fell apart, it had a ripple effect into the rest of my life. It was no fun.

Last week at lunch I got some of the best advice that I have ever received. The funny thing is that all of us have gotten this advice at some point in time in our lives, and sometimes the advice is not anything tremendously insightful... it just comes from a person who you trust at a time when you are receptive to it. One of my colleague/mentors told me that the best thing that I can do for myself in this business is to take care of myself physically and emotionally. Physically for the obvious reasons... but emotionally because this business has the highest of highs and the lowest of lows... and if you can go home and walk into a warm and loving family, it would work magic for the mind, body and spirit. It might sound like common sense, but it was something that I needed to hear at this point in my life.

I am feeling the rhythm of the samba....

Technorati tags: owen, owenbloggers, mba, vanderbilt, sharran, srivatsaa

Project Pyramid: She is gonna squirm...

Some background… Project Pyramid is student-led organization born at Owen that explores the alleviation of poverty through sustainable business development. We believe that the poor are extremely capable of lifting themselves out of poverty if they can be given the initial access to certain valuable resources such as capital, education, etc.

 

Project Pyramid drives the concept of interdisciplinary thought and humbly understands that the solutions for the alleviation of poverty will come from all over, not just through business. We believe that it is important for everyone involved in these efforts to have a handle on the underlying economics so that they might be able to blend their knowledge and specialization along with their understanding of the economics at work. For example, a doctor might be interested in building a clinic in a Kenyan village but understanding how to make that clinic an economically viable option for the people and also to make sure the clinic continues to be around for years to come requires some business acumen.

 

Great Sharran, so what?