Stephanie Dozier ’13 | OwenBloggers: Life as an MBA student at Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School

Category Archives: Stephanie Dozier ’13

Learning from the Oracle: Another Perspective from the Warren Buffett Trip

Posted on March 24, 2013 by Stephanie Dozier

I almost didn’t make it. The week of our planned trip to meet with Warren Buffett, a snowstorm went through the northern US. Twelve inches of snow was expected the evening we were supposed to arrive in Omaha, and so everyone in our group of 20 who could got excused from class on Thursday (the final day of Mod 3) to fly out early in the morning instead of late afternoon. However, about ten of us had to do final presentations and were stuck with the original flight plan. On the way to the airport we were anxiously checking flight updates and making contingency plans for flying from Minneapolis to Omaha in the morning if we happened to get stuck there overnight. When we arrived in Minneapolis and our second flight was already boarding, I think it was the first time it really hit us that we were actually getting to do this. We were really going to meet Warren Buffett.

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Posted in Graduate Life, OwenBloggers, Stephanie Dozier '13 | Tagged mba, tips, travel, Warren Buffett | 1 Comment

Cork & Barrel: Wine 101

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Stephanie Dozier

B-school isn’t all about the classes (shocking, I know). You’ll get some great experiences from the extracurricular activities that you join as well. Some of the clubs will help you along in your career or give you leadership skills that will be handy later. Some however, will introduce you to new experiences that you may not have otherwise gotten to take part in.

Cork & Barrel is an Owen club that introduces students and Sig-Os (significant others) to the fun and interesting world of wine, beer, and spirits. We’ve had multiple whiskey tasting classes, trips to nearby breweries and wineries, and C&B recently hosted its second Wine 101 class.

We munched on fruit and cheese as Paul Grand, the Director of Education for Lipman Brothers (Tennessee’s oldest Wine and Spirit Wholesaler), walked us through tastings of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Malbec. Paul taught us about how wine is made and the terminology used to speak about wine knowledgably. So even though most of us still have no clue, we can sound like we know what we’re talking about (you gotta fake it until you make it, right?).

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Posted in Clubs, Graduate Life, OwenBloggers, Stephanie Dozier '13 | Tagged business school, clubs, mba, owenbloggers, vanderbilt | Leave a comment

Thanksgiving: Owen Style

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Stephanie Dozier

Ah Thanksgiving… the start of an entire season of fun with friends and family (and a break from class!). Before we all took off to parts near and far in celebration of Turkey Day, the Owen Culinary Society hosted its own Thanksgiving Dinner, inviting the members of Owen Bridges (Owen’s group that pairs international students with domestic students to help introduce them to US culture) so they could experience their own traditional Thanksgiving meal, Southern-style. OCS members each brought a dish or two to represent their favorite T-Day foods. Being a very heavily Southern group, you can be sure that many of us were facing food comas afterwards.

Patrick (who, along with his wife, was kind enough to let us crash his house for the event) pulled out the deep fryers so we could all try fried turkey. That was a first for me, and something I’m glad I got to experience – I’ll definitely be “casually” suggesting that to friends for future Thanksgivings.

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Posted in Graduate Life, Lifestyle, OwenBloggers, Stephanie Dozier '13 | Tagged international students, Thanksgiving | Leave a comment

A Day in the Life of a Second Year MBA Marketing Student

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Stephanie Dozier

Thursday

7:00am: Wake Up (significantly later than on M/W, when I have an 8am class)

7:45am: Do the dishes, eat breakfast and drink my coffee while checking my email and my to-do list for the day. Read the news. Look at LinkedIn, and notice a change to LinkedIn profiles – email Anne Marie (our resident LinkedIn expert) to ask her opinion on the change.

8:30am: Head to school. Do research for my Pricing team presentation. We’re presenting on the topic of Luxury Apparel and the pricing strategies that are employed in that industry.

9:40am: Pricing Strategies Class. There’s a student team presentation on Dynamic Restaurant pricing, followed by discussion. Afterwards, there is a guest speaker on conjoint analysis related to pricing, and a discussion on how Apple determined its price for the new iPad Mini (definitely not through conjoint).

11:10am: Grab a snack downstairs from the Mapco 810 Café

11:20am: Strategic Alignment of Human Capital Class. Discussion on different frameworks for Strategic HR and how they relate to a case we had just read.

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