Summer Outlook

Santa Monica Beach

"Out the door just in time, head down the 405, gotta meet the new boss by 8 am... Well, I know what I've been told, you gotta work to feed the soul, but I can't do this all on my own, no I know, I'm no Superman." - Lazlo Bane, Superman (aka the theme song from Scrubs)

Yesterday was the first day of my summer internship and when I met the new boss at 8 am, he told me he would be out for the rest of the day.  He gave me a quick overview of some stocks he was thinking about and showed me some printouts, and then ushered me on to meet with HR and Compliance to go through fun administrative stuff.  Since Mark (the portfolio manager) and I are the only two that work on this specific fund at Dalton, there wasn't anyone else in the office to give me work to do, so needless to say it was a very easy going first day.  Day Two was probably a little more typical.  Mark and I share an office and he loves to talk about stocks, and his philosophies and strategies all day long.  He talks really fast and right now he seems to be way over my head and I find myself nodding and smiling a lot and trying my best not to sound like a clueless intern.  I'm sure eventually it'll click, but right now I'm just trying to keep up with the conversation, let alone do actual work.

Although my main goal for the summer is to do a really awesome job at the internship (dedicate myself, make a good impression, and learn a ton, blah blah blah), there's been a list of other things I want to do. Over the past few weeks, especially after I heard I'd be done with work for the day by 3ish, I've thought of a ton of other things that I want to get done. Things like spending more time exercising, reading, hiking, exploring LA, going to the beach, playing guitar again, catching up on tv/movies, or even trying out some new hobbies (more surfing perhaps?).  I think just because free time was at such a premium the past 9 months during the school year, I seem to think that working 40-50 hour weeks is like a vacation.  I'll find out pretty quickly that isn't true, and I'm not going to be able to do a lot of those things I mentioned with any regularity.  But hopefully once I get my work routine down, I'll get to some of the fun stuff and have a relaxing, but still varied and fun summer.

So far its off to a good start, in my one week in between classes and the internship.  I went to our Section A rooftop party (a little too much fun), the beach, Universal Studios, a random Anderson party, the movies, Man Dinner at Spago (where Flava Flav was two tables away), Reich's new apartment, and had a really fun birthday celebration. (I also just recovered from a weekend of food poisoning, so I guess it hasn't all been perfect).

One little curveball with some of my plans the rest of the way though is that almost all of my hangout crew from the past couple quarters have scattered throughout the country for internships, so I'll probably have to branch out who I spend my time with.  That could end up being fun actually, and I'll probably try to see Reich a little bit more too.  As of now I don't have any huge summer travel/vacation plans, but I do have a confirmed visit from Evan at the end of July, a potential upcoming visit from Hal, and I will be heading to NY and PA for several days over 4th of July weekend to see family and celebrate Lindsay's wedding.  I'd also love to get up to San Francisco at some point this summer since I know a lot of people interning up there, I've never been, and it's on my To-Do list before I leave the west coast permanently.

Post-Finals Section A Rooftop Party

Following my mini-vacation between school and job last week, the start of the "real" part of the summer now reminds me a bit of the start of the school year last September.  It's a new beginning where I feel I have to make a good impression and prove myself again.  My social scene is going to be a little undefined.  I'm moving into a new apartment.  And I have a long list of things I want to get done, but not sure where I'm gonna fit it all in.  I think that makes it all pretty exciting, and right now I'm looking forward to the challenge and seeing what comes from the next three months.

Spring Quarter Recap

Section A Happy Hour at the Huntley Hotel Penthouse in Santa Monica

Just finished up my last two finals of the quarter today, which, aside from the group paper that I'll need to help finalize this weekend, signifies the end of the quarter and of my first full year as an MBA student.  I'll use this post to recap the spring quarter, and do a full-year reflection at a later time.

The classes again were a mixed bag.  8 am Strategy class was probably my least favorite of the year, but Organizational Behavior was definitely one of my favorite (entertaining professor, heavy on psychology, and a lot of in-class simulations and interactive activities).  I also took my first two electives: an excel modeling class (Decision Analysis) and Global Macroeconomics.

In the Student Investment Fund, we have moved from the research side to actually having the power to invest the $2 million portfolio how we see fit.  My role as one of the founding board members of the new school organization the Anderson Investment Association (AIA), which will be open for enrollment in the fall, has been pretty time intensive so far.  We're trying to coordinate some big, national events (a stock pitch competition and an investment conference, are our two biggest ideas).  To get it off the ground and make sure it's first year is a success a lot of planning has been necessary, and will continue into next year. 

As a quick follow-up to the Ghana Trip, in a previous post I had mentioned that we would be flying to Denver to meet with possible donors to pitch our business plan.  Supposedly we're still going to do this, but there has been difficulty with scheduling all the investors at once, so it's been postponed until the summer right now. 

So overall the interviewing and recruiting process definitely stands out the most from the past few months, but looking back I realize that I did a decent amount during the spring quarter, and it's been a fun couple of months.  For one, I felt a little more connected to a default group of classmates who have become my normal hang-out crew this quarter.  I felt that was missing a little bit in my first several months in LA as my social schedule was a little more scattered.  Not that one way is necessarily better or worse, but throughout my life (whether it was in NY, college, or at Cambridge) I've always been used to having the smaller, closer group of friends, rather than a larger, but less strong circle of friends.  Some of the social highlights of the quarter:

- My first Dodgers game
- First golf experiences in LA (two trips to driving range, and one 8-man, 9 hole round in Huntington Beach)
- Bunch of outdoorsy stuff.  Went on two hikes (Sandstone Peak, and Pacific Palisades - link to pictures below) and hung out at Griffith Observatory (we saw Saturn through their mega-telescope) with one of my friends from the Ghana trip.
- Attended my first Passover Seder, emceed brilliantly by Mr. Adam Reich
- West Hollywood BBQ/party
- Trip to Arcadia for Taiwanese food and bowling
- Meeting up with former UMD roomie, Adam Storch for mini golf
- Bunch of Anderson events (fashion show, cabaret, IFA mixer, international food festival, Section A happy hour, etc)
- Trip to casino in downtown LA
- Trip to San Diego with SIF to visit companies
- SIF Annual Alumni Banquet
- Volunteered for A-Days (admitted students weekend) at the career fair and a couple of panel discussions about the finance program at Anderson and some of the new initiatives we're trying to start up with the AIA

One final big social event is on deck for this quarter, our quarterly Section A post-finals party.  It's especially significant this quarter because since we've completed all our core courses now, Section A as a group of classmates will be a thing of the past.  Also, with much of our classmates scattering for internships throughout the world over the summer, and then many people studying abroad in the fall quarter, this is the last time we will all be together for a long time.  Should be a fun celebration.

Sandstone Peak Hike
(I have pictures from the other hike too, but they're not posted yet)