What are the odds?

I pretty much wear jeans and sneakers to school everyday. It's comfortable, and when it's crappy out, who really wants to get dressed up? Today after OMS, a large group of Sixers were standing in the lobby, bundling up and trying to figure out where we were all going for lunch. Matt J was asking me for some money I owed him, at which point we gave each other the once over. We were both wearing dark jeans, a navy/gray North Face jacket, and to top it all off, kelly green and navy sneakers (similar to those pictured, except mine were Pumas). Honestly, what were the odds?!? I started laughing, attracting the attention of our section-mates. There were lots of requests for cameras, and smart-ass Joe M said: "That doesn't happen by accident, kids!" Seriously, it seems like I'm going to have to make phone calls before dressing in the morning... we wouldn't want any more fashion faux-pas!

A.M. sprint

Right before leaving for class this morning I took Beasley out to do her business. It was still freakin' cold outside, plus I was running a little late, so I was trying to hurry Beasley along. As soon as she finished, I turned to go back to my apartment while Beasley tried to continue along with our stroll. My frozen fingers dropped the leash, and Beasley, immediately recognizing the bid for freedom, sprinted off, investigating the neighborhood. So I took off behind her, huffing and puffing. I finally caught up to her, picked her up, and jogged back to the apartment. By the time I deposited her safely in the kitchen, I was coughing like a former chain smoker and made it to class five minutes late. That Bease is a sly one!

It's frickin' freezing, Mr. Bigglesworth!

How cold is it, you ask? The temperature gauge in my car hit an all-time low... 2 degrees. Other signs that indicate it's completely freezing? The tears on my face caused by the wind freezing up, and poor Beasley moving as fast as a little old lady with a walker. I don't think I have ever seen her move so slow. I felt so bad that as soon as she finished her business, I picked her up and carried her back into the apartment. The poor thing was shaking like a leaf! I think it may be time to invest in a doggy sweater and some booties.

Matt Jung's Rockin' Super Bowl Sunday

After being sick all weekend (fever and sore throat), I finally made it out of my house on Sunday afternoon to watch the Super Bowl at Matt J's house. It was a pretty sad gathering of people, as half of us were either sick, getting sick, or almost over being sick, and some other people were still recovering from the night before. Add in an offensively challenged first half, and it was a pretty comatose group. The food kept us going - Matt J, former professional chef made mac and cheese and pulled pork, while the rest of us brought over chips and some form of dip (salsa! spinach and artichoke! seven-layer! guacamole!). Toss in a drinking game as incentive to pay attention to the game, and things eventually got a bit livelier, culminating in that very awesome last minute drive by the Giants. To cap the evening off, we participated in Rock Band, always a fantastic way to spend time. Somehow I felt progressively worse as the evening went on, until the Meijer Tylenol (Mei-Lynol) kicked in.

Still a pretty low-key group.

The Mei-Lynol hadn't kicked in yet. But some people were enjoying the effects of the Super Bowl Drinking game.

Clearly feeling sick. Who sits down when they should be rocking out?!?

Queen of the Castle

Beasley has been here for about 72 hours, and as you can see, she hasn't hesitated to make herself at home. It's a no-brainer that my bed is pretty comfortable, so when she can, she just hops on. Aside from the first night, when she decided that my pillows would be a good place to sleep, she's been pretty good about making room for me!

MAP FAQ's

After I posted my MAP locale yesterday, I realized that I had never properly explained what MAP is all about. So, here's the 411.

Michigan's business program is all about "Action Based Learning." The idea is that classrooms are great for theory, but there's more to an education than sitting in a lecture hall talking about business cases. During the first three terms of the MBA program you are automatically placed into 9 core classes so you can get a broad, theoretical view of the business world. Once you complete these nine classes (Financial Accounting, Microeconomics, Business Statistics, Corporate Strategy, Corporate Finance, Marketing Management, Human Behavior and Organizations, Managerial Accounting and Operations Management), they figure you are ready to tackle Real World problems. But, much like learning how to ride a bike, our first Real World experience comes with training wheels. And this is where MAP comes in. The Multi-Disciplinary Action Project is the capstone course to our first year in b-school, tying in all our classroom theory ("Multi-Disciplinary") into a consulting project for a company ("Action Project"). Basically, you get the experience, but it's a lower risk environment than a summer internship because you can rely on your team members and faculty for help. MAP was essentially the reason I applied to Michigan to begin with (because it definitely wasn't the weather that made me want to come here!)

At the end of December they sent out a list of all the available projects, which ranged between Domestic vs International, and Corporate vs Nonprofit vs Entrepreneurial. We had 3 weeks to look over the list and rank our top 10 choices (the only stipulations were 1 domestic in your Top 5, and 3 domestic in your Top 10). After all our preferences were entered into a computer, and some overly complex algorithm, involving project preferences, country of origin, section, languages spoken, gender and shoe size (maybe not, but who knows what they include!), split the class of 420 into 90 to 100 teams.

I am excited for my project, which involves creating a strategy for Borders Gift Cards. I'm not sure what exactly we'll be doing, but given that I only found out what project I was on yesterday, that's not surprising. So, while some of my b-school friends are off to far-flung locations such as Spain, Czech Republic, India, California, I will be staying in Ann Arbor for the project (did you guys know that the first Borders store is located on the U of M campus?) At first I was a bit upset, but I did manage to come up with a list of reasons why staying here is going to be a good thing.

1. I get to sleep in my own bed.
2. If/When (knowing me, "when" is definitely the case) things get heated with my group members, we can each retreat to our separate homes.

3. I don’t have to pay for the doggie hotel.
4. When Tatum gives birth, I can drive down at my convenience to see my new niece.
5. I think the project I’m working on is going to be really interesting, because otherwise, I never would have ranked it.
6. If I’m overly ambitious, I can take another class.

All in all, I'm looking forward to the project. But, if any future MBA1s ask for my advice as to how to rank projects? "It doesn't matter how awesome the project is, if you don't want to stay in MI for MAP, don't rank any project in the area in your Top 10."

Where on the MAP?

The projects have been released. Drumroll please.... I'm headed to Ann Arbor, MI! Not exactly exotic, but oh well. We're doing a project for Borders, and that's really all I can say.

In the Cold, Cold Night

The cold weather sucks. When I was in my car today, the temperature gauge read anything between 8 and 15 degrees. And since it's usually reads 3-4 degrees higher than the actual outside temperature, this means I was dealing with anywhere between 4 and 12 degrees. Not factoring in the wind chill.

Since today was definitely NOT a day to be outside, I opted to watch movies for most of the day. First, I watched the end of Blade: Trinity, which I had been watching last night on TNT before I went to sleep (Ryan Reynolds is hot). Then, I watched Man in the Moon on E!, followed by a trip to the movie theater to watch Cloverfield (I REALLY liked it). To wrap up the day, Shari, Nathalie and I headed over to Lene's to eat wings and watch The Lives of Others (a foreign film that I actually liked... shocking!)

It was a much better way to spend my day than studying. Now, if only it were warm!

I'm still here!

Somehow, Winter A started, and I've managed to completely get wrapped up in school. With recruiting ramping up this week, and too many group projects to work on the first weekend of class, I've been pretty busy the last few days. So, a couple of quick updates for you all...

• Classes: With Week One officially in the books, my initial impressions are positive for OMS, MKT and BIT. Cost accounting? Not feeling the love.
• (Wo)man's best friend: In case you haven't been keeping up with the pipeline, I'm getting a dog! I've decided to take in Joe and Tatum's beagle, who doesn't always play well with others (if by others, we're talking about 18 month old babies). So, in about two weeks, they'll be headed up here to drop her off. I'm excited to have a "roommate," but I still need to Beasley-proof my apartment.
• MAPping the future: My MAP choices were due yesterday, and about 90 minutes before the deadline, I finally made my picks. I only chose two international projects, and my domestic choices weren't exactly too exotic (Ann Arbor! Arkansas! Reston, VA! Ohio! Woo!), but I'm pretty excited about my options. Regardless of where I end up, I know it's going to be interesting and challenging. Check back on the 23rd to see where I end up!

Welcome back!

Somehow my three week vacation has come to an end. No more sleeping in and being completely lazy, as Winter A kicks off tomorrow. I'm trying to be productive this term... I'm taking two electives on top of my two core classes. On my plate for the next 6 weeks? Operations management, Cost accounting, Consumer Behavior and Expert-Level Excel. The best news of all is the complete lack of 8am classes!!! Mondays and Wednesdays start at 10:20 am, and Tuesdays and Thursdays don't begin until 12:40pm. Thank goodness for that! Plus, I am lucky that I don't have to deal with the recruiting stress... I can't help but look at my classmates and admire them for all the hard work they're putting in. Best of luck to them in the upcoming weeks!