My Classmates' Blogs!

Hello Hello Again.  I just wanted to introduce you guys to my other classmates and fellow bloggers!  They're some amazing folks and are just starting out their Johnson blogs, so I wanted to support them and introduce them to you!

Just click on their names and you'll be taken to their blogs!  I've also added some information about them - haha they don't know that I'm doing this!

Andrew D. Sickinger, MBA '13
- so Andrew is a great genuine-hearted guy!  He's the first person I had drinks with here at Cornell the day I moved in.  We hung out a lot those first couple of days.  Our bonding moment came when he needed help moving his couch into his apartment.  It wouldn't fit through the door so we decided to CUT THE COUCH IN HALF... then we went to the department store to buy the necessary items to put it back together!  If you don't believe me... look.

Amardeep Virk, MBA '13
- Amar (Amardeep) is full of energy!  I first met him in NYC when I organized a meet up at The Ainsworth.  He was "In Town" from New Zealand and going on a North American continent trip before school started.  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures with him just yet!


Richard Battle-Baxter, MBA '13
- you didn't think that I would leave myself out of the blog promotion did you?


Lindsay Elizabeth Petrovic, MBA '13
- Oh Lindsay!  What can I say about her?  She's full of life and is always smiling!  Her and I bonded during a High Ropes course for one of our leadership classes.  We were, oh I dunno, 30 feet up in the air, facing one another each one a tight rope.  We had to hold hands and begin to walk "out" from one tree, towards two other trees.  But since we were on different tightropes, we kept getting further and further apart.  The hardest part was the beginning because you're so close to the person that you can't really balance yourself.  I will admit that I was quite "scared" lmao.  But she kept me calm, and then as we went out further it got easier.  Here's a picture of us when we got down!

Lynnette Dueñas, MBA '13
- Ah Lynnette.  She's my road dog!  We've been friends since before business school, so there are many many many pictures of us out there.  I've even spoken to you guys about her before.  You can even follow her on Twitter because she tweets for Johnson. Twitter - Lynnette Duenas
Here's a picture of her and I and some other of our classmates at a Wine Vineyard

Never Been Busier!

Business school is a circus act... to say the least!  I remember when I was going through the process and I spoke to a T'10 (Tuckie who graduated in 2010)  - sidenote - Shout out to all my friends who are at Tuck!   Anyway... So I've kept in touch with this Tuckie and I remember she told me that once you get into business school things only accelerate.  When she told me this, I hadn't even been accepted to Johnson at Cornell yet, so I didn't quite understand what she was talking about.

NOW, being on the other side of things, I DEFINITELY understand what she was referring too.  I couldn't really understand what she meant.  I thought to myself "Oh... so you have classes for a couple hours a day.  Then you maybe meet with your core team.  And then you go home and do some work, and repeat the next day."  Then as I learned more about Johnson, I found out that we only have classes three times a week (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday), so then I really thought that it wouldn't be as hectic.  BOY WAS I WRONG!

I am more busy now than I ever was during the application process.  How can one be so busy you ask?  Well think about it this way...  I have three classes, three times a week.  So in the morning I have Economics at 8:40, Marketing at 10:10 and then Accounting at 11:55.  In each class we do a chapter a day.  So unlike in High School or College where you may have taken a couple days, or even a couple weeks to do a chapter, I have to read at least 2 chapters and a case for each class each day.  Now sure, you learn how long each one takes, and how you learn the best.  Some of my classmates don't necessarily read the chapters, because listening to a lecture is how they learn best.  I admit, I get that way for some classes as well.

Oh and our quizzes are in the morning before class.  So tomorrow I have an Accounting quiz at 7:50am.  By tomorrow, I mean in 5 hours and 30 minutes!  Then we have an Econ quiz on Thursday at the same time... then we have an Economics paper due Friday.

But work aside...  then throw in Core team meetings.  These aren't just 2 hour meetings once a week.  Last week we had an S.C. Johnson Case Competition, so my team and I met for about a total of 20 hours.  I have a Core team meeting tomorrow to go over an Accounting paper that is due next week.  We'll probably have to meet at some other point in time this weekend too.

Oh yeah, let's not forget about recruiting.  This is a HUGE time consumer.  Between briefings, coffee chats, breakfast chats and the like.  I've been to a couple briefings thus far and they definitely take up at least 2.5 hours of the day.  Sometimes there will be more than 1 briefing in a day, so imagine how that pans out!  There is some preparation that needs to be done before the briefings as well as afterwards when you have to send thank-you notes.  Also there are usually receptions that follow the briefings.  Just another thing to put on the list of things to do.  Because of the nature of my target industry (High-Tech) I haven't been to nearly as many briefings as some of my Finance/Banking classmates.  Many of them just keep their suits in Sage because they attend so many briefings.

We also can't forget about club meetings and events.  This hasn't really picked up JUST YET, but it's about too very very soon.  The 1st half of the core is almost over for us here at Johnson.  Two more weeks and we'll be starting a whole new set of classes.  I've tried to keep my schedule pretty open regarding clubs because I was warned not to get involved in too many things initially.  I would also like to hold some positions in the clubs that I'm already a part of so I'm being cognizant of that.  The professional clubs such as Marketing Association, Consulting Club... etc...  usually have a standing meeting on Sundays.  So yes, even Sundays are busy days.  We usually spend most of our time in Sage anyway, so what's one more day right?

As I wrap this up for now, I realize that there is a lot more that I've left out, but an important one is socializing!  Cannot forget about that element.  But that will be for another blog post.  I need to force myself to go to sleep right now because my Accounting quiz is creeping up on me.  It is now in 5 hours and 20 minutes!  I do feel prepared because I had a 5 hour study group earlier today!  We'll see how THIS goes!

UNTIL NEXT TIME!

P.S.  - I've been taken up on my offer to review people's essays (regardless of the school) and my offer still stands.  Just email me at richardbattlebaxter@gmail.com.  If you do send me your essays please make them Word files, so I can add my comments.  Just a note - I don't fix grammar, but I will do my best to give a different perspective and pull out the story that you're trying to tell.

Richard Battle-Baxter

Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management

Cornell University

First Johnson Blog Post

Here is a link to my first non-introductory student blog post!  I probably should have updated this blog here sooner, since I posted this earlier this week, but things just got too hectic.

If you want to visit the blog then you can just CLICK HERE, if not... then you're definitely missing out on a key part of the Johnson experience!  ;-)

I'm actually very glad that they've changed my picture.  The other one made me look like I had a one way ticket on the Hot Mess Express!

Officially a Johnson Student Blogger!

I AM OFFICIALLY A JOHNSON STUDENT BLOGGER!  I applied for this back in July and found out in August that I would be a blogger.

Click this hyperlink to go to my school blog - Richard Battle-Baxter - Johnson Blogger

I didn't want to say anything until I made my first post.  It's interesting how things come full circle.  Just last year around this time I made this blog post about Yearning To Be In Business School, and NOW... I AM in business school.  It's not surreal anymore, but I'm grateful I was able to "pull it off" so to speak.  I haven't quite figured out how to move forward with my blog - but it will still be around.  This is definitely NOT goodbye!  I hope you all follow me at my new location!  

MIDTERMS ALREADY!

Hey Readers!  So yeah I know.. I've been MIA!  That's okay though because I've been studying for midterms!  I also had a marketing quiz earlier this week, which went well.  Tomorrow is my Economics Midterm!  Then on Saturday I have my Accounting Midterm.  Then my classmates and I are "CELEBRATING" for getting through this week. 

I'm just going to post a couple of videos and pictures on this blog because I have to get to another blog post tonight that's very important.  I'll be able to make the announcement that I've been waiting to make.  

But in any event, take a look at me studying for this Econ midterm (BELOW), with two of my friends!  Yes you can see an empty box from DP Dough - Calzones, in the background.  This was around.... 10pm and we were there until around 12:30.  

We were definitely NOT the only ones still there.  All of the breakout rooms on the 2nd floor were occupied.  That turned out to be a good thing because whenever we needed help with a question, we would just post on Facebook - "Hey... anyone in Sage know how to do problem X?  I'm in room 2__"  and then within a couple minutes, someone would pop their head in to assist!  That's why that problem is up on the board in the back lol.

When we got bored... this is what we would do!

That's just a day in the life!   

Been Quoted in US NEWS

Hi All!  As I sit here in the library in Sage hall, I wanted to quickly make a post with some links to US NEWS articles that I've been quoted in.

The first one is about LGBT Diversity - (my quote is at the bottom, but it's still a great read!)

Business School Diversity Comes in Many Colors

The second one is about Minority Diversity - 

The M.B.A. Tool Box for Minority Applicants

ENJOY!  I GOTTA GET BACK TO STUDYING ACCOUNTING!  :-) midterm next Saturday!  Yes, can you believe it?  Midterms already!

Application Nostalgia Revisited

Hello Everyone!  So I'm still waiting to be able to make an announcement, but I need to email someone first - which is the reason I haven't blogged much.  Not to mention that time is scarce in business school, so finding time to blog is difficult, hence the reason it's 1:30am and I'm taking a break from reading a marketing case to write this post.

Back in March about a month and a half after I hit SUBMIT on my applications, I wrote this "Remember When... App Nostalgia" blog post and I wanted to revisit it and now give my perspective.

Remember when... we used to make up questions just to have a touch point with admissions officers?

HAHAHA so true!  And now the admissions officers are our friends!  It's nice to see them in their own element.

Remember when... we would look for someone on your gchat list going through the same experience so you could vent?

Now we look for people on our gchat lists to complain about the work or how busy we are.

Remember when... you had no idea what the consortium was?

most people still don't know!

Remember when... going out was more of a task then the GMAT?

all we do now is go out!  always celebrating something!  1st quiz!  2nd quiz!  1st week of classes!  birthdays!  

Remember when... we would stay up all night complaining about writing essays?

still happens!

Remember when... the GMAT was all we cared about?

unspoken rule not to talk about it!

Remember when... we checked the forums minute(ly)?

can barely remember the URL's.  (although that's not true.. i post like once a week in there)  still feel the need to pay forward the application process experience.

Remember when... we would attend every event that our top b-school was hosting in our area.

clearly doesn't happen now... but it's fun being on the other end of it now.  I'm an admissions ambassador for Johnson and will be bringing students to classes with me and hosting information sessions at school!

Remember when... we would catch every grammar mistake that people made as we prepared for Sentence Correction?

still occurs.

Remember when... we had no social life and had to check our friends that complained about never seeing us?

definitely have a social life now, but it's one with new friends.  the old friends are tough to keep up with.

Remember when... no one believed in "holistic approach?

PLEASE BELIEVE IT!

Remember when... your friends would drunk dial you proclaiming that they weren't getting in anywhere?

now friends drunk dial you - "Where are you?"

Remember when... you practiced sentence correction on your iPhone sitting at my desk because I couldn't let anyone at work know I was leaving?

sentence correction?  What's that....

Remember when... CR, DS, SC, and RC meant something to you?

don't mean anything any more... but now there are soooooooo many more acronyms it's ridic.

Remember when... you had to lug around GMAT books?

now it's Marketing, Accounting, Econ, Laptop, and iPad.

Remember when... you thought you might be stuck in this job forever?

job?  what job?  hopefully I'll get a job!

Remember when... we didn't sleep?

sleep?  haha lots of naps going on in bschool

Remember when... we saw each other ever weekend at a different diversity event?

imagine seeing the same people every single day of the week!

Remember when... we drank to ease the anxiety of the application process?

now we drink just because we're all alcoholics

Remember when... we all thought that the Consortium deadline was the day before it actually was?

thanks to (you know who you are) ::side eyes::  <3 you though!  the person is now at Fuqua.

Remember when you thought the GMAT was the only thing that mattered?

definitely is not the only thing!

Remember when... you thought that no one took supplementary math classes an that it wouldn't help?

A.) sooo many people do it.  B.)  it definitely helped!

Remember when you didn't think you would end up on a waitlist?

hey it happens.

Remember when... you calculated the opportunity cost of buying something vs. an extra tutoring session or GMAT book?

managing one's schedule in b-school is all about figuring out the opportunity cost!

Remember when... your friends in b-school reminded you how unenvious of you they were?

just paying it forward now!  i do not envy you applicants now!  but it's worth it.

Remember when... navigating MBA fairs became a science?

now it's going to be navigating career fairs!

Remember when... you cared about rankings?

rankings are important lol and admissions officers do care about them!

Remember when... you were on a first name basis with the admissions officers?

now there's a genuine relationship there!

Remember when... you took the GMAT so many times that you had the school codes memorized?

LMAO

Remember when... YOU GOT THAT ACCEPTANCE CALL and didn't care about all of that hard work?

TRUE STORY!