I survived the first two months

It’s been two months. Two months!

Picture me two and half months ago: an accomplished professional, a well-paid job, a fulfilling social life, my morning cappuccino and newspaper at Sant’Ambroeus, my Saturday stroll through high fashion shops. I was deep down in my sofa, and it was oh-so-comfortable.

And here is a picture of me now: 11 pm, still discussing cases in my learning team, my hair unkempt, a dinner based on food scavenged from company briefings (‘I think there is some Deutsche Bank cheese in the neighborhood of classroom 130’), and, icing on the cake, 25-years old (yes, the same people that at my job would do the dirty work) lecturing me on the secrets of spreadsheet building. Trust me, it is very scary.

I still have that moment every day, when I think ‘what the heck am I doing here’ and asking that question forces me to answer other questions. What have I learned? And what has helped me survive? Because if there is one thing you learn after two months in the US and at Darden, is that you have resources you didn’t even know existed.
1. At Darden, if you think it’s not important, you are probably wrong. Preparing for courses, going to company briefings, ‘office hours’ & cocktails (gosh, don’t those people have to work? Is it because Wall Street is collapsing?), being on time, getting to know more people than you ever imagined, participating to an ‘innovation challenge’, doing a new uncomfortable thing every day, all that is important, and the possibilities are endless.
2. Engagement. Darden is all about engagement, and, alas, never about quietly watching. Sounds like a clever concept for an MBA brochure: hello Case Method, goodbye boring lectures, hello learning team, goodbye individual study. But it is immensely tiring. You are always expected to prepare, collaborate, discuss, carry your point of view forward. And after a whil that expectation becomes you and you become the infectious carrier of a chronically collaborative culture.
3. Stretch, stretch, stretch. Nothing is really what is seems at first glance, here. Take your pre-conceptions and throw them out of the window, because they are useless – just another painful activity. Some examples? You can learn from a 25 year old. And that quiet classmate is probably a genius.
4. And finally, though it may seem like a contradiction, at some point, after two months of engaging, stretching, learning, you have to set your priorities. So maybe you won’t be completely prepared. Maybe you will have skipped exhibit 2 of the last Operations case. And maybe you’ll have to pass on that company cocktail (which may actually be a sensible idea: do you really want to work for a company that holds a reception at ‘Buffalo Wild Wings’?!)…

So a lot of stuff still drives me nuts but, hey, I am growing up here, I am learning and I am (almost) enjoying it.