Jump Start

At moment, I'm having a soy latte and bagel in Cafe Allegro. This coffeeshop opened its doors in 1975; it was one of Seattle's first espresso bars. Great place. I remember studying here back in the early 90's. The only thing that's changed in here since then is now everyone, including me, is clicking away on laptops.

I just finished an exam that covered the introductory topics we learned about over the past week: general accounting concepts, statistics, and Excel tips. I'm here in Allegro for a few hours until I head back to campus to give a short persuasive speech. I'll be posing as a CEO of a hospital who is presenting an argument for a new service to the board of directors. The speech will be videotaped and critiqued. No pressure there! ;)

The past week, known as Jump Start, was a way to ease us into the MBA program. The class sessions have been low-key overviews of what we'll studying in depth over the next few months. Many of my classmates haven't been in a classroom setting for years; for them, it's been a helpful way to get back into the student mindset. Myself, I've appreciated the overview of topics. I was already familiar with most of the accounting material (it helps to have a girlfriend with uber-accounting know-how), but it was good to get a memory refresher. And I'd never actually learned how to calculate present value before; I learned that this is a snap to do with Excel.

I've been enjoying getting to know my fellow students. I've already started having fun geeky conversations with them about open-source software, science and business, and the like. I can tell I'm going to learn a lot from them.

All in all, a good first week. It's good to be back in school full-time!

Tags: MBA business school