Midterm Slump

My brain doesn't want to cooperate at the moment.  While I should be studying for the 4 midterm exams I have in the first 3 days of this coming week, I can't stop doing research for jobs and going down the rabbit hole that is the internet.  I think it's because I overdid it this week with no sleep and lots of activities (and Starbucks DoubleShots) and now just want to do nothing.  As another form of procrastination before I start my only take-home midterm, I give you an update on life (or at least the last week).

Working backwards, here are some highlights:

• Last night I went to this really interesting opening night for a joint venture between Ci3 and Game Changer Chicago Design Lab called Play as Inquiry.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but it ended up being a really fun night of playing games and solving puzzles with strangers.  I'm still not sure what the event had to do with Ci3's mission, but the event was really effective at getting people to do weird things in order to get to a solution.

• Earlier that evening, I went to a celebration for Harry Davis and his 50 year tenure at Booth.  He created the leadership class which is the single required course for all Booth students, which was a fabulous class.  I'm hoping to take his strategy lab course in the Spring if I'm not participating in the New Venture Challenge.  At the event, I met an alumna who was interested in design and ended up as a product manager.  It's always fun to meet someone with similar interests since design is not a very common path for Booth grads.

• Wednesday evening was really busy.  I met up with some former colleagues who are still working on the Chicago project I left in May.  They brought along a couple of the clients who ended up talking shop the entire time, but I left with a promise of future drinks with fewer people.  Either way, it was good to get a brief catch up with people outside of my little bubble.

• After drinks, I went to some second-years' apartment for dinner.  The Graduate Business Council is trying to facilitate interactions between first- and second-years since there aren't that many opportunities for interaction outside of recruiting help.  It was great to meet new people and see an awesome apartment in the more southern Loop

• And lastly, FARBZ WAS IN TOWN ALL LAST WEEKEND!  It was so fun to spend the weekend doing a mix of touristy and quintessential b-school things with her.  We wandered a lot, drank a lot of Intelligentsia, went to the zoo, ate a lot of Chicago food (Giordano's, Wildberry, Big Star, Eggy's - she now understands the obesity problem in America...), and partied like grad students.

Alright, ready to get to work on this midterm...

Love,

The Chicagtonian

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Overcommitment

This week, I spread myself too thin.  I'm really excited about everything on my plate, but people are right when they say that you can't do everything you want to in business school.  Things that are currently very exciting and also very tiring:

• The prospect of co-founding a startup!  My friend Aubs and I are exploring creating what I think would be a really cool app for music lovers.  More details to come if/when exploration shifts towards realization.
• Recruiting off-campus.  While all of the future bankers and management consultants are swamped with multiple recruiting events per day and are tired, I'm also exhausted from trying to forge my own path and network my way to an internship.  The hustle is only beginning.
• Schoolwork.  I actually enjoy my classes and professors, but I spent almost 7 hours working with my various study groups just today.
• Awesome club events and training.  I've been attending startup academy trainings and other club speaker events.  The trainings are perfect because they're helping Aubs and me figure out what we should be doing.
• Competition and program information sessions.  There are so many cool things to get involved in.  I just started participating in the MBA Impact Investing Network and Training Program (MIINT).  My team is competing with other Booth teams (and hopefully teams at other schools) to identify the best investment in a social enterprise.

I realized things were starting to fall apart last night.  I fell asleep reading and woke up again at 1:30 am.  I could get back to sleep, so I worked on some problem sets until 4:30 when I was able to get back to sleep.  I missed the Metra to school, so I had to cab it in order to make my first group meeting.  And then, while going through my emails tonight, I realized that a couple of emails I hadn't read fully when they came through last week included deliverables that are due tomorrow (today).  Luckily I caught them, so it's really not that bad, but I need to be way better at staying on top of my emails and calendar.

Part of the craziness this week is in anticipation of the lovely Farbz coming to visit for the weekend!  In honor of her first ever visit to Chicago, I want to be schoolwork-free so we can enjoy the weekend.  Some potential activities on tap:

• Wander Millennium Park (not difficult, I live literally across the street)
• Architectural Boat Tour (if it's not too cold)
• Half Acre Brewery Tour
• Eat Hot Doug's
• Eat Chicago-style Pizza
• Go Crazy at the Belgian Halloween Party
• Race Turtles
• Visit Campus (mostly because I need to drop off papers...)

I can't wait to have some general lady hangs as well and just catch up on the DC goings-on.  Even though I still find time to read DCist, I've been terrible at keeping up with what people I actually know are doing.

And, I'm off to bed to prepare for the craziness of a new day.

Love,

The Chicagtonian

I Got Stuck in the B-School Bubble

So, I had envisioned writing a blog post every week of my time in business school, but then classes started.  I either had forgotten how little time I had in college or this is significantly more time intensive. Between 4 classes, the study group meetings, club meetings/events, and preparing for recruiting/soul searching, it's really hard to keep up.

This is what my calendar looks like every week.  Yikes!

I had all of these fabulous ideas for hard-hitting blog posts, like women in business, which was spurred by all of those articles about HBS going around and this article that was posted on Jezebel (I still can't tell whether this is supposed to be satire or not...).

Instead, I spent approximately 10 hours working on a problem set for my microeconomics class, which I love and hate at the same time.  My professor won a MacArthur Foundation genius grant and is a really engaging lecturer, however his problem sets and exams are on a different level and have very little to do with what we actually learn in class.  We haven't gotten our first problem set back, but I'm legitimately worried that I might fail this class despite having been an econ major in college.  However, everything in school is graded on a curve, so I just need to get more questions right than 50% of my classmates and I'll be golden.

This article in TRN Magazine pretty much sums up what I've learned in the first 6 weeks of being on Campus:

1. It is not a golden ticket -- I still have so much I need to do on my own to make sure I get the most out of my 2 years here and position myself for the best possible career.  I'm not going to magically become a design thinking guru or a partner at a venture capital firm without doing some work to get experience on the side.
2. Loved ones will become calendar entries -- Oh god.  I have to schedule google hangout sessions with people I used to speak with daily or at least several times a week.  This makes me so sad because I promised myself I would be better at keeping in touch.
3. You are your biggest cheerleader -- It's easy to think that I don't belong here with all of these other impressive people.  In order to get what you want, you have to be your own biggest advocate.  No one will do this for you (although there are lots of people and resources who will help along the way).
4. It's ok to not know what to do -- The overarching theme of conversations during admit weekend and orientation was "I wrote my essays about [this], but I might want to do... (insert x, y, z possible careers)."  While some people are dead set on investment banking or management consulting, the rest of us are figuring it out one step at a time, and that's totally normal.  I have plans A, B, and C (and now D as of a very exciting lunchtime conversation - news for another post).
5. It's worth it -- I'm having so much fun!  For as much stress and lack of sleep I'm enduring, I'm so happy I gave up a steady paycheck at a job I didn't completely hate to do this for 2 years.  The people are amazing, I have so much more clarity on what I want to do with my life, I'm dating a ton (which I never did while I was working, thanks 5-day-a-week travel schedule), and I'm loving exploring a new city!

In other news, I can't wait for next weekend.  Farbz is coming to visit Chicago for the first time ever!  I'm so excited to play tour guide (and tourist) and celebrate Halloween (both of us failed at planning ahead for costumes last year, so this year we're going all out.  My royal blue tutu has already arrived in the mail!).  Unfortunately the weather switch flipped this week and it's now trending towards winter with highs in the 40s.  We'll be doing some bundled up wandering in Millennium Park.

I'll leave you with a video and a question.  If you haven't seen this yet, it's probably the funniest thing I've seen since I got to school.  I've heard the Fox is going to be one of the most popular Halloween costumes this year...

Do you like to go to bars where there's a live band?  How do you decide where to go and how do you find out if a band will be playing when you want to go?

I'll try to leave the b-school bubble and report back more often in the future...

Love,

The Chicagtonian

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Randomly Walking

It's been 2 weeks since I got back from Jordan, but with recovering from jet lag, all of the orientation activities, and going out and meeting people, I haven't taken the time to write up anything about the trip.

First things first, the trip was fabulous!  While there was some nervousness halfway through the week about whether the US was or wasn't going to strike in Syria and whether the university would pull us out of Jordan because of the close proximity, everything was fine.

We crammed most of our sightseeing into the first part of the week.  Starting in Amman, we took day trips out to Byzantine, Greek, and Roman ruins throughout the north of Jordan.  At various points we were less than 50 kilometers from Syria, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.  I was surprised by all of the Greek and Roman influence, but it makes sense since Jordan was on some of the major trade routes back in the day.  Azraq, Umm Qais, Jerash, and Madaba were all amazing in different ways.

After 3 full days of culture, we spent the evening at the Dead Sea floating, covering ourselves with mud, and relaxing.  It was an awesome experience!  Thankfully, I managed to avoid most of the pain that comes with submerging your body in 33% salinity water with the exception of a blister.

We started our 4th day in Mazra participating in a cultural exchange.  Mazra is a rural village that's populated by Jordanians of African descent.  While these people have been in Jordan for centuries, they're still discriminated against because of their darker skin.  The ladies of the village welcomed us with open arms and taught us some skills including cooking (stewing tomatoes and baking bread), making kohl out of olive oil (which they put on all of the guys eyes - they were so beautiful for the rest of the day and longer because they didn't have eye makeup remover...), sewing, and basket weaving.  Some of the interactions felt forced since it was less of an exchange and more 1-sided knowledge giving, but it was a wonderful way to see a side of Jordanian living that we never would have experienced in the cities.

We spent the afternoon hiking through Petra and seeing all of the ornate tombs or mausoleums carved into the rocks.  I was confused when I saw signs for 1, 2, or 3 day tickets to Petra, but in 4 hours we only saw maybe a quarter of the canyon that made up Petra.

The last 2 days of the trip we spent in Aqaba, which is right across the Red Sea from Israel, Sinai, and Saudi Arabia.  While some impromptu sightseeing occurred the first night on the walk between dinner and a bar, we spent the days soaking in the Jordanian sun at the pool and on the beach.

The trip itself was amazing, but the people I met were the best part of the whole Random Walk experience.  I now have 14 new friends and 4 second years who I know I can go to if I ever have questions about school or recruiting or life in Chicago.  We've already had 2 reunions in the windy city, and classes haven't even started yet.

I can't imagine a better way to start off my b-school experience!

Love,

The Chicagtonian

First Week Schmoozing

My first week in Chicago has been all about getting to know my classmates who have already moved here.  My apartment building is essentially a dorm - I think someone told me that something like 40% of our class lives here.  The majority of the rest of the students live within a 2 block radius, so whether it's in the laundry room or at the CVS across the street you're bound to run into someone in your cohort or in your classes.

Monday night, people organized an around the world party, aka a booze & schmooze where you go to a new apartment/location every 30 minutes and the hosts have a themed drink/activity.  It was a fun way to meet a bunch of new people (and sneak a peak at how everyone has decorated their apartments for inspiration since we're still decking ours out).  It was pretty hot and loud and overwhelming, but a great first night of socializing.

Tuesday, the DC crew got together for brunch at Wildberry.  I didn't think that a pancake place would be very busy on a Tuesday, but it was packed at 11:30!  The food was delicious and plentiful!  My omelet came with a huge serving of hash browns as well as a side stack of pancakes.  I wasn't capable of finishing it all, but I'll definitely be going back to try some of their specialty pancakes.  Also, it's right around the corner from my apartment...

Some of the crew convinced me to go to the Nats vs. Cubs game that night.  There were probably 50 of us Boothies there.  I don't have any Cubs gear yet, so I wore my Nats hat to Wrigley Field...  At least it was a conversation starter.  We hit up Cubby Bear after the Nats dominated and danced the night away.  I felt way more in my element than I did at the party Monday night.  I even got people to make up totally wacky dance moves with me.

First game at Wrigley Field

The rest of the week, I spent running errands for my impending trip.  It's impossible to figure out how to dress properly conservatively when the weathermen are forecasting temperatures of 100+.  I met up with a few of my fellow travelers on Thursday night for drinks, and we all had the same questions/concerns.  I have a little bit of everything - long skirts, shorts, spandex - so hopefully I'll be covered for all possible situations.  Worst case scenario, I do some shopping there.  I have an abaya from Dubai, so why not get clothes from Jordan too?

I was going to check out the Greek Street Festival today before heading to the airport, but ultimately got lazy and ended up downloading a ton of books to read on the plane and cleaned the apartment since I'm the last to leave.  Also, my room is finally close to being finished.  I'm waiting on a few frames for new posters to come and need some more under-bed storage, but for now it's fine.

New room!

And now, I'm off to the airport!  Next stop: Jordan!

Love,

The Chicagtonian

I Survived the First Weekend!

I packed up the UHaul Thursday afternoon, and, thanks to one of my new classmates, had all of my stuff delivered to my new building Friday evening.  Since I flew out with the family on Friday morning, we had the afternoon for some exploring and planning for the new set up.  The first notable feature of the apartment is this:

The view from my window (Hello Bean!)

I could definitely get used to this.

After moving everything into the apartment, we only got around to putting my bed back together before realizing the sun was going down and everyone was hangry.  After grabbing some snacks at the hotel, we headed to get real dinner at this restaurant:

Howells & Hood at the Tribune Building

This place has some seriously good food and a ridiculous beer selection (more than 100 beers on tap!).  It also has great people watching and an awesome patio (which is the same size or bigger than the indoor part of the restaurant) that I had admired from afar when I was in Chicago for work in May.

Another awesome part of the Tribune building are all of the stones from other places that have been incorporated into the exterior stone work.  For example:

A little piece of home

 A little piece of Greece (This is mostly for Athina)

Apparently Colonel McCormick, the former owner of the Chicago Tribune, asked his correspondents to bring back fragments of historical buildings.  While I doubt that most of the pieces were obtained legally, it's pretty cool to be able to "travel" the world by just walking around a building.

Before my family headed back to the airport on Sunday, we took an architectural boat tour of Chicago and learned a lot about my new city and its history.

It was a gorgeous day to be out on the water!

This week I'm starting to be social and meeting my classmates.  Yesterday, Roommate X and I went out exploring while we still have the luxury of free time.  We wandered around Hyde Park and campus and went for an evening run through Millenium Park and down Lake Shore Dr.  I haven't run in at least a month and was surprised to find out that we ran 3.5 miles only stopping to walk for a minute in the last 1/2 mile.  Proud!

I can't wait to spend the rest of the week getting to know my roomies (now that Roommate P is here too)!  Next stop: brunch with the DC crew and starting to pack for Jordan!

Love,

The Chicagtonian

The Beginning at an End

Today marks a beginning.  The beginning of this blog, the beginning of a new life in Chicago, the beginning of a new career (or at least the first baby steps to achieving a new career), but mostly just an overall beginning.

It also marks an end.  Or maybe a temporary hiatus.  The fact that I am leaving DC didn't hit me until I was driving to my parents tonight after eating takeout from The Heights on my couch with Athina (I refused to join polite society at a restaurant due to my exhaustion and lack of a shower after moving all the things this afternoon).  Driving through Rock Creek Park, I realized I was tearing up.  I didn't feel this way after college because I knew college was supposed to end after 4 years.  But, my life in DC wasn't supposed to be temporary.  I even bought big girl furniture (i.e., not from IKEA) because I was supposed to stick around DC for a while.  So it feels like I'm actually leaving behind a life.

Athina is probably sick of hearing that I'm leaving.  I've done this to her a couple of times - after college when I moved back to DC only to tell her I was moving to Dubai the next week, and then again when I actually moved to DC and ended up traveling for work 4-5 days a week and was too exhausted to be an awesome friend every weekend.

There have been benefits to the end of this current DC era.  I was able to convince my friends to make this the summer of Teri.  Totally selfish, but whatever.  Everyone helped me check things off of my DC bucket list, and I have some great new memories thanks to them.  I may not have completed all of my "planned" activities, but it doesn't matter.

--

Teri’s DC Bucket List

1. Sweetlife Festival (5/11)
2. Dinner at Thai Xing
3. Jazz in the Garden (7/26)
4. Go to a gallery opening
5. Drag brunch
6. Brunch at Mad Momos (7/14)
7. Champagne Tour of Mansion on O St (7/14)
8. Tour of the Capitol (6/13 thanks to RM!)
9. Eat lunch in the Folger Library garden
10. Cooking classes at Culinaerie (6/21 with LC)
11. Go out for Ethiopian food (Cheated with Fojol Bros on 7/8)
12. Nats game (First game on 5/28 w/ Boothies)
13. Use Bikeshare
14. Play minigolf at the Building Museum (6/27 with CM and lots of the gang)
15. Eat crabs at Cantlers
16. Go to an embassy party (Swiss National Day Celebration at the Swiss Embassy on 8/3)
17. Hike Roosevelt Island
18. See a movie outdoors (Willy Wonka on 8/5)
19. Salsa dance at Sabor Monday’s at Lima
20. Yoga in Meridian Hill Park (7/29 with Sweetgreen and the gals)
21. Brunch at Room 11 (6/2 w/ NHFW)
22. Eat homegrown veggies from our garden (Peas and corn!)
23. Ballet classes at Washington Ballet
24. Go sailing
25. Play True American
26. Tour a DC brewery
27. Bottle Green Hat Gin Go to an event sponsored by Green Hat Gin (Wasn’t able to get a spot through the lottery to bottle, so I went to a Green Hat event at the American History Museum on 7/25)
28. Hike Old Rag
29. Go to Truckeroo (Truckeroo scheduled for 7/19.  TOO HOT!)
30. Start playing tennis again (First game on 6/1 with BD)
31. 1368 Pig Roast (No weekends worked prior to my departure, but I’ll come back to DC for the next one)
32. 4th of July BBQ (Scheduled for 7/4)
33. Go to Upshur Pool

--

While I'm sad to leave behind a fabulous life in DC, I'm also incredibly excited to start a new one in Chicago.  I may think the name Chicagoland is stupid, but Chicago is a pretty great city.  I'm ready to explore the city, start business school, make new friends, and who knows what else.  Also (nerd alert!) I'm stoked to go to class and learn new things on a daily basis.

This is likely the most sentimental post that will appear on the blog.  From here on out, this will be my place to talk about whatever new awesome things I've learned, maybe an internship or two, and whatever other adventures happen along the way.  Next stop: Chicago!

Love,

The newly minted Chicagtonian