When I first got here in September and even as far back as Admit Weekend, I heard about a bunch of classes, like Corporate Finance, Investments, and Supply Chain Mgmt, that were supposed to be the clutch classes to take. People told me that these classes were some of the most popoular and important ones that are available and that every student should consider taking them if at all possible. I'd like to add one more class to that list, Leadership in Diverse Organizations.
I immediately became excited about this class when i saw it in the course catalog at the end of last quarter because of all of my past work in diversity and strong interested in it. Now that I've been in the class for two weeks, I can honestly say that this is a class that all GSB students should take. It is taught my Prof Debra Meyerson who has spent many years researching diversity in the workplace and in society and she's incredibly passionate about the topic. The class meets for only one lecture per week (it's a beast though...4 hours long) and then we have to meet for 90 minutes each week in our 6-7 person study groups to discuss assigned questions. I had my first study group meeting last night and it was fantastic. There are 4 MBA2's and another MBA1 (of many different races) with me in there and we shared stories of instances when we've been in the "token" role and how it made us feel. It was surprising to hear their perspectives and I left that meeting feeling like I'd have a great quarter sharing and learning from those folks. If you are planning on coming to the GSB, I hope you'll consider taking this class because I think you'll get a lot out of it.
In other news, I just got a call about 2 hours ago from a company called McMaster-Carr with another summer internship offer. A lot of people haven't heard of them, but they're an industrial supply company that is incredibly successful (still private and very profitable) and has a great culture. The position would be a mixture of Operations and Strategy and would have me helping them come up with a strategy to optimize their distribution network in their warehouse operations. I'm excited about the opportunity because it would be a great learning experience, but I'm even more excited by the fact that they are so interested in me...when I was talking to their people, they seemed to be all about me and what i was looking for, which was refreshing. The internship would be right outside of Chicago and, since i've never been to that area other than driving through it on my way out here, I'd get a chance to experience a whole new city. Wow, it's good to have choices now, especially after all of the humbling "Heck Naw" messages I got from other companies during this process. I'm hoping to make my decision over the next few days, so I'll let you guys know what's up when i figure it out.
One more thing. I know that this is a pretty personal topic, but I've got a tip for the fellas...please get checked for prostate cancer. My uncle had to have prostate cancer surgery earlier this morning back in VA and, since my mother told me about his condition, I've been looking into it a bit. It is sneaking up on men every day (even men in their 20's and 30's) and it is a totally treatable form of the the disease. The doctors have said that my uncle is going to be alright because he caught it early, but my mother is about to go to the funeral of a guy who caught it late and died 5 weeks after finding out that he had it. Please take care of yourself on this, fellas.
Posted by marquis930 at April 7, 2005 10:02 PM