So, it's been a while...

Sorry folks...

Just completed week one of Fall quarter, and anybody who ever said "Stanford is a country club school" or "Stanford's program isn't quantitative" or whatever is a damn lie and you can tell them that LadyRattler said so. Fall quarter is part 1 of the Core- classes that all MBA1s are required to take unless you exempt out by exam or choose to take a turbo version of. We have Modeling, Data & Decisions (Stats), Managerial Economics, Financial Accounting, and Organizational Behavior and I'm tired as hell.

The class that's been the most difficult for me to grasp is Modeling. Primarily because I'd never seen it or heard of it (The GSB makes the error of assuming that you've had some exposure or something- don't worry though, my comments about this are going in my feedback and I definitely will be talking to my professors about how difficult it was for me to start modeling not understanding its purposes, uses, or the concepts).

It's amazing to think this is only week 1 and midterms start in exactly 4 weeks. How the hell.

Gotta mention this: I don't know if it's a Cali thing or what, but people here like to begin responses with "so", i.e. Question- What are you studying in D&D? Response- So D&D is similar to Statistics.....I personally this is one of the worse ways to start an answer, and I've heard speakers, professors, everyone do it. I hope I don't pick up that habit. I can just see an interview:
Question: Tell me about yourself.
Answer: So, I'm LadyRattler,....

Anybody else just think that sounds ridiculous?? Maybe it's just me. So, I'm headed out now...

How to Study

Studying is not like riding a bike. You forget how to do it. Seems like in the professional world, you're only required to retain in a small portion of your job. But mostly, you work on one task, one project, one program, and then you can forget most of it- the new project is completely different and doesn't really relate to the previous one. But studying requires learning, understanding, and- the most difficult part at this age- remembering. I need to figure out where they sell that Gingko Biloba stuff.

I'm preparing for an exemption exam in Information Management. Stanford allows you to test out of core classes, but not so that you have free time or receive credits before classes start, but so that you can indulge in an elective you'll enjoy. There are exemption exams for Financial Accounting, Economics, Modeling, Data and Decisions (Stats), and Information Management (IT stuff). The only class in the core that you can not exempt out of is Organizational Behavior.

Preterm also begins this week. Stanford GSB starts a little later than most b-schools. Pre-term kicks off this week with two days of Cardinal Cards which is a management stimulation in which we're expected to turn around a failing company. We then have classes in Ethics and Managing Teams. These are wrapped with financial aid and Career Management Center workshops, company visits, sessions on how to do a case, dinners, lunches, and social activities that will take us all over the Greater San Francisco area.

More to come on this later....forgot that I was supposed to be studying.

N.O.

I have to say that right now, at this very minute, there is nothing more important this....

"Lord, hold the people of New Orleans in your loving hands. Protect them in their time of need and bring an end to their suffering. .. Bless them and their families. And Lord, for those that have not received Jesus as their Lord and Savior, I ask that ministering angels be disbursed and the Holy Spirit is released to draw them to a personal relationship with You for their soul's sake. I ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen."

I received this as a chain email today and figured I coud spread it best through my blog. My thoughts and my prayers are with those people. As I walked around today buying supplies for school and post cards to connect to friends, I thought of the thousands of people who have nothing right now. If you are in a position to make a donation, do it. This tragedy or a similar one could have happened in your state or city.

To my girl Jiggy, who's aunt right now is unaccounted for in N.O., I remain in constant prayer for her, for you, and for your family.

This morning I listened to New Orleans' mayor Ray Nagin on cnn.com in a radio interview, and urge everyone to do the same. He is frustrated, and rightfully so, with the delayed response in aid to N.O. The man was in tears by the end of the interview. Maybe the rest of the nation didn't realize the severity of the issue. But G.W. should have put that big ass plane he's cruising around in on the ground in N.O. and picked some of those people up and helped take them to safety. And the airlines really should consider the same.

That's just my thought.