San Francisco of the South?

New Adventure

2008-05-09T14:15:00.001-07:00

As school comes to a close, and work is about to start, I'm starting a new website. It's currently hosted at http://www.thechangs.info. Watch for updates!

So much to learn, so little time...

2007-07-28T07:57:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I shared some thoughts on starting my internship. I wanted to follow-up with a few thoughts, now that I have some experience under my belt and a little wisdom (emphasis on little) to share.

A few observations:

1. They don't expect you to know everything. However, they do expect you to learn it very quickly. I would argue that you learn more in consulting, in a shorter period of time, than in any other industry. For example, I learned enough SQL and VBA in the matter of 48 hours to do some heavy duty analytics.

2. Who you work with does matter. When you are spending several hours a day and several days a week with the same people, you need some level of assurance that you will at least enjoy working with your team. The name of the firm doesn't matter if you hate your family on the road. (In my opinion anyways.)

3. Flexibility is key. It is often the case that your work stream will change. Sometimes several changes during the course of a project. Isn't that what we all signed up for?

As for my experience. I love my team. We really are a family on the road. We eat together, stay at the same hotel, share stories. I've very quickly made a handful of close friends just by working and traveling with them for the past 6 weeks. The work is very challenging, but again, the people that I work with make it that much easier to bear.

That being said, I am very excited to be returning to school in a couple weeks. This particular internship has really touched, and expanded upon, nearly every single concept that I learned in my first year of school.

Separation Anxiety?

2007-06-28T22:02:00.000-07:00

So, I'm having some anxiety about dropping Sadie off at Pet Camp tomorrow. I know that she'll be fine, but this will be the first time that we have complete strangers watching over her. We've been fortunate in the fact that we have always had someone who she knew to watch over her, but this weekend is a bit different. We are all going to be out of town, and nobody can watch Sadie. She'll be sharing a run with her two summer roommates, Sierra and Foster. They're old pros at this, so hopefully they'll tell her not to worry and that Pet Camp is a fun place to be!

Time for Work

2007-06-10T11:03:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I last wrote. Since mid-April, I took my finals, moved back to San Francisco, spent massive amounts of time in Napa Valley and prepared for my first day of my internship.

I am very excited as I start tomorrow. I have this feeling almost like I did when I started school, except this time it is a lot more intense but with a lot fewer questions left unanswered.

Do you remember how you felt like when you started undergraduate? You had a ton of questions like what was going to be your major, if this school was the right choice, will you like your classmates, what will you do after you graduate, etc?

Well, entering business school, many of my questions had been answered, but the ones that were still outstanding were very important. Did I make the right decision to leave work for two years in order to change careers? Will I like the people at my school? Will I get as much out of it as I hope to?

Tomorrow, I have a new set of questions, but even more important. The questions remaining for me are:

Will I like the people that I work with? Early polls indicate that, yes, I will. I had very good interactions with representatives of the firm. As long as the people I met were a proxy for the larger group, then I will be fine.

The second question I have revolves around whether or not I will like the work that I am doing. This includes whether or not travel will be ok for my fiancee and me. I have traveled extensively for work in the past, but will it be ok this time around with a significant other. Also, will I like the client work that I am doing? I assume that it will be challenging, but I want to do something that I am passionate about. The next 10 weeks will answer this question for me.

I promise to write more. I won't be able to write about the client work I am doing, but I will be sure to let everyone know how my internship experience is going.

The Great Texas Land Grab

2007-04-16T13:19:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it is already time to register for Fall classes. Last time, there was definitely a sense of panic in the air. This time around, it seems as though everyone is a bit more relaxed. Having gone through registration and waitlisting one time, people aren't as frantic to get caught up in the frenzy that is registration. That being said, I think a severe case of summer fever has really set in as well. The weather is getting nice and people are more inclined to "forget" they have class and instead enjoy the outdoors.

I'm aiming to get into some pretty cool classes, so I'm expecting some disappointment. However, I'm sure that it will all work out in the end.

Welcome Prospectives

2007-04-02T12:02:00.000-07:00

It seems odd to me that it was just a year ago that I was in Austin for Preview Weekend, checking out the program, the people and the environs that I would end up calling home for the next couple of years. Looking back, I'm glad I made the choice I did as I have had the most amazing time at McCombs.

This weekend, McCombs opened its doors and welcomed admitted students to come visit with us and understand what it is that makes McCombs unique, and in my mind, one of the best business schools in the nation. I had the opportunity to meet with many of the students that have already decided that they will be calling Austin home as well as those that were in the same situation as I was and deciding between schools.

Most of my interaction with the prospective students was in a social setting, which in reality, is the way that I would prefer to meet them. I believe that what separates the top twenty business schools in the nation is not the academics (No surprise as we all learn from the same books and cases) but the people that you meet along the way. McCombs attracts and retains quite a unique individual in that I think of the typical student at McCombs as industrious, friendly and open minded. More generally, they are the people that you would want on your team.

Now, it's back to homework and studying. I can't believe finals are coming up in a couple weeks.

Where to begin?

2007-03-27T05:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted, so likely, all five of my readers have assumed that I've either:

1. Lost all of my fingers and can no longer type.
2. Done nothing interesting.
3. Been so busy that I haven't had time to log on and scribe my amazing adventures.

To tell the truth, I have all of my fingers, there have been some interesting things happening and I haven't really been THAT busy. So, let me start off where I left off seemingly so long ago...

...In the last adventure of SanFranciscooftheSouth, our hero had finally accepted an offer to work for a management consulting firm in San Francisco over the summer. Since then, he has had some amazing adventures that have taken him to far reaches of the globe...

Ok, enough buildup...

After I accepted my summer offer in San Francisco, I jumped onto a plane and headed to Tokyo with my finacee's family. It was an amazing time. The trip was uber expensive, but well worth it. I had the opportunity to visit with my friend who now lives there. It's quite funny actually, as he is possibly the most non-asian person I know. A big, tall Irish guy who works for a financial services firm. Tell me that's not easy to spot in a Tokyo subway.

After returning from Tokyo, I had a couple days to ease back into school. Actually, that period of easing in is still happening. I go to all my classes, but sometimes, it's easier for me to tune out than others.

Ok, back to class. I'm hoping that I'll be a bit more of a prolific writer in the coming weeks.

Decisions Decisions

2007-03-08T15:57:00.000-08:00

So, I finally made a decision and I will be headed back to San Francisco this summer for an internship with a management consulting firm. The decision was actually much harder than expected. I had the opportunity to meet with several representatives from both firms and everybody I met was extremely smart and driven. What everybody told me was that I needed to make my decision based upon the people as they would be the people with whom I would be spending most of my waking hours.

I'm very happy with my decision and I think I chose the right company. We'll see if I made the right decision after the summer.

Sadie at Bull Creek

2007-02-06T15:35:00.000-08:00

Sadie is starting to love the water. She's not quite as agile as the rest of the dogs, but give her a few weeks, and I bet she'll give them a run for their money.

*Sorry for the bad video quality as I took it with my mobile phone.

Cold Feet?

2007-01-31T11:10:00.000-08:00

Is this what happens the morning of the wedding? I may have to hire a professional videographer to capture these "special" moments.

A Little Depressed

2007-01-27T14:13:00.000-08:00

So, I was thinking over my offer while I was in the shower today and got a little bit depressed. Seems sort of silly, but this offer brought me back to reality and that I was 25% of my way through my extended vacation.

Maybe I'll go for my J.D. after business school...

It's Good to Feel Wanted

2007-01-27T06:44:00.000-08:00

I feel a sudden sense of relief as I received my first offer for a summer internship. I've been networking pretty heavily in the management consulting arena and I'm very excited to have my first offer. In fact, the offer is from one of my target firms which makes me even happier. The people couldn't be nicer and the work that they do is very interesting to me.

The entire interview process was pretty painless actually. They went from first round interviews to offers within 48 hours. It was pretty amazing. And to tell you the truth, the entire process was actually pretty fun. I really enjoyed the case interviews that I had as they were more discussions about past business problems, so that my interviewer could learn something about me, and I could also learn something from the experience.

I'm still going to see how the other interviews go, but I really do like this first firm. More later as things progress.

It's Wii-diculous

2007-01-27T06:40:00.000-08:00

As you may have uncovered from a couple previous posts, my fiancee is a bit obsessed with the new Nintendo Wii. She had a chance to play with it at a friend's house in December and has been on the lookout ever since. Myself, I could really care less. I've never been a big video game fanatic.

Well, as it happens, I was surfing along Amazon.com, and what pops up on my search, but a brand spankin' new Nintendo Wii stocked by Amazon.com. Pretty amazing that I got in, given that it sounds like it sold out in just a matter of minutes. Well, I ordered it and had it delivered as I was going to surprise my fiancee with her early Valentine's Day gift. (How romantic!)

She is absolutely ecstatic that I found the Wii. We plugged it in, and I think she must have played for at least 5 or 6 hours nonstop.

Sorry Charlie

2007-01-21T10:22:00.000-08:00

After visiting a few stores with unsavory people in line and limited amounts of Wii consoles available, my fiancee arrived home empty handed. Faced with the option to stand in line for several hours for the slight possibility of getting trampled and getting her hands on one of the hot units, she settled for waiting it out a little longer to get her fix.

I'm actually a little Wii-lieved since I probably would get zero studying and interview work done if that device was in our house.

The Golden Ticket

2007-01-21T06:01:00.000-08:00

For the past few weeks, it seems that every other conversation with my fiancee somehow includes how much fun she had playing Nintendo Wii at her friend's house. Well, long story short, she found out that the local Target and Circuit City stores are going to be releasing stock today. She woke up bright and early to make sure that she had her place in line. It's sort of like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, except that she's not a starving little boy, I'm not Grandpa Joe and we're not at home sipping on cabbage soup. I'm anxiously waiting for her return to see if she comes home with that prized box.

Snow Day!

2007-01-16T10:51:00.000-08:00

I just took my dog out to play in the ice/sleet/hail/snow and had a blast. Besides for playing fetch with her, we watched a couple other interesting sights, including a forest green Camaro with chains. Hilarious.

Public Safety

2007-01-15T18:14:00.000-08:00

"Due to inclement weather conditions, The University of Texas at Austin will be closed all day Tuesday, Jan. 16. All events and activities are canceled."

I guess safety first.

This is my first "Snow Day." Strange that it is in Texas.

It's The End of The World As We Know It...

2007-01-13T18:10:00.000-08:00

...and I feel fine...

Another cold front is supposed to blow through Texas tonight and the city is abuzz with activity. With a chance for frozen rain, sleet, ice and (gulp) snow, people are headed to the grocery store and hoarding food in anticipation of the oncoming storm.

In a related story, Southpawtiger, his wife and I all went out to dinner last night. He valet parked the car, and the valet told us that we had to pick up the car before midnight. When asked why so early, the informed us that because the "front" was moving through, they didn't want to be responsible for driving cars in "inclement weather."

So far, just some rain. Look for more updates as locusts come and destroy crops, the sun burns red and a couple religious zealots come to my door.

These Boots Were Made for Walking...

2007-01-05T12:13:00.000-08:00

It's official. I went to Cavender's Boot City this afternoon with my soon to be father-in-law and got set up with a new pair of cowboy boots. As silly as it sounds, these boots are actually quite comfortable. While I won't be throwing out my running shoes and Reefs any time soon, you may see me proudly wearing a pair of ostrich skin boots.

"What else did you get?"

To answer your question, I also got a nice cowboy hat and a new belt to go with my boots. Now, the belt doesn't come with a huge belt buckle like you would expect, but you never know.

So San Francisco

2006-12-25T09:42:00.000-08:00

I just wrapped up a short trip back to San Francisco to visit with family and friends for the holidays. In addition to family and friends, I also got to experience some of the things that I miss the most and that make San Francisco unique.

1. Sushi
2. Burritos
3. Great wine and Wine Country
4. Christmas Shopping in Union Square
5. Earthquakes (Yes, there were three separate earthquakes while I was there)

Call me crazy, but I'll trade terra firma and tornado alley for earthquake country anyday.

Much needed break

2006-12-20T09:35:00.000-08:00

My first set of finals went off without a hitch. The early returns are positive and I'm hoping for more of the same. But the other tests that remain are the true question marks. I guess there is nothing left to do but hurry up and wait.

I've had time to reflect on my past semester and I was pretty happy with how things progressed. I learned a ton of material during the past few months and made friends with people that I typically would not have had a chance to interact with in the past. I felt as though a large majority of my growth didn't come from in class work. Instead, it came from interactions with my fellow classmates.

One thing that I wished that I had done more of was interacting with students outside of class. I'm a pretty social person, but this semester kind of shut me down. I tried to go out as much as possible in the beginning in order to make the most of my two years at business school, but later in the semester, as classwork started piling up and priorities shifted, I found myself either at home, relaxing or in the library studying. Hopefully I can find a better balance next semester.

Personally, I've also grown up quite a bit in the past few months. The big thing is that I now am responsible for taking care of someone else. (No, not my fiancee! My puppy, Sadie...) Oh yeah, I got engaged too...

;-)

Overall, the past few months have been amazing. I'm learning a ton of new things, meeting new people, living in a new city and having great experiences. I'm looking forward to more of the same next semester.

Now it's time for a little rest and relaxation.

Bootstrapping, Pensions and Biocide?

2006-12-15T17:01:00.000-08:00

What do all of these have in common? Well, to tell the truth, not much except for the fact that they were subjects featured on my finals this week that I had very little clue how to handle. Overall, I don't think the tests were that bad. But there definitely were some rough spots; rough like the armpits of an eastern bloc woman who has never met a razor.

Next week, I have finals in Operations and Statistics.

On a brighter note, I just booked my ticket to head up to Breckenridge for a week. It should be a fun time. A couple of people from the program are headed up to Colorado to get some well deserved rest and relaxation. Most likely, there won't be much resting or relaxation, but at least we will have tried. I'm pretty excited as this will be my first encounter with snow since last season, save my trip to the Great White North. (Dallas. See prior post.)

That's it for now. My fiancee and I are heading out with Southpaw and his wifey to grab some sushi. No, not Kenichi...We're going to Uchi. If you're lucky, you might get a restaurant review too!

Just another day in the snow?

2006-12-03T07:18:00.000-08:00

With record cold hitting Texas over the past week, I was "fortunate" enough to witness Dallas in the snow a few days ago.

I was on a trip organized by the Career Center to visit several consulting companies in Dallas. One of the companies cancelled their event on Thursday evening due to weather. I also got a call from the trip leader, making sure that I was ok since the roads were supposed to be really bad and getting worse.

When I got to Dallas, the scene was almost comical. Sure, there was about 1/4" - 1/2" of snow "accumulated" on the side of the road and there were some slick spots, but the roads were nowhere near as bad as the news made it out to be. The best part was the traffic jams caused by drivers going 5mph on the overpasses. In addition, the roads were salted and sanded pretty thick.

I guess if you're not used to driving in inclement weather, it's better to be safe than sorry. But it was interesting to see a large city succumb to the forces of mother nature.

The Fall of Troy

2006-12-02T16:59:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty happy right now. Not only did UCLA beat USC, but we also denied them a trip to the National Championship. Next stop, San Francisco for the Emerald Bowl.

Group Projects and Finals

2006-11-29T14:14:00.000-08:00

We're coming into the homestretch now for the first semester at McCombs. There has been a noticeable decrease in homework due for class and a significant increase in group projects. It seems like my study team is always meeting for one project or another. I really am thankful that my team gets along so well. I've heard of quite a few groups that haven't been so cohesive, and some that have even fought over the direction of a project. Really sad. I'm not sure if it has to do with some conflicting personalities, stress, or a combination of the two. Hopefully, these situations will get better next semester.