Author: Matt Nathanson

1 more month of school. Then we graduate. Finito.

It’s a very weird feeling for me and my MBA2 classmates.  What seemed like an endless stretch of time — classes, group projects, and Beer Blast Thursday — has whittled down to just a handful of days.  I look at my schedule over the next month and every night is essentially spoken for–and, sadly, a lot of this time will need to be used to say goodbye.

I’m lucky that a lot of my friends here are remaining in the NY/east coast area–but there are several friends heading to SF and LA and international cities far away.  I am excited for them and the adventures to come–and partially jealous that they can avoid the NY winter–but sad that our carefree days of business school (which have allowed me to hang out with so many friends every day), are coming to an end.

The end of the semester also means the concurrent due dates of all those “final deliverables” that have been piling up in all of our classes.  Between my five classes I have six final presentations (yes that’s right–one of them has two).  What makes it complicated is that, because everyone is in disparate electives, coordinating group schedules between 5-6 group members can be a bit challenging.

We have some exciting end-of-year events coming though, so I’m excited for those.  One is STERN FOLLIES (it’s tomorrow!), which is an annual musical-comedy revue that is entirely written, produced, directed and starring Stern students from both classes.  This year’s show is titled STERNIE NIGHT LIVE.  My classmate, Mike, is the mastermind behind the show this year and–as he is one of the funniest guys I know–I’m really looking forward to what the show looks like.

The final Beer Blast on May 7th is also a hugely exciting event–it’s always run by our LGBTQ organization OUTCLASS, and is always well attended and a lot of fun.  The night ends with a huge lip-synch competition, and I know SOME teams are already preparing (overachievers)!  I prepare to participate in that event as an enthusiastic spectator, but it’s always fun to watch your classmates shake off some steam from the semester.

Anyway, here we go into the final stretch.  Wish me luck on my projects!

Matt

 

 

 

 

End times are near.

The end of my MBA, of course!  It’s with mixed feelings that I look at the calendar and see that in just two and a half months I’ll be graduating form NYU Stern with my degree.  Then I have about a month before beginning work–so there is time for me to take a little bit of a rest before the next phase in my life!

In the meantime, the MBA2s are starting to get involved with more and more activities on campus–especially as the weather improves.  Beer blasts (our Thursday night on-campus social get-togethers and weekend kickoffs) are getting more crowded; so are club happy hours and events near campus in the village.  Most exciting of all is that our student leadership has been planning a class-wide senior trip for our last weekend here in May; this year, they are leading a trip to Puerto Rico, and all MBA2s are welcome to join.

I have never been to Puerto Rico, so I’m looking forward to a cool new experience with my Stern friends–a  proper send off after two years of really great times (and a decent amount of homework).  The pictures of the city look beautiful:

Meanwhile, we also have spring break coming up–which is a week off in March.  It’s nice to have a few days to just relax in NYC–though some of my classmates are using the week to travel (I know someone going to Australia–pretty ambitious for just a week off)!

One of the great things about business school, if you couldn’t tell, is that there is a good amount of time off.  When we are in classes it is very busy, make no mistake–but having the “students’ schedule” is a huge benefit of the full-time program here.

Anyway, I guess it is best to travel now, as soon enough we’ll be working pretty long hours as we transition from full-time student to full-time employees.

But, you know, pay checks are good too.

 

“How was break?”

It’s a chorus of the same question here at Stern, just one week back to classes after a month long break, with MBA2s eager to catch up over coffee, beer, and finance problem sets.  The answer is always somehow the same: a lot of fun, too little sleep, and much needed rest and relaxation.

The MBA1s had a bit of a different break, as many of them stay on campus both to prep for, and participate in, on-campus interviews.  That is anything but R&R, I know from experience, but worthwhile–even if you don’t end up with a summer internship when the smoke clears in February.  The reason is that the iterative process of mock interviews, research, and preparation is exactly what it takes to land the job you WILL get…whether it’s in January, February or later in the semester.  Practice makes perfect, as they say, and at business school it is no different.

For the MBA2s, though, Winter Break meant Thailand, Cancun, and Caracas.  It meant mai-tais in Malaysia, trips to see grandma in Orlando, or (for a wise few), some NYC apartment hibernation with a Netflix subscription and little else.  There are definitely worse ways to spend one’s break.

For me, I went to California, where my sister’s family is and where my parents spend the winter.  It was certainly nice to get some sun, fresh air, and avocadoes (is it just me or do Californians put avocadoes on everything?)  Then I switched gears dramatically, went to New Hampshire to go camping a few days.  It was a true whirlwind, but a good “productive vacation” if that’s not too much of an oxymoron.  I got back just before the semester began.

Thus, it’s taken a few days to “get back in the swing of things” — though I already have a good amount of homework to do!  Night classes start this week and then we are back to a full schedule — so pretty quickly people get back to the “b-school groove”.  It’s definitely nice to see all my friends and colleagues again.

Yes, so it’s a little cold, a little snowy, a little dreary.  And many of us do miss the tropical paradises we visited over vacation; still, NYC in the winter has its charms.  It’s a magical, beautiful city when covered in snow.

Winter, you’re alright.  Just don’t stay long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

END OF SEMESTER!

It’s the end of the semester and weather is turning cold… hence our increased flannel and warmer weather gear.  This photo is of me and my co-tour guide Michelle; we accidentally wore blue plaid the same day for our scheduled tour… which definitely looked planned (it wasn’t, I assure you).

We Graduate Ambassadors are wrapping up our last week of “official” tour-guiding for the year… and although tours will be given in January, many of us won’t resume our regularly scheduled hours until February.  Michelle was a fantastic co-guide (and so were you Joy! — another fellow Graduate Ambassador) so I’ll definitely miss you; I hope my co-guides next semester are as fun.

So, yes, the last week of finals–and then a [very] long break…at least for me.  As an MBA2 who has a job lined up (yay me!), a bit of the pressure is off–so I don’t really need to be around campus throughout January. However, MBA1s and some MBA2s who are still recruiting may have a bit more to do here because a lot of the on-campus recruiting, especially in “traditional” career tracks (banking consulting, CPG marketing), happens over the winter break.

Taking a look back at last January, it was a very different month for me — I was doing “mock madness” with the Graduate Marketing Association (GMA) leading into my interviews.  This was a great couple of days of programming where MBA1s get mentored by more-experience second-years, as they are schooled on the ins-and-outs of interviewing.  They even have a “question bible” available with literally lists of every question anyone has ever been asked in a marketing interview.  It helps you to prepare snappy responses beforehand–taking (a little) of the pressure off during the actual interview.  This is just yet another way the professional clubs, in this case the GMA, helps shepherd you through the job-finding and job-getting process.

So this year, in lieu of recruiting, I’m going to visit my family in California and then take a sweet camping trip in New Hampshire.  I will most likely not have such an extended vacation for a long time after I graduate from business school, so I’m going to make the most of this one.

See you in February– for one more semester of triumphs, tests, and business school shenanigans.  Have the happiest holiday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you may know, all Stern clubs are student led.  This is a great because it not only gives the student body a say in how to set up clubs and organizations to best serve their needs, but it also gives students the ability to practice their leadership skills and develop their abilities as managers.

As an MBA1 you can apply for roles on student club boards — for example, last year, I applied and was selected to be AVP of Alumni Relations for EMTA–our Entertainment, Media, and Technology club.  Throughout the year I was trained to take over the club leadership position as Vice President of Alumni Events in my second year.

So this year I have been sitting on the board, enjoying the experience, and have recently hired my own “AVP” who I will, in turn, train to take over the spot for me next year when I graduate.  One of my primary goals as Vice President of Alumni Events this year (along with the help of the AVP) was to organize and facilitate the “EMTA Alumni Roundtable.”

This event, which happened just over a week ago, invites Stern alumni who are working in the EMT space to come back to campus, meet informally with students hoping to work in these industries, and have a drink and snacks on Stern.  We had alumni from some really impressive companies this year: Facebook, Spotify, NBC, Verizon, WWE, U.S. Tennis Association, The New York Times, and many others.

It was definitely a lot to coordinate, as our Alumni have busy schedules, but it all turned out to be a remarkably successful event.  As you can see from the picture above, alumni spoke to students at small tables for 20-30 minutes, in three rounds, then everyone split up for some general networking around the open bar.

The feedback has all been very positive! Hopefully this will lead to some of our MBA1s getting an internship, or at least getting some really positive and productive networking opportunities.

This is just one example of how the student leadership organizes club events.  Other events, like treks, speakers, conferences, et al happen in very similar ways.   It’s definitely a fair amount of work but very rewarding when it all goes off without a hitch…

 

 

 

 

The semester is half way over…and I’m happy to report I’ve received and accepted an offer at The Topps Company, where I pursued my internship and had a phenomenal summer.  So now there’s time…time to take stock of where we are and where we are going.

It’s also time to pick classes for my final semester– which is always tricky as there are always plenty of options, many classes I want to take, and only 60 credits to fulfill (most classes are 3 credits, so an MBA turns out to be around 15 classes).  After much deliberation, I have decided to take the following classes:

-Pricing Strategy
-Consumer Neuroscience
-Business of Sports Marketing
-Marketing Planning & Strategy
-Financial Statement Analysis
-Corporate Finance

I’ve chosen a bit of a combination between marketing and quant-focused classes, which is good for me as I’m really trying to develop the mix of skills I’ll be using at Topps. What’s nice about returning to classwork after your internship/job offer is that you have more clarity on what courses you should take to develop the specific skills you’ll need once you graduate.

Additionally, I’m taking corporate finance because it’s an unofficial Stern “must take” — everyone says the class taught by Professor Damodaran (world-renown valuation guru) is one of the course highlights of their MBA.

Other than that I’m using the bit of extra time I have now (that recruiting is done) to catch up on school work, see old friends, attend Stern’s weekly “Beer Blast” more frequently, and continue with my part-time jobs on campus–where I am a tour guide and T.A. for a non-Stern Marketing Management class.  I’m trying to keep a good balance of business, work, and play.

It’s definitely enough to fill my days and even though there is more “time” with recruiting out of the way, there is somehow less time than ever before to do all the things I need and want to do.  But I suppose that’s the way it goes with time, your life sort of fills it up, regardless of how much you have … so you may as well enjoy the ride of “being busy.” That’s another macro-lesson of Business school by the way, BUSY IS GOOD, because in life, busy is just the way it goes.

Anyway, that’s enough philosophizing for now.  For one of my current classes–LEADERSHIP MODELS — we have to read a biography of any leader in ANY field or discipline.  I’ve chosen the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, transcendental meditation founder.  It’s amazing to be able to read such a “non-businessy” text for one of my classes, and apply the principles we are learning.  Reading about Yogi’s path to leadership is the biggest item on my agenda today, well — that and watch a lot of football.  You have to stay balanced, right?

M

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three more weeks of my internship to go!

Generally internships between your two years last for 10 weeks… some can go even longer.  For me, it was just ten–but I was fortunate enough to start very early (just after final exams).  I call this fortunate because now I am faced with wrapping my internship at the end of July… which means a whole month off before school starts in September.

To be honest, I haven’t made too many plans— I’m staying flexible to see where the wind blows me.  I also wouldn’t mind some relaxed NYC time, because during school and especially during the summer internship it can be hard to get out and explore the city as much as one would like.  So this may turn into more of a “staycation” in the end–a prospect I’m fine with.

As for the internship–it really has been great.  The amount that I’ve learned and the exposure my bosses have given me to the many facets of their business have been truly the best part; I am very grateful that Ive had such a resume-building, unique, and–yes, I’ll admit it–challenging summer.  Challenging as it was, I think I’ll be quite happy with the end product of my assignments, and definitely am confident in what I have managed to accomplish personally and professionally in just a few short weeks.

And then back to school!  Can’t believe its coming already.  A number of my classmates are emerging from their own internship bubbles and think we are one by one getting ourselves prepared for the next year of classes.  Should be a great one!

Hope all are well out there.

M

 

Just completed the third day of my summer internship at a boutique CPG company (which sells children’s and sports products) here in New York. Unlike some of my classmates who are having the big CPG experience at a place like Unilever, I am the sole intern this summer. It’s a mixed blessing because although as the “only child” (as my boss referred to me) I am getting all the attention and support, I am also on my own in some ways to carve my path through the program. It’s a great test of my leadership and independence (luckily two skills I’ve been able to hone through my first year at Stern).

It’s going to be a great experience. On a per minute basis, I’ve never learned more in my life. It’s one thing to study marketing in the classroom; it’s a whole different animal to be out there doing it. But one that—if all goes according to plan—I will soon tame! I am really excited about the next ten weeks.

And then back for year two! Deadline to pick classes was yesterday so had to do a bit of planning ahead—but looking forward to more challenging classes. I’ve decided to take a computer science class that is wayyyyy out of my comfort zone; but based on my positive experience with Regression Analysis class last semester I’ve decided being out of your comfort zone is a great place to be.

Come to think of it, that’s what this summer is all about as well.

Final exams are among us!

Around this time of year study space is at a premium, when Sternies from both years are hitting the books hard prepping for exams, writing final papers, and working on capstone presentations.

My first semester, where I took just core required classes, was a bit trickier when it came to tests–each of those classes has there own final.  Now, with half my schedule as electives, things are a bit more balanced–I have 1 final, 1 paper, 1 report and one presentation left.  Far from easy, but a good mix of requirements that should take me through the last two weeks of school.

And then…summer.  Hard to believe year one is just about over.  Its definitely been a challenging, exciting, roller coaster ride of a first year.  My classmates and I managed to make it a pretty fun one too–which bodes well for the summer, where many of us will be in NYC with summer internships and looking for any excuse to rekindle that Stern spirit.

In other news, learned recently I’ll be a tour guide next fall… so if you need more Matt than you get in this blog do visit the admissions office and let me show you around Stern’s hallowed halls.  I’ll make sure to keep blogging this summer to keep you posted on my internship.

Enjoy the sun!  Finally!

M

 

 

This past weekend was “Preview Weekend” — where admitted students get to join us at Stern for a few days of programming, dinners, social events, and lots of probing questions about the MBA experience. It was great fun for myself and some of my classmates to volunteer to speak to these students and help them to see what a great place Stern can be.

I ran the Entertainment, Media & Technology (EMT) table and got to meet a lot of potential future Sternies with fantastic qualifications and tons of passion for these fields. Always nice to know there’s a new wave of talent on its way. EMT department head Professor Craig was also at this event, so he was able to answer a lot of the students questions about academics first hand–which I think was really valuable for them.

Ultimately, I made my “final” decision to come to Stern during Preview weekend, so I know its a crucial weekend in the process of applying to and landing at a business school. Hopefully I made a good impression on some newbies who will be joining us this fall!