Howdy, from a new EMT blogger!

Hello Blog-readers; my name is Matt and I’m an MBA1 who has signed on to be one of Admissions’ featured bloggers.  Specifically, I come to you as someone who worked in television industry for seven years, someone who is on the EMTA (Entertainment, Media, Technology Association) board here at Stern, and someone who plans the “nontraditional” route for recruiting — that is, forgoing this first wave of banking/consulting/marketing internship interviews to look for (hope for?) opportunities in media later in the Spring.

Most deadlines for this first round of applications are due early to mid December, so it’s cover letter writing season for many MBAs.  I have been crafting a few which I’m about ready to send out (for specific companies that I am targeting, and who do in fact recruit now).  Still it doesn’t compare to some people (I have one study group member who is doing 15 applications, and is just getting started), but again that’s a function of one’s chosen industry.

Still, with a BIT of the calm before the application storm, some members of my block put together a brief respite this past weekend — a pre-Final exam, pre-application escape from the chaos of recruiting season.  It’s always great to get away, but particularly so when you can do it with new friends who you really are just beginning to get to know.  Though I see these same faces every day in Statistics class, friendships are really formed by the things we do outside of class.  That being said, I was lucky enough to be in a block (BLOCK ONE!) of students who are all–without exception–fantastic, open-minded, curious, fun-loving people from all over the globe.  Hence, we get along great.

So we went up to the Poconos, rented a cabin (with an outdoor Jacuzzi–that yes, I spent many hours in), and forgot about the stress of school for a few days.  We had a chili cook off, found a forest hike we were woefully under-prepared for (did you know it’s Bear Hunting season in Pennsylvania?  Neither did we.) and generally got to know each other away from the chaos of Manhattan.  Think everyone agrees it was a fantastic time and we hope to do it again, maybe expand it to a few hours so our entire block can join.  One great thing about being at Stern is of course enjoying the City that Never Sleeps, but if you’re a country kid (which I am, despite having city roots….not sure how that happened) it’s always amazing how close the mountains are (2.5 hours drive, in this case).

I wanted to open up my blogging with a description of this weekend retreat to stress how important the social element is during your time here.  Frankly, there’s a case to be made that everything you do in business is part of an elaborate social dance, and how you relate to and learn from your classmates is the perfect crucible for how well you will do in a business environment where teamwork is vital in getting the job done.  So, yes, go to that happy hour.  Yes, sign up for that trip with classmates.  Yes, definitely, participate.

And yes, take time for relaxation during the breaks we have.  We’re off this week for Thanksgiving, so it’ll be a nice couple of days of rest–punctuated, of course, with cover letter writing.  But that’s all in a day’s work for a Sternie.

Until next time, Eat Your Turkey and Have a Happy Thanksgiving-

Matt