Journal Archives

September 2007
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003

UCLA Blog #1

Sunday Sep 2, 2007

This was written for my cohorts at UCLA. Enjoy.

Dear Class of 2009,

The competition that we were told would be absent from of our day to day lives at Anderson not only exists but has already begun. A community known for collaboration, shared thought, and valuing the collective before the individual has already started an intense battle amongst its members. This war is not being waged on the traditional MBA terrains. It is not a race for a highly coveted internship, nor is it to receive widespread academic accolades and recognition. No, this fight is being fought with frequent flier miles and on Orbitz. Our future classmates are armed with "Let's Go" Guidebooks and won't back down until they've seen it all.

When I first started reading about all of the incredible adventures the class of '09 plans to embark upon in the months before b-school begins I became a bit envious. While some of you raft down the Amazon in search of new species of butterflies and others work in ice fishing communities in Antarctica, several of your colleagues will continue to toil away wishing to hold on desperately to income or perhaps even more importantly maintain their health insurance to the very last second.

I do not belong to either party. I will not be climbing Kilimanjaro nor will I be redesigning the operations budget to allow for an expansion of marketing efforts to target 39 year old hermaphroditic blind gymnast immigrants (a very valuable market segment). I have ended my working days but I am not able to travel to the far corners of the Earth. So if time isn't the issue, is it the money? No, world travel would just be a drop in the bucket compared to the debt we've all agreed to take on. Nope time and money are not my problem. My problem is my free time is already booked up. This summer I am a professional wedding guest.

So get excited because there is a good chance that my domestic travels will bring me soon to a town near you. And remember while you're sipping wine and enjoying a sunset after climbing to the summit of K2, that I'm probably in Omaha enjoying Billy Idol, an open bar, and another helping of wedding cake.

Until then happy trails to you jet setters . . . take pictures and enjoy!

Jeremy