I was not ready to think about leaving Fuqua. In fact, I felt like I had just begun the program! I can still vividly remember coming to Fuqua and the first day of Orientation, when I first met my accomplished classmates. Now, it is hard to imagine that 2 years have already passed. While time has flown by, I also recognize that I have had the opportunity to do so much during my time at Fuqua. I greatly developed my leadership and management skills in my role as FuquaVision co-president. I had the chance to bolster my communications skills through transformational courses such as Management Communications and the 1-week intensive Managerial Improviation (read a blog post about this workshop, by my classmate Dipesh). The aforementioned courses along with FuquaVision even helped me to get over my nervousness with public speaking and being in front of crowds (FuquaVision skits are broadcasted on the large screen in Geneen Auditorium, so it’s hard to be shy after your acting is projected in front of 700+ students!).

In addition, I led 37 of my peers to China and Taiwan, to experience the culture and survey the business environment during our GATE excursion. I was able to switch industries and explore a new career in marketing strategy — I am going to work in that function at American Airlines! I had my share of fun theme parties and made some wonderful friends. Oh, and of course, I had the opportunity to experience living and studying abroad in Cape Town, South Africa.

These are only a few of the things I’ve been able to do during my time at Fuqua, and truthfully, I could go on and on for hours about the many other opportunities Fuqua has offered me. However, in an effort to be a little more concise, I will end by saying that Fuqua has been an unforgettable experience for me and … I am just not ready to leave this beloved business school bubble to enter the real world!

On the first day of school at the University of Cape Town. I was with other Fuqua students who were also there for the exchange program. From left: Allie Chafey, Anjali Menon, Stani Grozdeva, Jessica Sawhney, Ganesh Subramanian, Jonathan Segal.

I took 3 classes which I thought were very interesting. My first class focused on small business consulting, and I was able to get a truly hands-on perspective of the challenges that a local entrepreneur faced in South Africa. In small teams of 3 to 4 students, we were assigned to a small business entrepreneur from the local townships (slums) with whom we worked with for 6 weeks. Our project culminated in a series of actionable recommendations that we gave to improve/grow our entrepreneur’s business. My particular entrepreneur was a woman named Patheka who wanted to own and operate full-service guest houses for long-stay individuals. This project was extremely challenging, as she did not have a steady stream of cash flow, nor did she own any of her own assets, but my team and I were able to identify several avenues that we drilled down into, so that we could give her some (hopefully) value-add recommendations that she could actually implement in the short-term to get her business up and running.

My next class was focused on diversity, which I thought was very interesting because South Africa is still struggling greatly post-Apartheid to fully integrate the different races in order to have an inclusive and diverse work environment. In fact, South Africa is one of the countries with the largest level of inequality in the world! So, it was refreshing to candidly explore this topic, learning from people who experience this type of environment first-hand. My final class was the theory of management and we analyzed quantum physics, complexity, and the psychology behind why particular management and leadership methods are in place. The class was a bit theoretical, but incredibly fascinating, since I had never thought about management in such philosophical and psychological terms before.

Overall, I was pleased by the quality of classes that were offered to us exchange students, as well as the caliber of our peers in the exchange program — many of whom come from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School and Chicago Booth. I learned a great deal and networked with intelligent individuals … all from the comforts of sunny, gorgeous Cape Town!

I decided to do some traveling for 3 weeks prior to the term start, so I went to Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda by myself. Don’t be alarmed. I’ve actually travelled quite a bit by myself, and sometimes prefer it, because it gives me a chance to experience new things and meet new people that I may otherwise not get a chance to, had I been traveling in a group. Following my initial travels, I headed to UCT in Cape Town where I joined 7 Fuquans and 13 other MBA students from around the globe.

I was very excited to get a chance to live in Africa. It had always been a dream of mine to live in a foreign country, and being in Africa gave me a chance to gain a very unique perspective on a completely different culture and lifestyle. I realized that Cape Town is much more cosmopolitan and westernized than other parts of Africa, but their business world is still struggling with modernizing post-Apartheid, and integrating all races into a company (South Africa has one of the highest levels of segregation in the world). So, I greatly appreciated being able to immerse myself in the society to see what life in South Africa is really like.

I think the fact that Fuqua offers a chance to actually live in another country, and to experience what the culture and business environments are like first-hand, is a truly remarkable opportunity. To me, it proved that Fuqua isn’t just touting global opportunities, but it actually embraces and lives by that mantra.

Oh, by the way, did I mention that I bought a business class flight for my trip? For that long of a route, it was definitely nice to stretch out my legs, and if possible, I highly recommend it for anyone else planning on doing a long-haul trip.

1. I love traveling. The second I finish one trip, I start yearning for the next. Off-the-beaten-path vacations are the best, and one day I will visit all of the continents, including Antarctica. This is one of the main reasons I wanted to participate in GATE as a team leader.
2. I traveled to Guatemala at the end of May 2010 for my birthday (see #1 above — when I find a good deal, I just go!). If anyone can recall, this is the exact time that two natural calamities struck the country. On my actual birthday (May 27), I was in Guatemala City when the active volcano Pacaya (just 19 miles away) erupted. I was wondering what the “hot dirty rain” was and why people were taking pictures of their footprints. Turns out it was ash that had blanketed the city. Two days later, tropical storm Agatha hit, causing severe floods, destroying buildings, and spontaneously creating a gigantic 20 meter deep and 15 meter wide sinkhole. Airports shut down for weeks in the country, so I had to precariously travel to El Salvador just to fly back to the U.S. It was an amazing adventure!
3. I’m hooked on general knowledge trivia. Pub quiz night, Jeopardy, Trivial Pursuit, and shows like Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader, and Do You Want to be a Millionaire.
4. Though I realize that celebrity gossip is completely inane, it’s my guilty pleasure. Don’t judge me.
5. I ran with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, and it forever changed my outlook on facing fears. Now, I can’t wait to go skydiving.
6. I have always wanted to own a pet dolphin. Really. I still harbor fantasies of building a Sea World-ish type pool in my backyard, so that I can swim around with dolphins.
7. I’m fascinated with watching people do things I don’t do. I will literally stare as people put shellfish (I’m allergic) into their mouths … I’ve even made people repeat such things just so I can take a closer look. Yes, I know, strange.
8. I was once solely responsible for a lockdown of the NASA Space Center.
9. I’m an avid fan of movies, but horror movies do a number on me. My overactive imagination takes control and my own thoughts scare me much more than the actual movie.
10. Along the lines of movies, I’m constantly imagining my life as one. I replay scenes in my head, see it from different angles, and imagine all kinds of scenarios. I even find myself “rehearsing” lines in my head ALL the time. I often catch myself doing it out loud (on the street, in the subway), which probably made me a perfect fit with the other random people in New York City (where I used to live before Fuqua). Also, it coincidentally makes me a natural fit for FuquaVision.
11. I fractured my ankle in three places along the growth line when I was playing soccer in 3rd grade. I had to wear a cast up to my waist for 3 months, got pretty darn adept at racing up and down stairs in my crutches, and actually had to re-learn how to walk after the cast was removed.
12. In 2007, I took a vacation to travel around the Middle East by myself. In one month, I went to 9 countries and 13 cities. I still keep in touch with many of the friends that I met along the way.
13. My photographs and camera are two of my most valued possessions.
14. When I was little, I used to be so afraid of swimming in pools because I thought little alligators would swim out of the filtration grates and attack me. Even to this day, after 13 years of swimming, including 3 years on the water polo team and 4 years on the swim team in high school, I still occasionally glance at the grates just to make sure …
15. I eat a Kit Kat bar by first biting off the two chocolate ends of one bar, then the sides, then the top, then the bottom, then I nibble the little wafer that remains. This is generally how I eat all chocolate bars.
16. I once inadvertently stepped on a beehive and was stung by a swarm of 50+ angry bees. Not fun.
17. Jim Cramer, of Mad Money fame, once called me at my previous job (Investor Relations) and I proceeded to speak to him for an hour about how the company was a good long-term investment. Within weeks, he became a huge supporter of the company on his TV show. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one responsible for this, but I’d like to feel I played some part!
18. I can be a bit of a klutz. I’ll walk into walls and bump myself on random things. I even ran into a partially open door and completely dislocated my shoulder during a bomb threat evacuation from my work building…in front of my former company’s CFO and CEO. Eek!
19. My nickname is Mojo.
20. Although I’m right-handed, I can dexterously use chopsticks with my left hand as well.
21. I’m a night owl. It is not an unusual occurrence for me for me to go to sleep at 4 am on a work day.
22. I studied classical piano for over 9 years, and yet my favorite song to play is still a simple Fur Elise.
23. I can sleep ANYWHERE. I’ve slept on a stone slab, on the damp grass in front of a church in Spain, on a park bench in the middle of the day during the San Fermines festival (you can imagine the noise), on the concrete floor of a train station, standing up, in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, on a roof, on top of a statue in Israel, on top of the Half Dome, and numerous other places. This is hugely beneficial since I fall asleep immediately on airplane flights.
24. Writing is a passion of mine, and I am currently in the process of writing a book.
25. I’m happiest when I’m near a body of water — whether it’s a beach, river, or lake.

My amazing leadership team!

Each team goes through some intense and fun team-building exercises that allow us to bond and really get to know each other. We’re even tasked with establishing a team charter to govern our interactions.

I cultivated really strong professional and personal relationships with my five teammates last year. We invested so much time and effort into learning and understanding each other’s preferences, work styles, strengths and weaknesses. This year, we have to start each class making those relationships with new groups, new individual strengths and weaknesses, and new dynamics. While change is good, and it’s great to bond with more classmates, I miss my former teammates!!

We met up recently for a reunion dinner and reminisced about how we all had such great experiences with each other last year. When we’re together, I feel comfortable, like I’m amongst family. So, one thing I hope for anyone in a similar situation, who is working with a consistent group of individuals, is to enjoy the experience! You’ll learn and grow, and successfully working within your teams will undoubtedly make you a stronger leader.

I can remember when I received an email and soon after, a phone call, from my Fuqua Buddy when I was accepted to Fuqua last March. I was already thrilled to receive admission into the business school, but the experience became so much more personalized with a current student dedicated to answering all my questions, especially since he had been in my shoes just a year before.

My Buddy was Tim Javidi and we exchanged emails before I came to Fuqua, but beyond that, the fact that I instantly knew that I had a friend once I came to Fuqua was very reassuring. We first met in person at the Blue Devil Weekend diversity lunch, and from that moment, we became great friends. Tim introduced me to many of his second-year friends and gave me some tricks of the trade to excel at Fuqua. He was a great resource, especially during the first few terms when I was still getting acclimated to B-school life.

And now I’ve come full circle, because this year, I was paired with 5 incoming students! Although I’m not sure whether they’ll all enroll at Fuqua in the fall, I have enjoyed getting to know each and every one of them. I already met two of my Buddies in person — one flew to Durham from Romania with her husband for a campus visit, and I met another Buddy during Blue Devil Weekend in April. I have spoken to my other three Buddies on the phone. It’s amazing to think that just a year ago, I was in their shoes, but now I’m the one with the answers. I hope that I’m as helpful to them as my Buddy was to me, and hopefully all of them enroll in Fuqua by August!

The light saber inauguration of the new FuquaVision co-presidents! I am on the right, yes, the girl.

One of the defining moments of my time at Fuqua happened a few weeks ago … I found myself kneeling on the stage of Geneen Auditorium in front of a full crowd of classmates. Two great friends were by my side, and we were wearing coordinated white suits, black pants/leggings, red accents, and fedoras. There were cheers and whistles from the crowd, and my head was bowed down. I felt gentle pressure on each shoulder as a light saber touched down. What was this, you ask? … It was the inauguration for FuquaVision’s new co-presidents!

I’ve never been more excited to be part of a club. I love that being a leader of this club is such a multifaceted position. When I was just a cabinet member (during this year), I learned so much about planning, writing, staging, and executing the production of a video, including filming, casting, and editing. There’s so much involved in taking a mere idea and making it a reality.

FuquaVision’s ability to really tap into your creativity and create something substantial from it drew me in from the beginning. I think that’s what entices a majority of our members – they have a humorous idea that they want to share with our peers and before they know it, they’re immersed in the world of FuquaVision. As such, the people that I’ve gotten to know through FuquaVision are some of the most innately funny, creative, silly, rowdy characters that I’ve ever met. Any time we’re together, there’s no knowing what random, often inappropriate humor will come out, and that hysterical unpredictability is perhaps the most endearing quality of FuquaVision.

My fellow presidents and I are committed to making FuquaVision a more inclusive experience. It’s always been open to the public and FuquaVision encourages anyone in the Daytime MBA program to produce skits, but still, there is a misconception that FuquaVision is only for a small, select group of individuals. Many people yearn to be a part of the fun, not realizing that it is so easy to become involved!

So, for any new students who are coming to Duke in the fall, keep a lookout for FuquaVision and don’t hesitate to become part of our zany, loveable family!

I was first introduced to FuquaVision during Blue Devil Weekend, Fuqua’s main event for accepted students. Back then, as I sat in Geneen Auditorium, roaring with laughter along with everyone else, I knew I wanted to be a part of the club that was responsible for making a huge auditorium of people erupt in hoots, hollers, cheers, and applause. Anjali – the FuquaVision producer – was born.

During my first term, I pitched an idea that was accepted (the video involved the official song of the class of 2013 – LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” – a male Party Rock fairy, my accounting professor, and several of my amazing classmates). I initially thought it would be all fun and games, which it is quite a bit of the time, but what I didn’t realize was how time-consuming the process is! I worked tirelessly to write the script, cast the actors, film each scene, and edit the video. I remember how nervous and anxious I was to have my classmates see the final product. As my sketch was projected on the big screen, I began to hear laughter, and that made everything worth it – I was hooked! I think the current FuquaVision presidents also realized that they had a “lifer” in me, because after that first term, they invited me to join the FuquaVision executive cabinet, which I happily accepted. My experiences with the FuquaVision culture have been the best, most fun experiences I’ve had at business school!

Now, with two terms under my belt, not only have I become a semi-pro at the Adobe Premier editing software, but I also know that spending a little more time planning each scene and writing a detailed script makes for much easier and more efficient production.

When I heard that at Fuqua, there were no classes on Wednesday, I was excited that instead of 5 straight days of class, we would essentially have mini two-day weeks with a “free weekend” in between. Ohhh, how wrong I was. My Wednesdays are completely filled with team meetings, case preparations and homework discussions, club meetings, career and club symposiums, corporate presentations, tutoring sessions, and class review sessions. In fact, Wednesdays are one of my busiest days of the week!

Despite the jam-packed nature of my Wednesdays, I am still appreciative of the fact that I get a break from classes in the middle of each week. It allows me to have a day to devote to homework and everything else I need to do, without fearing that I am missing class. It also helps me to determine priority of assignments. Instead of back-to-back deadlines, there is the mid-week respite where I know nothing for my classes is due, and this allows me a day to catch up on any future deliverables. Maybe one of these days, my “free Wednesday” will actually be free!

Beth Comstock, Sr. Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for General Electric, kicked off Fuqua’s 2011 Distinguished Speaker Series (DSS) to a packed house. Beth delivered an inspiring speech about the role and value of marketers in the business world, the future of innovation at GE, and the value of innovation to the business world as a whole.

Beth Comstock chats with Dean Bill Boulding.

Beth really emphasized how marketing can drive innovation, which only served to fuel my passion to move into marketing and brand management. Finally, Beth spoke about how to control your own destiny and craft your career to best cater to your passions and skill set.

Beth was a passionate and animated speaker.

Some of Beth’s notable quotes:

“Innovation is not dead. It requires collaboration, creativity, and focusing on profits with purpose.”

“At GE, there are 4 I’s of Marketing: Integration, Implementation, Instigation (by agitating in exciting ways), and Innovation.”

“Often the best opportunities come when you least expect it, so keep your eyes open to possibilities around you.”

“Package yourself well and remain confident.”

“You’re the boss of you. Only you can control your own destiny, so if you feel something is right, be confident in your decisions, and just go for it.”

A bit in awe, I kept realizing during her speech that she is one of the most influential individuals at GE. I also related to her because she is a woman. She navigated effectively in a male-dominated industry to achieve an executive level position – something that I know women battle even today, and it’s an issue that I’m particularly passionate about (and will definitely address in future posts).

These DSS events are inspirational. It’s amazing to hear from individuals who have achieved so much in their careers. They speak firsthand about their experiences, their career progression, and key insights about their particular industries and job functions.