The first weeks of pre-reading were riddled with anxiety about my ability to complete the work required for the program. The first residency was filled with excitement about the people I would meet and what we would learn together. The sessions between residencies were filled with sleepless nights trying to keep up with work, family, and school. There was so much going on — what will I miss the most?

Final Moments

The last day of our elective term came on Friday, October 5, 2012. My last class ended late in the afternoon that day. Down the hall in the Fox Center, my last Fuqua Friday was kicking off and students were starting their weekend with some beers and pleasant conversation. In that class, on that day, the students willed the clock to move a little more quickly. At the end of the lecture we shook hands with the professor, Rob Hallford and filed out into the halls of Fuqua.

The next morning I wandered over to Breeden Hall to clear out my locker. On the way I walked into Dansby, one of the two lecture halls we used throughout the program. I sat in the third row, two seats from the end, and soaked in the environment. I had attended what will likely be the last real class of the last degree I will ever receive. For a moment I did not want to let it go.

There are many things I will miss from my time at Fuqua, but what I will miss most are the people: students and professors alike. We were able to come together for a brief period in our lives to help each other learn and become better, whatever our occupation. Right now I take comfort in knowing that those relationships will not end, and I am looking forward to seeing my friends from the program again in a few short months.

Congratulations to everyone in the Weekend Executive MBA Class of 2012! I sincerely hope to see you all again soon.

A hot office building on a Sunday afternoon may seem like the worst place and time to take a final exam, but I learned the hard way during Term 2 that the most important thing during a final exam is to find a quiet place free from distractions where I can just focus on the exam. I love my son, but getting him a glass of water in the middle of a final can be distracting. Also, having access to printers and copiers can help, too. Some of the exams must be filled in by hand, scanned, and then submitted through the online learning platform. For a previous final exam, I spent half an hour scanning in my answers and accidentally left off the last page. I know the scanner in the office works quickly and flawlessly. Even on a hot Sunday afternoon, I will sacrifice comfort for perfection every time.

Exam Format & Process

The already mentioned strategy exam was the last of three, which completed the term, and for me it was the toughest because it is so abstract. The previous two exams: finance and operations, were challenging in their own rights but more analytical and a little more straightforward for someone like me, with a background in engineering. This was the fourth round of final exams in the Weekend Executive program. Although the specifics have varied from class to class, the format has been very similar. Following the last residency of the term, there is one week of studying followed by approximately one week in which finals are taken remotely.

Some professors establish a time limit for their tests, and it seems that the difficulty of an exam coincides with the amount of time allocated for it. All the exams are generally open book. You may think this sounds easy. However, “open book” at Fuqua means that everything is fair game and the exams are anything but easy. The accounting final for Term 2 took me almost 12 hours to complete, and it was among the most difficult exams I have ever taken.

In addition, by the end of each term, I am usually a little behind on at least one class. This past term, it was finance. I used the one-week study period to catch up and then rolled right into studying for the exam. I completed a sample final and attended a review session that was held remotely via the online learning platform. Then I spent five and a half hours on the exam, and we were allotted six hours for it.

Use Travel Time Wisely

The operations exam had no time limit and was also open book. I tried to decide whether I should dive right in and start taking it or go back to the review material. I had an upcoming business trip to California, and I decided the best way to use the flight time was by reviewing the practice questions for operations. After arriving in Cali, I had an afternoon packed with meetings, followed by dinner with co-workers. I collapsed on the bed at my hotel at 10 pm. At 4 am, I was up and chugging through the operations exam. I spent the next four mornings working on it. As I headed back home to Massachusetts, I spent the five-hour flight double-checking my answers, and then began studying for another exam!

So, I easily found my reservation, went to the JetBlue website and checked-in before that Thursday afternoon was over. I had all of my books and clothes tucked into a couple of carry-on bags sitting in the trunk of my car: I never check my luggage because I want to save time once I get to RDU. I printed out my boarding pass and got on with the rest of my work day.

Just after 5 o’clock, I made my way out of the parking garage outside my office in Cambridge. Traffic was piled up to get over the bridge, which takes me into Boston and to the airport. I spent the 30-minute drive mentally reviewing the school work that was due, what still needed to be finalized, and what could wait until Friday night. I pulled into central parking and make my way to Terminal C …

At Least I Don’t Fly Solo

Looking back, my biggest fear about living in Boston and doing the Weekend Executive program at Fuqua was that I would be the only one flying in from out of town. As it turns out, there are three of us who routinely take the non-stop flight from Logan airport to RDU. As I approached my gate last week, I saw one of my classmates, Sameer. Jai showed up a little later. It was term 4 of the program, and we have taken this flight together many times. Outside of my team, I talk to Sameer and Jai more than anyone else in the program. At the gate we exchanged notes about the last two weeks. On the plane we generally sit separately. I spend the time doing some last minute reading for class.

At the other end of our trip, the three of us shared a cab from the Raleigh airport to the Thomas Center on Duke’s campus, where we spend our residencies. When we got there, several regulars who come in on Thursday nights were at the Blue Devil Lounge. For many of us, the travel is too far to fly in on Friday morning and make it to our 8 am class. For me in particular, there are no Friday morning flights that will get me into Durham in time for that 8 am class.

In all, about a third of the class descends upon the Thomas Center from out of town, and not many from the same location. Collectively, we have most of the eastern seaboard represented along with one student from Seattle, Washington.

From RDU to BOS

The weekend residency went by quickly, as it always does. Before I knew it, Sameer, Jai, and I made our way back to the airport on Saturday. We all took the 6:30 pm non-stop flight back to Boston. Although we do not coordinate our travel, because there are few non-stop flights from RDU to Boston, we invariably wind up on the same return flight every time.

I got back home on Saturday night in time to read my son a bed-time story. I spent the next 2 hours catching up on what happened at home. Life does not stop while I am away from home, but I find a way to keep up. What I have gained from travelling to Fuqua is well worth the extra effort. I will fly down to Duke 25 times for my MBA program. I was never much of a traveler before, but at this point in the program I have become accustomed to the travel. Because I have done most of my flights on JetBlue I now have 70,258 TrueBlue points: enough for me to take my wife and son wherever they want to go once I have graduated.

I changed leadership roles within my company in September, and three short months later I was starting the performance review process for my new team. To the people I now managed, it did not matter that I had successfully led other teams in the past and that I held a longer tenure at the company than anyone else in the room: to my team I was a newbie and I was about to tell each of them how well they did their job. No pressure.

I fell back on a simple principle I learned in Fuqua Professor Sim Sitkin’s class on Leadership, Ethics and Organizations: people want to be treated fairly. They want to know the rules by which they are being judged, and they want to know that those rules are being applied equally to everyone. So for me, it was time to throw out antiquated and destructive notions of secrecy surrounding compensation.

I put together a few quick slides which covered the expectations of everyone in the organization. I described the process for determining salary increases and bonuses. I made it clear that not everyone is above average. Finally and most importantly, I let them ask anything they wanted about the process. As the meeting ended a number of my direct reports thanked me for the information. One of the most senior members of the team remarked that I had just told him more about the performance review process than he had ever gotten anywhere else.

Delivering the actual reviews over the course of the next few months was not without its share of bumps, but it was smoother than any other performance review cycle I have ever managed.

Thanks Fuqua!

I look at my watch. It’s 5 o’clock and I still have a mountain of work to do this week. My mind is furiously sorting through what needs to be done to complete our project plan, the performance reviews I owe my direct reports and the various requests for information which pour in from my management and peers. I push all of these thoughts aside and start packing up my stuff to head out.

I pass by the cubicles full of people who will be working well into the night at VMware, and I make my way to the elevator. On my way down I shift gears and start to consider everything I need to do in preparation for my weekend at Fuqua. There are still last minute pieces of my decision analysis which need to be completed, and I really should take one last look at the cost accounting case before it gets submitted — the amount of work is daunting. Why am I doing this? Don’t I already have a job? Why am I taking on what often seems like a second job?

So Why an MBA?

As a development manager, I can see that there is much more to an organization than just the technical side of the business. The need to know more about that other side of the business drove me to pursue an MBA. When I started evaluating programs, my goal was to maximize the value the program created for me while minimizing the cost. Value for me was defined by quality content, the network the program provided, and the credibility of the program. Although I initially looked at full-time MBAs, I quickly realized that the opportunity cost and the disruption of a full-time program to my life would make it difficult to justify as a personal investment. As a result, I quickly shifted my focus to executive MBA programs.

To pursue an executive MBA, I wanted to stay put at work and in the Boston area. This meant that the program would have to be no more than one flight away. If I wanted the program to provide the business credentials I lacked, it would have to be a top 10 program. If school was going to help me build up my contacts, the program would have to have a strong alumni network willing to help if I extended myself.

I ultimately found all those things at Fuqua, and I’ve been especially impressed by the curriculum.

Fuqua Meets my Criteria

The content at Fuqua has been incredibly enlightening. For example, I recently had a marketing case about how social media is transforming the way organizations promote themselves. Before I got here, I thought social media was just another way to waste time, and it never occurred to me that divisions within a company might charge each other anything for their goods and services. Although I have only been in the Weekend Executive program for a short time, it is as though somebody has lifted a curtain and allowed me to glimpse into a completely different yet exciting world.

The people I study with are also impressive. When I go to class, the room is literally filled with PhDs, doctors and other successful professionals. More importantly, Fuqua stresses a team based approach to work which makes it hard not to identify with the school, your classmates and the alumni. Although I have two degrees from a school in Boston, I have had more opportunities to network with Fuqua and Duke alumni in Boston than with alumni from my undergraduate institution.

The Weekend Executive MBA program at Fuqua met all of my criteria for a business school like no other program could, and I feel more confident in my initial decision to apply and enroll at Duke than I ever have.