Feb 29, 2012
It’s starting to pay off ...
By Blythe C. TU'13
Dear Mom and Dad,
Hope you are well! It's been a really busy week at Camp Tuck: Tuck Africa Week, big projects for Marketing and Strategy, final exams approaching, an event with other Forte Fellows, an Oscar Party, and Winter Carnival of course! Unfortunately, even though I helped to plan the 80's Ski Gear Auction, I had to miss Carnival because I was in DC to meet with one of the companies I've received an offer from for my summer internship.
Known as 'sell weekends' around here, these are events put on by companies that do intensive MBA recruiting to help students with offers get to know the firms better, meet current employees and other offerees, and start to think about how they'd like to shape their time with the firm.
My weekend started off quite adventurously with a trip on Cape Air. Cape Air is a regional airline that flies all over New England, including from the Lebanon airport about 10 minutes from campus. A bunch of my classmates regularly take flights on Cape Air to get down to Boston and New York, but somehow I hadn't taken a trip yet ... and it turned out to be quite a trip! Cape Air flies tiny eight-seater planes (Dad would know the names, but I don't ...), and it feels more like an amusement park ride than an airline flight! Here's a picture of our plane (I'll spare you the one with me looking a little green) ...
I was flying with another Tuckie, and she spent the whole trip to Boston (45 minutes) laughing at my death grip on the seat in front of me. But I would totally fly again just for the fun of it!
Once I got to DC, I had a fantastic weekend - wining and dining and schmoozing and lots and lots of learning about the firm and all the opportunities it will offer me. Even though I'm not a career-changer like many of my classmates, I still feel like my degree is already starting to pay big dividends. As I spoke with members of the sustainability team (my preferred practice), I realized once again how much the Tuck degree has added to my legitimacy and will allow me to leverage my previous experience. Without coming to Tuck, I would've had a really hard time moving from a small, niche firm to a global strategy firm. But with everything I've learned already at Tuck, I'm so much more valuable to employers, both as a sustainability practitioner who can understand how my work relates to the goals of the rest of the firm and as a consultant more broadly.
I'm even more excited to start my internship now, and I know you are more than ready for me to start earning a paycheck again ... but for now, I've gotta get back to studying for finals ...
I'll try to write again soon, but I'll be in South Africa the next couple of weeks on a Learning Expedition, so please excuse any delays ... I promise good pictures!
Love from your favorite Tuck camper,
Blythe
