Unbelievable as it may sound, exams were upon us mid October, merely a month and a half after we started classes at the Yale School of Management. Accounting, Microeconomics, and Statistics all had to be “negotiated” within the first three days of last week. Studying for these exams made me realize how much material we had covered over 7 weeks.

As if that wasn’t enough, two surveys for the Managing Groups and Teams workshop had to be done midweek, in addition to writing up a paper for Careers envisioning my entire career path including possible future transitions and decisions by the end of the last week.

Wait, there’s more! Being a part of the SOM Human Capital Case Competition (sponsored by Deloitte) team, we (two of my first year teammates, three second years and I) had to also spend several hours during exam week prepping for the event in Nashville over the weekend. Although we did not win, we were recognized for our work on the “twist” portion of the case. We were asked to present this piece for the benefit of other participants prior to the finals – a great “kick” in itself!

Meeting with and exchanging notes with competitors from others business schools around the country and Deloitte personnel was a rewarding experience as well. Working with our second years and my classmates on this case was a tremendous learning experience. The trip also involved sleepless work packed nights, foosball, an evening of line dancing and listening to several live bands as we walked around downtown Nashville. I believe one of our teammates ordered, and ate, a humungous double burger at 2 am. As his second dinner.

Back to New Haven at 1 am on Sunday morning, exhausted, depleted, needing just some time on my comfortable bed, I lazed around most of the next day, getting my fill of “blazin’” hot wings of the “Buffalo Wild” type.

I anticipated light coursework for the following week, so I asked a friend driving down from Boston to Harrisburg to stop by New Haven and hang out with me. 6.30 pm to 10.30 pm last Sunday evening was spent relaxing at home, eating pizza, and yakking away. It was 10.30 pm when I realized I had a significant bit of reading to do for the next day, and spent the rest of the night reading through how effective teams should be built and managed. Phew, long nights seemed to have come back!

With fall 2 around the corner and loads more prep due for the coming term, I lie in anticipation and caution, trying to catch my breath before the onslaught of the next quarter consumes me. I haven’t spoken of summer recruiting for consulting internships yet, have I? That story is worth another post…