Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Welcome to Work Forest

by Victoria Osborne (MA '12)

Since starting the MA in Management program two months ago I have already been exposed to so many new ideas, experiences, and people. After a jam-packed week of orientation and a super intensive summer session, we’ve made it to September, home of shorter school days, slightly cooler temps, and (most importantly) football season! Last Saturday the head of our program gave us tickets to the Wake Forest/NC State game and I had a blast, not to mention Wake Forest came out victorious. We spend so much time with our classmates in Worrell that it’s always nice to see them outside of a classroom setting. A good majority of our class showed up to cheer on the Deacs and just as many came to the Student Government-sponsored tailgate before the game. Being from the South I love a good tailgate and am hoping SGA puts one on before every home game (hint, hint).

So far I have really enjoyed this program and, as cheesy as it sounds, have definitely grown and improved as a student and a future professional. Before coming to Wake I had a small Business background (I minored in Business at Wofford College in South Carolina), but the Business skills I gained during undergrad were mostly academic, whereas here they teach you skills in so many other relevant areas. A typical day consists of class from 9:30-12:15, lunch, group meetings and/or information sessions, dinner, and then leisure time to do whatever you have to do (9 times out of 10 “whatever you have to do” = homework). During Orientation they said a lot of people refer to Wake Forest as "Work Forest" and I'd say that's pretty accurate. To say we’re busy is an understatement, but luckily the work is manageable and we all find time to enjoy ourselves outside of the classroom. We’re all actually pretty close and generally enjoy spending time together, which is nice. When we’re not in class, doing work, or hanging out, we’re progressing on our job searches. Wake has already given us so many resources to help us discover who we are and want we want in a future career, so now it’s time to put the effort in to search for those careers we want and deserve. We're all ready for the challenge, though, and can't wait to see what the next few months hold!

P.S. Here are a few little things that you wouldn’t know about the Schools of Business from just looking at the website/admissions booklets:

*It is custom here (and in most business schools, I’ve heard) to call your professors by their first names
*Every Wednesday SGA supplies free bagels and doughnuts for students
*You have to dress up for class each day. It really isn’t as bad as it sounds though; I used it as an excuse to go out and buy business clothes. Any day you can justify shopping is a good day.
*After every exam our program provides us with food…I’m talking REAL food. For our first exam we had fried chicken, pasta salad, macaroni and cheese, green beans, and cornbread. No complaints here.

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