It’s been way too long since I last posted on here. A lot has happened since February. I probably won’t remember a lot of what happened, but I’ll try to update readers of my blog about a couple of things that have been happening here.
First: you will probably not see me writing too much about two of the things that really interest me: the iPad and the Kindle. This is because I was lucky enough to get a summer internship with Lab126, the company that makes the Kindle. In order to avoid possible conflicts of interest, I will try not to talk about e-reading at least over the next few months.
The summer internship process went really smoothly (at least in hindsight). As a career changer, who had spent the last five years working in the Finance industry, to be working at the company that I really wanted to work for, in the role that I really wanted, felt like a dream come true. It’s also I think a testament to the strength of the Stanford GSB.
Talking about Spring Break, I was on a GER (Global Experience Requirement) trip to Scandinavia (Sweden and Denmark). It was a wonderful trip and opened my eyes to a region that I had known very little about before visiting. We were lucky to be on a trip that included a trip leader who was very connected to the region. Because of this, the planning was immaculate, with the right amount of business meetings mixed with things like meeting the Crown Princess of Sweden or visiting the most exclusive clubs in Stockholm. The most important part of the trip for me was getting to know a wonderful group of people.
At the end of the 2nd quarter there was a peak in terms of work, where both recruiting activities and class work and exams all increased about the same time. The best example was when I interviewed with Lab126, the day before finals at the GSB. In my mind I think I was able to prioritize what mattered to me, but it was still a challenging time.
3rd Quarter, opens up a whole new world for 1st years because this is when the leadership transition happens for clubs and student groups. Thankfully at about the same time class workloads get considerably less as well, allowing students to spend significant amounts of time taking meaningful leadership roles in student organizations. For me, because of my interest in technology, this meant the Tech Club, and the IT Committee within the student association. Organizing talks, lunches and other meetings with the tech club has I think taught me a lot in a matter of just weeks. It’s not something that I thought I would really enjoy, but seeing the changes that we are able to make has really got me energized.
In terms of classes, I was sad to see the end of e-commerce, the wonderful class taught by Prof. Mendelson. Thankfully, we were able to get him to agree to be our mentor for the tech club, which means we still get to talk to him and get his advice with tech club activities.
My dad visited me (all the way from Sri Lanka) over the last three weeks as well. He was amazed by the size of the Stanford campus and the beautiful walks by the dish area. It was great to take a couple of trips with him to hike in the Redwood Forest, down to Big Sur and then to Yosemite. I realized there were a lot of things I could do in the Bay Area that I had ignored previously.
Lastly, it’s second round admit weekend again at the GSB. Unlike when I visited the campus last year, the weather is beautiful and I’m looking forward to meeting the new admits tomorrow. I remember how I flew in from Miami last year without a coat and then had to run to buy one because it was a cold weekend. It was a wonderful weekend though, and I hope the admits will feel the same way this year when the weekend is over.
If there are any specific questions you would like answers to about the GSB please post it on the Questions tab, and I will do my best to answer.
David Rohrsheim here, representing for the Class of 2012. See you in a few more months! Not a long trip to the GSB for me – currently working in Sand Hill Rd.
Good luck with your summer internship. I have a passion for consumer electronics so I am interested to hear how things work out at Lab126.
David