MBlog 09

[Lauren] Over and out!

Oddly enough, I haven't been too sad about leaving MLOG yet.  For one reason or another, it just hasn't really sunk in yet!  The end of the year seemed so anticlimactic since we were more or less working until the end.  Even now, after a vacation to Istanbul and walking at graduation, I still don't feel like it's over!  I suppose I'm just confident that we, as a group, will do a good job at keeping in touch with each other...and therefore, it's not really "over", is it?  Otherwise, I don't know when reality will kick in!

So, graduation was fun!  It was quite a bit longer and not nearly as crazy as my undergrad graduation but then again, my undergrad graduation actually got completely rained out!  No contingency plan on hand, I actually never got to 'graduate' even though I was mailed a diploma weeks later.  Therefore, you can imagine my excitement when I saw that rain was in the forecast for MIT's commencement too!  Fortunately, the rain held off and the ceremony went off without a hitch!  The sun even made a brief surprise appearance!

The entire thing ran extremely smoothly and even though all 2200+ graduates had their names read, it wasn't too long or drawn out.  That may have something to do with the fact that I was highly entertained throughout commencement since I was sitting in between Jeet and Clay!  Afterward we had a luncheon at the MIT Sailing Pavilion - a beautiful venue for a final lunch together!  It was a nice way for our families to meet and for everyone to sit, eat, and relax a bit along the Charles River.  Finally, we reconvened at the Foundation Lounge near Fenway Park for a "Last Blast".  It was an exhausting (but memorable) day!

Now that we are completely done (ahh!) I figured I'd leave some closing remarks as part of my last Mblog.

To the class of 2010 - there is a lot I could say, but I'll leave you with 3 pieces of advice...you'll figure the rest out just fine on your own!

1.  As Suzanne said, get to know your classmates!  You've been handpicked not simply because of your qualifications, but because of what you can bring to the larger cohort.  Everyone is there for a reason - find out what it is!I  (Make a special effort with the people who are close to you alphabetically...you will be stuck with them for hours at graduation! haha)

2.  Channel your inner Jeet and take advantage of being at MIT.  Whether that is through classes, activities, or both....find out what is at your finger tips, and go do it...early!  Remember - 9 months will pass in the blink of an eye!  (For those of you who have not had the privilege to meet Jeet, he was on the graduate student council, took about a bazillion classes (both for credit and as a listener), planned conferences, motivated the MLOG class to socialize with each other and with the other ESD programs, and probably knew about 99% of the students at MIT).  In other words, immerse yourself.  You will not regret it!

3.  Take lots of pictures throughout your journey!  Yes, people will roll their eyes that you're taking yet another picture...but trust me, it'll all be worth it in the end!  If you document your year, you'll be simply amazed at how much FUN you can cram into a year that is so insanely busy with school work!

To the class of 2009 -

Words cannot express how grateful I am to have had this year with you.  Thank you for being so incredible.  Thank you for challenging me to think differently and for helping me keep my head above water when I felt like I was drowning. You have all made this year better than I could have imagined and it saddens me to think about the fact that we will no longer be 5 minutes away from each other or have any silly games/obstacle courses in the lab the night before a big assignment is due.  I will miss you all immensely and I hope that we will remain in touch and find many excuses to get back together years down the road. 

So what's next for me?  I am heading off on a mini trip around the world - Vietnam, India, Kenya, Italy, then France - and in the fall I'll move to DC to begin consulting with Capgemini Government Solutions.  I plan to keep my personal blog up and running this summer and beyond so if you're interested in following my life post-MLOG, let me know and I'd be happy to pass along the link.

In true Lauren form, I've included some photos of graduation below....otherwise, that's all from me.  Thanks for following the blog this year and best of luck to all MLOGgers, past, present, and future, in the years to come! 

 

Avani, Lauren. and Vidya waiting in the 'staging area'

 

A whole bunch of MLOG guys

 

Colin's "wheel of answers" (available for purchase for your Spring Case Studies Class!!!)

 

Cindy, Alice, Eun Hie, Avani, Juan, and Linda at Killian Court

 

Eric, Prashant, Tom, Jeet, Lauren, Clay

 

Clay - you already won the thesis award, I think you can put your computer away!!

 

One of the many attempts to catch a group picture at the sailing pavilion!

 

Many MLOG better halves :-)

 

So embarrassing - my brother's friends got me nerdy glasses and pocket protectors as a graduation gift.  Go MIT!

 

Eric, Vidya, Carlos, Lauren @ The Foundation Lounge

 

Roberto, Gina, Isabel, Linda, Jeet, and Charbel

 

Some of the ladies and Hem - enjoying our "last blast"

The other side of the wall....

[Suzanne] Ok, ok...I subMIT

I missed blogging.  Here's one last picture...my graduation picture, taken today, June 5, 2009 - Graduation Day. 

Ok, now I'm gone for good!

Bye guys!

All the best!

Suzanne

[Lauren] Signed, sealed, and delivered!

Oh my gosh.  School is over. 

The end of the year has been non-stop and, somewhere in the middle of it all, we finished.  It honestly hasn't sunk in completely yet, which I'm actually happy about because I know when it does, it's going to make me very sad!  I will not miss the work, but I will miss the people dearly.  Some of my favorite memories from this year took place at random times in the lab - stupid late night obstacle courses, other various challenges we'd create to procrastinate, and quite honestly, even the nights we were all there pulling our hair out trying to finish up 260 problem sets.  Ahh, the memories. 

Now down to business.  Research Fest 2009 was a big success!  It was great to see the progress everyone has made throughout the course of the year/semester.  I'm not going to lie--it was hard to sit through so many presentations, but it was pretty interesting to hear about the things people have been putting so much time into! It was also fun to meet some of the students from the MLOG Class of 2010.

The thesis process has been touched on in a few previous posts but there have been a lot of questions around theses, so I'll just outline a few pointers here since it's still so fresh in my mind!

Topics:  Choose something you really want to learn more about (duh)!  If you can, try to think about this over the summer because you will have to choose very quickly once you arrive at school.  I believe we bid on projects during the first week of September this year.  This year sponsor companies proposed something like 25+ (?) projects which you'll learn about during orientation.  However, if you're considering finding a project on your own, start the leg work now.  Some of my classmates had great ideas this year but didn't have enough time to pull a project together during orientation...

Partners:  Choose wisely.  I had a great experience with my thesis partner (as did most groups) but it's not always the case!  Get to know your classmates and really think about a) whether or not you want a partner and b) who you might be able to put up with until the end of May.  Vidya and I had a common interest and decided we were going to work together before we chose a project.  I believe many people partnered up in this manner, however, others opted to work together only after they found a project that they both liked.  This year there were 12 team and 11 individual projects.

Congratulations to super-Dads Clay and Prashant - the 2009 Thesis Award Winners!

Alice, Vivian, Isabel, and Trevor

John and Eun Hie

Juan and Deepak

Michael, Gina, Eun Hie, Jeet, and Sebastian

The presentations were a snooze for Deepak, but everyone else enjoyed them!

Now those are some happy campers!

On the evening of the second day of research fest, we had a nice big celebratory dinner.  Thanks to Tom's brilliant idea, we decided to go on a dinner cruise around Boston aboard the Odyssey of Boston.  We could not have asked for a better evening!  The weather was perfect, the company was great, and the open bar was pretty nice as well :-)  It just felt so momentous--we were all done, everyone was letting loose and just enjoying themselves.

Tom and Eric

Lauren, Alice, Isabel, Vivian

Sebastian and Ludmilla - taking advantage of the perfect weather!

Sailing off into (actually, away from) the sunset

MLOG 09 - cheesing it up!

People are sort of scattering during the next two weeks to go on vacation or check into living arrangements for next year, but everyone will reconvene again at graduation for what I imagine to be a very bittersweet day...

[Lauren] The beginning of the end...

My sincerest apologies in the lack of recent blogging!  I have been extremely busy with everything ranging from my thesis to end of term work/finals, planning a trip around the world, finding a place to live once I start work...oh, and trying to enjoy what little time I have left at MIT!  I can't even begin to tell you where the time has gone! 

Last week I had my last class and finished my last final (woohoo!) but it felt completely anticlimactic.  I still have so much to get done in the next few days that it hasn't even hit me that I'm nearly finished!

Thesis has consumed most of us during the past month and, although I agree with some of the things Suzanne said, I do not agree with all.  Vidya and I have struggled with our thesis at times, but no one ever said completing a thesis during a 9-month program would be easy!  We've dealt with a major change in scope but have taken things in stride and addressed it the best we could.  It's all part of research I suppose!  It was also a good opportunity for us to get involved with a huge humanitarian organization, even if it meant waking up early to have weekly teleconferences with people several thousands of miles away! 

I'm actually very impressed with some of my colleagues' theses.  Prashant and Clay seem to be trying to cram a PhD dissertation into the MLOG program and Sebastian and Rich have created a case study that will probably be used in a Sloan class next year.  There are definitely some interesting things being done....come to Research Fest and see the presentations for yourself if you can!

So let's see, a lot has happened since my last post.  Here are some of the things that have been keeping us busy...

Patriot's Day

Professor Byrnes spoke about Patriot's Day so much that Vidya made me take her back to my hometown to see a reenactment of the famous Battle of Lexington and Concord, the battle which started the Revolutionary War.  I don't know what was worse--watching the reeanactment surrounded by a bunch of 2nd graders, or being forced to take this picture standing next to a Redocat!  I'm kidding--it was actually a very fun morning!

The Boston Marathon

The following Monday (still part of the Patriot's Day festivities), was the running of the 114th Boston Marathon, the world's oldest annual marathon.  The winner, Deriba Merga, was running so fast that I could barely catch him on camera!

 

A bunch of MLOGgers at the MIT Grad Gala at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel

Vidya and Colin hard at work (?) on their theses

 

The Boston skyline from Walker Memorial.  Springtime is finally here!

Taking advantage of the summer-like weather by playing frisbee by the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade in Boston.  Check out Colin's awesome catch--what a show off!

Red Sox vs. Yankees...the biggest rivalry in baseball!  Not only did the beloved hometown team win the game, but we got to see Ellsbury steal home.  Amazing!

At the Sloan South Asian c-function.  Thanks for the entertainment, Jeet!

Avani and Deepak working diligently on their theses in the lab

 

"Scott Keating Day"

Our accunting professor wears a button down shirt, vibrantly colored shorts, and crocs to class on a daily basis, even in the middle of winter!  The MLOGgers decided to dress up like him for class one day and he was so honored that he announced that they had "made his entire day...no, his entire LIFE!"

 

Celebrating the last week of classes, Korean style!  Thanks Eun Hie!

[Suzanne] Now that you've been adMITted!

Today, the weather was just gorgeous!  It's May 15 and as I begin to type this, my final blog, the clock on my microwave is saying 5:15 pm.   5:15 on 5/15.  A fitting time to blog.  Having just earned my homework-free and exam-free status, I took a long and lazy stroll by the Charles River.  I also took several pictures as I carefully thought about what would constitute my 12 pieces of advice to you, the new MLOG Class of 2010!  I sincerely hope to see lots of you next week at the Research Fest!  By then, I will finally be, thesis-free.

Advice #1: Your first priority when you get here is to quickly bond with your MLOG class.  Much of this bonding will take place in the red-brick building shown behind the overhead bridge, The Muckley Building.  The marble building in the front, is the MBA Sloan Building.  You will also make lots of friends there.  Broaden your horizon.

Advice #2: Broadening your horizon should be easy...there is a ready-made horizon just across the street.  Go by the Charles River from time to time and anchor yourself, like these boats.  Anchor yourself so that you never forget why you wanted to come to MLOG in the first place.

Advice #3: This dual act of anchoring yourself while broadening your horizon will occur often, during your time here.  Sometimes you will feel like this sea gull in the picture, unsure of what to do.  It is perfectly okay to jump in everybody else's ship.  Or, you can go on staying right by yourself.  That will be okay too. 

Advice #4: I am like this gold fish.  When everybody is heading forward, I choose to go sideways.  I don't tend to follow crowds.  I do me best.  So, if that's your style, be sure to do you too.   

Advice #5: At times, however, it may be in your best interest to go with the flow.  People wiser than you may know that rough waters lie ahead and it is easier to navigate these waters, with your MLOG Cohort. 

Advice #6: Watch out for the water!  It gets rough really quickly.

Advice #7: Hang in there, although you may feel like you are about to capsize.  Help is on the way! 

Advice #8: Help may come from that lonesome sea gull, who took her time to test the waters first.  Never underestimate those who don't immediately 'jump in everybody else's ship'. 

Advice #9: In your MLOG Cohort, you will find personalities of all types.  Let them be. 

Advice #10: Maybe some of the members of your MLOG Cohort prefer to have one or two dear friends and those are all they really need.  

Advice #11: Soon, everyone will be sailing and all will be well.  Don't get complacent though...rough waters always lie ahead. 

Advice #12: Here is your MLOG building.  Work your hardest, and also have a great time!

It's been swell, blogging with you in mind.

Congratulations again! 

Now over to you!

Sincerely,

Suzanne