no big deal
So I've been away for a while, and so much has happened. Going underground is great for taking time to figure things out, but journaling helps me remember where I was when--.
First year is done. It's so done.
Now my summer internship has begun. I'm currently in the Boston area. And prior to my internship, I don't think I spent more than 72 hours on the east coast at any given time. I'm living and working in Cambridge, which seems to be a nice place to hang out and see people. Late at night, people pepper the squares and go from this bar to that restaurant to the ice cream shop over there. Much different from Palo Alto, where the world shuts down around 11pm. Here, the bookstores are open later, and the major city is a couple of ten minutes away on something called the T. Not quite as sexy as the El back home, but it gets the job done.
Recently, I was in New York City and somehow found myself without a place to sleep on a Sunday night. So I called L's dad, and got hooked up with an uncle who's lived in Brooklyn for 39 years. Imagine coming from a small island (and the smallest country in the W0rld Cup this year) and landing in NYC. The bigness and intricacies of the subway system alone were enough to make me say "whoa." But he came and picked me up on the train, and I got to meet a new relative who apparently hasn't seen L since '94 when some of the W0rld Cup games were in the Bay Area. The uncle asked me if I was married to the big one--L--or the little one--his younger brother, l. I never really knew what it was like to be regularly known in someone else's context until a few weeks ago. L spoke at a commencement ceremony, and at some point, his brother l and I went to get a DVD of the ceremony. When we revealed our surnames, the guy behind the window (having just observed the ceremony) asked if we were related to L, and then marveled that someone as accomplished as L would have time for a wife since he was so busy with research and education.
In business school, despite being humbled by the bigness of the challenges ahead, all that you learn and how much you grow, there is still this sense that you are a Big Deal. At GSB, the rhetoric implies that we're on a mission to Change the World. Ideas are powerful--execution: key. And I believe the rhetoric. Every gorramn word of it. But I digress. Sometimes I forget that the roles that we play are not implicit. They are often explicit and well-defined. People are round. And I don't mean rounded rectangles that seem to be all the rage in web design and computer desktops these days. I mean really and truly round. That is, I am and can be a Big Deal in one context, and a very small one in another. And that's as it should be. Somehow, thinking through this concept of the roles people play will help me figure out how to be a better communicator. I'm convinced of it.
But anyway, so I'm on the East Coast. It's hot as you know what and humid besides. I'm walking to work as much as I can, which is doing wonders for the old ticker and wallet. I have no TV. But my place is gorgeous, in a great spot and close to everything, and my wireless connection is fast enough to impress me. And I'm living the semi-single person's life since L's back home. I'm 28 years old and this is the first time I have lived alone. So it should be interesting.
My first week on the job was motion from day 1. As far as first weeks go, mine exceeded my expectations. I am in a cohort of one other intern from another business school, and a full-time hire who just graduated from a b-school here in Boston. And we're expecting one new dude on Monday who's an executive MBA type. I met him: he's cool. What I like about the first week and the organization in general is seeing how the hairy process of high engagement investment in growing social impact organizations actually happens. The company is highly collaborative; the work intellectually stimulating, and there's a sense that we're working on something bigger than ourselves or our immediate mission; the people are nice and easy to talk to; and the processes flow toward goals being set and work getting done in a timely fashion. Interns and new people sometimes slip through the cracks the first week. But here, I'm pretty well set up on the paperwork side of things, I've met with my manager more than once, met with others on the teams and projects I'm working on and everyone in the firm and people in power who partner to support the organization, gotten started on my first two projects, had some time to reflect, understood the firm's priorities and where I fit in, seen both intensity and laughter, and produced something tangible and relevant. Some of it was deliberately planned, and some opportunistic (our first week coincided with a planned dinner for the whole team, board members, and signficant others).
A really neat week. So I have to keep the momentum going and make sure to overcommunicate. It could be an ugly situation to go off strong in one direction, and have it be 25% to the left or right of where I am supposed to be running. I tend to like to tinker and think through quite a lot, and collaborating with others, especially early on, will help me cut through the scut work/logistics more efficiently so I can spend more time on the stuff that makes or drives impact or value for the organization.
One thing, though: this no TV is peculiar. Now that I actually have time to watch TV, I am forced to Get a Life instead. Which I could use help with, so I may have to meet my neighbors or find a running buddy pretty soon. Stand by.
First year is done. It's so done.
Now my summer internship has begun. I'm currently in the Boston area. And prior to my internship, I don't think I spent more than 72 hours on the east coast at any given time. I'm living and working in Cambridge, which seems to be a nice place to hang out and see people. Late at night, people pepper the squares and go from this bar to that restaurant to the ice cream shop over there. Much different from Palo Alto, where the world shuts down around 11pm. Here, the bookstores are open later, and the major city is a couple of ten minutes away on something called the T. Not quite as sexy as the El back home, but it gets the job done.
Recently, I was in New York City and somehow found myself without a place to sleep on a Sunday night. So I called L's dad, and got hooked up with an uncle who's lived in Brooklyn for 39 years. Imagine coming from a small island (and the smallest country in the W0rld Cup this year) and landing in NYC. The bigness and intricacies of the subway system alone were enough to make me say "whoa." But he came and picked me up on the train, and I got to meet a new relative who apparently hasn't seen L since '94 when some of the W0rld Cup games were in the Bay Area. The uncle asked me if I was married to the big one--L--or the little one--his younger brother, l. I never really knew what it was like to be regularly known in someone else's context until a few weeks ago. L spoke at a commencement ceremony, and at some point, his brother l and I went to get a DVD of the ceremony. When we revealed our surnames, the guy behind the window (having just observed the ceremony) asked if we were related to L, and then marveled that someone as accomplished as L would have time for a wife since he was so busy with research and education.
In business school, despite being humbled by the bigness of the challenges ahead, all that you learn and how much you grow, there is still this sense that you are a Big Deal. At GSB, the rhetoric implies that we're on a mission to Change the World. Ideas are powerful--execution: key. And I believe the rhetoric. Every gorramn word of it. But I digress. Sometimes I forget that the roles that we play are not implicit. They are often explicit and well-defined. People are round. And I don't mean rounded rectangles that seem to be all the rage in web design and computer desktops these days. I mean really and truly round. That is, I am and can be a Big Deal in one context, and a very small one in another. And that's as it should be. Somehow, thinking through this concept of the roles people play will help me figure out how to be a better communicator. I'm convinced of it.
But anyway, so I'm on the East Coast. It's hot as you know what and humid besides. I'm walking to work as much as I can, which is doing wonders for the old ticker and wallet. I have no TV. But my place is gorgeous, in a great spot and close to everything, and my wireless connection is fast enough to impress me. And I'm living the semi-single person's life since L's back home. I'm 28 years old and this is the first time I have lived alone. So it should be interesting.
My first week on the job was motion from day 1. As far as first weeks go, mine exceeded my expectations. I am in a cohort of one other intern from another business school, and a full-time hire who just graduated from a b-school here in Boston. And we're expecting one new dude on Monday who's an executive MBA type. I met him: he's cool. What I like about the first week and the organization in general is seeing how the hairy process of high engagement investment in growing social impact organizations actually happens. The company is highly collaborative; the work intellectually stimulating, and there's a sense that we're working on something bigger than ourselves or our immediate mission; the people are nice and easy to talk to; and the processes flow toward goals being set and work getting done in a timely fashion. Interns and new people sometimes slip through the cracks the first week. But here, I'm pretty well set up on the paperwork side of things, I've met with my manager more than once, met with others on the teams and projects I'm working on and everyone in the firm and people in power who partner to support the organization, gotten started on my first two projects, had some time to reflect, understood the firm's priorities and where I fit in, seen both intensity and laughter, and produced something tangible and relevant. Some of it was deliberately planned, and some opportunistic (our first week coincided with a planned dinner for the whole team, board members, and signficant others).
A really neat week. So I have to keep the momentum going and make sure to overcommunicate. It could be an ugly situation to go off strong in one direction, and have it be 25% to the left or right of where I am supposed to be running. I tend to like to tinker and think through quite a lot, and collaborating with others, especially early on, will help me cut through the scut work/logistics more efficiently so I can spend more time on the stuff that makes or drives impact or value for the organization.
One thing, though: this no TV is peculiar. Now that I actually have time to watch TV, I am forced to Get a Life instead. Which I could use help with, so I may have to meet my neighbors or find a running buddy pretty soon. Stand by.
posted by tiy at 6:53 PM
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