This is tough...

To build a little on my last post I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed the past couple of days. I'm told it's normal to feel that way from the 2nd year students, but right now getting used to this transition seems to be a while off. Every day I'm challenged and energized by our class lectures and discussion topics but I feel like my mind can only absorb 20 new concepts a day and I'm trying to learn 50.

On a more positive note, the course material has been very interesting and our professors are good communicators. They seem to have a nice blend of real world corporate experience mixed with academia. My classmates are great too and the orientation team building activities have been really helpful. One of these activities was a ropes course challenge at Bond Park where we completed a variety of outdoor challenges to promote team building and communication. Trying to figure out how to balance 15 people on a rickety platform in 95 degree heat will teach you a lot about the people you are working with! I'm loving interacting with so many diversely talented people.

As far as the transition into the program goes, NC State has been amazing to the GAs (Graduate Assistants) and that has been such a help. Full time business school is a huge commitment for 2 years of your life and it's evident that they understand and support that. MBA programs also tend to have very beefy career support services for a couple of reasons and NC State is no exception. Because a business school's reputation is based on both the success of its graduates initial job search and how well its graduates perform in the workplace, there is a concerted effort to prepare us for our future careers. There are so many people and resources helping us to find Summer internships (already!) and potential job opportunities that it seems like you'd have to try to fail at finding a great opportunity after completing the program.