Where's the summer at?

We’re back at Darden, as Second Years this time around. Getting used to coming to school at our own sweet time, being senior members of the Darden community, and always finding the café and learning team rooms occupied. I am loving it except that the summer seems to have been curtailed by school, the stretch of recent cold days hasn’t helped either.

I loved the flexibility I enjoyed this summer, spending most of my time working remotely as a strategy consulting associate. I would have loved to be somewhere other than Charlottesville for the summer, but overall the last few months turned out pretty well for me.

My first non-engineering experience happened to be the development of an international market-entry strategy for a consumer products company. It was great to get an insight into how consulting works, particularly the softer, psychological aspect that we encounter once we go past the hypotheses and the analyses.

I got to meet and experience the Charlottesville locals that come out in droves during the summer, the only time when UVA students retreat, to enjoy this beautiful town. It’s sunny, there’s great food, great music and sports. Talking of sports, I finally got around to learning golf at the Meadowcreek. I was happy that I was hitting pretty well, 300+ yard drives on the very first day, till a buddy pointed out 'drive for show, putt for dough'. Putting is indeed harder than it looks!

My weekends were relatively free and I used them to play cricket. I love this sport – the sound of leather on willow tingles my bones – and I thought I had retired when I came to b-school. But I was back, I travelled all over, enjoyed every bit of it. I am grateful but I don’t think I am done with the sport yet. The very few weekends I was around in Charlottesville were occupied by hikes, the water hole at Sugar Hollow is my favorite. Again this is beautiful country and I had spent too much time in the learning team rooms!

And I did have a resolution for the summer. Towards the end of the school year a bunch of us were looking at the pictures from the International Food Festival last October and each of us had a common observation. We had all gained serious weight while at Darden but I wanted to look and feel like I did before I got to Darden. My summer schedule allowed me to eat well and work myself into leanness.

While I was at it, I also unleashed the reader in me who has been pretty dormant of late. Read a book a week, The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga was the pick of the season. At the end of it all, I felt refreshed and recharged.

The first year has flown by and the new year beckons. All I know is soon I will be out of school for good. The next mission is to get a job and enjoy every minute of what’s left of my Darden-career.