You’ve now had the opportunity to learn about each and every member of the effervescent and quick-witted Section I. This, coupled with the fact that we’re halfway through the school year, makes it a perfect time for a brief quiz.
I’ve asked each member of the section to muse aloud about his or her new seat in Aldrich 109. You’ll find some of their reflections below. If you think that you know the section well enough to pair names with these comments, send your thoughts to me at mechenberg@mba2002.hbs.edu. The person with the most correct matches will win something memorable.
1) “Once I was a boy, and I could hide up in the warning deck, but now I’m a man, and I sit in the Garden deck. I still pine for my youth.”
2) “I’m just not comfortable in my new seat yet. To put it delicately…let’s just say that each person’s butt has a unique shape and heft. And over the course of a semester, one’s old seat cushion kind of molds to that unique butt. And now I have to re-mold my new seat…”
3) “Off my skydeck perch and in the middle of the soup now. But I can lock eyes with the prof and coax him into calling me.”
4) “I am closer to the professor and the board, which I like very much.”
5) “My new seat – not a fun seat. Today I slacked for a second in C&S and shut my eyes and got called in the middle of class. I will need more coffee in the mornings from now.”
6) “My nose is bleeding.”
7) “Window or Aisle? Aisle every time. I love it!”
8) “I feel that I changed my role from player
to audience.”
9) “It’s a brand new world. I feel as if everyone is
a stranger.”
10) “Sitting in the absolute middle seat
of the class is like being the bull’s-eye; you’re the
constant target of the trigger happy hunter.”
11) “Out of the garden – up against the wall
Never thought that I could feel so small
I may need to heighten my prescription in
my glasses
Or turn up the audio in some of our classes
Yet the birds-eye perspective cannot be beat
And sky deck awards rally to keep us on our feet.
Seeing the section from atop gives me quite a high
I guess that’s what you’d expect from
awesome Section I.”
12) “I’ve discovered how good-looking
some of my old neighbors were.”
13) “I have developed a critical case of the
worm-ring blues.”
14) “From the sky deck I can see all,
Professor’s hair, whispering students, and
When I wasn’t in the sky deck I had more to say,
But no one will take my sky deck away.”
15) “My new seat is warm and gives me a
sense of belonging. Professors seem l
ess distant from my garden and I feel we
are growing (something) together.”
16) “Now I know how New Zealand feels.”
17) “I’m like a bird…I don’t know where
my home is…”
18) “I’m not free to criticize cases openly
anymore. The Professor hears everything
down there!”
19) “Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.”
20) “I am now free to do whatever I please…
and I can watch Toni Pelaez down with the
worms and plan my getting-even strategies…”
21) “I can hear Liz perfectly now! But I miss
my place in the heavens and my neighbors…”
22) “Somehow it feels more natural to speak
to the class – as opposed to my usual
monologue to the prof.”
23) “Although my new seat at the edge of the classroom gives me quicker access to the door, I miss having two neighbors versus only one with whom to share random comments and observations.”
24) “Having been a member of the sky deck, I know that in my current position in the worm deck I provide hours of entertainment for my section mates – shifting, fidgeting, and showing general signs of discomfort in the pit. The profs seem much smaller and less personal from the sky deck, and I never knew that they frequently react with non-verbal communication to students’ comments, good and bad.”
25) “Maria and I miss Victor.”
26) “I am so high…when I think that
during the last semester I never had the chance
to see anybody’s back!”
27) “Having moved from the sky deck,
I’ve now got my head out of the clouds
and feel far more connected with my
section mates.”
28) “Dazed and confused.”
29) “I’ve been thrown from my corner office
into a cubicle – and I miss Dhruv.”
30) “My love for Mark Mitchell will never die.”
