It is very cold outside. And I know that you recently spent a whole week getting grilled in case interviews, struggling around campus in a suit and carrying the obligatory leather binder. So, I have something to tell you. No one told me this last year…but I think that you deserve to hear it. Next year gets much better. One might argue that next year is a piece of cake.
Now, I know that we told you that second semester was much easier than first semester. We lied. It was easy to say that, and you looked so despondent after your TOM exam…we needed to say something. But, this time we are telling you the truth. EC year is like a little piece of heaven. I know you don’t understand the whole X/Y schedule thing yet; but, oh, you will. Translated into simple terms, it means that you very well may not have school three days a week. Did you also know that you can do field studies instead of taking a class? Just substituting one field study in can save you from reading an additional 29 cases. Nothing wrong with that, sweetie.
And, are you not much for getting up for a class before 9am? Fear not, dear RC, next year you will never have to if you don’t want to. Do you want better than that? Ok…how about the fact that out of 15 weeks of school, only 1/3 of them in the second semester are actually full 5-day weeks? Forget 4 days of 3 cases …you will barely have 4 days of school in a row ever again.
Are you sitting through BGIE and thinking that you don’t give a damn about stagflation? Perhaps your eyes glaze over in FIN2, as others wax poetic about put-call parity. Well, my dear RC, you will never have to suffer in quite that same way again. Many second years haven’t run a number since their BGIE exam (which, by the way, is crushing!). Others, who would prefer not to deviate from their excel key-strokes, have found solace in the many quantitative classes offered. There is truly something for everyone!
Finally, and this is not to be discounted…participation is no longer a struggle. I would liken it to moving from LA, after fighting gridlock traffic day in and day out (READ: Baker-strivers with hands shooting up like weeds) to a bucolic town somewhere in the middle of Oregon. No traffic, no fuss (READ: “no struggle for airtime”). Often times I have heard echoing in the back of my mind the “anyone, anyone?” from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Professors plead that students run numbers…they summarize cases for you…classes have become like a gentle hug.
So, when you are sitting in the seat of your choice next year (goodbye seating assignments!), ruminating over what ski house you should sign up for, and which spring break you should go on…take a minute. Take a deep breath and savor it, for it is a unique breath of freedom. Because life is sweet as a second year. Just don’t hit the screen, and you can see it for yourself!
