First year done. I can’t believe it. It moves faster than you expect. I find myself frantically planning out my last couple weeks, grabbing coffees every day with as many of my classmates as I can.
This summer, I’ll be at Facebook in NYC, working as a “creative social media strategist.” (My four favorite words, mashed up into one job.) The position is a combination role; Facebook needed someone as creative as they are quantitative, as imaginative as they are practical. I’ll be working with top advertisers and their creative agencies to invent new ways for them to engage with their customers. Obviously, effective monetization is extraordinarily important to Facebook, so they have a vested interested in developing a new suite of tools for businesses to use.
This role actually appeared through the campus internship listings, which is pretty amazing given how nontraditional it is. It’s definitely a testament to Wharton MBA Career Management; their advocacy for us has made finding awesome jobs like this one a lot easier on us students.
Good luck at Facebook, John!
Before I go, however, here are the favorite parts of my first year at Wharton:
Creating Marketing for Out4Business: Club life is really rewarding at Wharton. This is where you meet students outside of your cohort and outside of your graduation year. Pulling off huge events is really rewarding and lets you play around with roles you may never have had a chance to fill before.
Student Entrepreneurs: I’ve met so many students who are pursuing their own projects, from psychiatric telemedicine to restaurants to toys. These students are passionate and driven and add a lot to classroom discussions.
My Professors: I had some great professors this year. Learning how to perform regression analysis with Robert Stine, professor of statistics, was my favorite part about my first semester. He was so focused on making what we learned actionable, on making sure we retained the bits that we might need for our careers. He also didn’t accept sloppy thinking or bad work. He was fantastic. My second semester I had Eric Bradlow as my marketing professor. His class made you realize how exciting marketing is. He cold-called, which got more students speaking in class and ensured everyone did the readings. (Editor’s note: Bradlow serves as the K.P. Chao Professor, the vice dean of Wharton Doctoral Programs and co-director of the Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative.)
The Walk Home: After class was through for the afternoon, I liked to network on my way home. I would find a classmate that I didn’t know very well and chat as we trekked back to Center City. My classmates are fascinating, both professionally and personally.
Welcome Weekend: Meeting newly admitted students was a blast. They are so ready to get here, to get started, that it made me remember why I decided to go to Wharton in the first place. They’re also going to be an important part of my next year here. They’re going to come with experiences and networks to share with us, and I hope to share with them how to get the most out of their time at Wharton.
Editor’s note: This post first appeared on the Wharton MBA Program’s Student Diarist blog on Apr. 29, 2013.
