Monthly Archives: August 2009

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For the last few days, if there were two topics everyone talked was that how drastically different it is going to get when 1.undergrads appear..40k people suddenly appear and jam the traffic, eateries, bus etc.
2.winter appears. apparently this year, winter hasn’t arrived so far, unusually. I had few sweaty days and these seem to be the hottest days of the year. While I enjoyed the weather and clear skies, everyone disappoints and scares me by talking about winter. So I am now bit scared rather than enthusiastic about the advent of winter and snow.

The first one has happened today and how.

And today was cold compared to all these days.

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I had been to two university campuses earlier, and hence the campus hasn’t excited or overwhelmed me to as much an extent it should have.From back home, when I am asked the question, how is the campus I usually answer with an ok. But the campus is actually quite good. It feels so much like a park. As I mentioned before, I can’t still digest the fact that I am going to study here..

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There were some team building activities. And again, they were quite awesome. But it wasn’t as overwhelming to me to that an extent that it should have been, perhaps for the reason that I was exposed to them earlier during our team building outings in corporate settings and most recently – in theater. In YT almost every activity we did was immense fun with a learning aspect and team building activity lesson built along with it.

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People here hate cloths. I feel over dressed with a full arm shirt and jeans.
Well, it is no surprise to me that people here are comfortable with as much less weight on their bodies, but am looking forward to their ability to continue the same during winter.

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Penn State may not be the best university out there, but certainly the most popular(due to the football). With 400000 alumni network, there should be a proud Penn Stater in any which company or in any which distant relative of any body.

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When I was looking for schools, this was rated 7th among Supply Chain Management schools in US. Now it is No.1 (well, I don’t bother about the ratings as long as we are 1).

But this is restricted to our department. What is of more significance is that, when I was searching for schools, this university was number 2 party school in US. Now it is No. 1 party school.

After two weeks of somewhat busy orientation, today was the first day in class. Although the orientation had a pre-term accounting course and given a taste of the class, assignment and even a test to end it, today was still officially the first day in class.

Listening to the experience and diversity of the classmates, realizing the experiences of the teachers, I again wondered if I really was sitting in this class. It is strange that even after two weeks of this college, sometimes I still wonder if this is real. Looking back at the last two years when I was following this school, the admission process, the results, the other process of getting here – it still hasn’t sunk in that I am doing MBA and at US, and at Smeal.

I met few more 2nd years who are just back from an intern experience and few with job offers.

Talking about the class – I wish I could just concentrate on the subjects rather than bother about the career fairs just like I wish I could just browse internet at home rather than cook and clean !

After 6 years of working, it feels great to be back at school. I am fortunate and thankful for many, most importantly for my parents for this to be possible.

I met many Indians who are pursuing PhD here, and many straight out of BE..and I kept feeling jealous ! I heard myself saying ‘better late than never’. I drew consolations from some of the classmates who have more than 10 years work experience and the average seems to be around 5.

Yesterday and day before I met lot of Indians and Kannadigas(attended a Ganesha pooja function too!) ..and realized there are some opportunities to pursue my other interests like community service, running, theatre and even salsa. But I fear that it would be highly difficult to manage my time with my studies and all these interests. Plus I want to participate in so many activities that I fear biting more than I can chew. So am thinking twice before making commitments.

Last week has been a breeze. Meeting new people, understanding new ways etc etc. As usual, there is never enough time to write about all that I want to.

Why talk about last week, last few months were very busy. There were so many things going on in my mind that I was more often than not absent minded. I realized the importance and value of many things in life.

The todo list ever kept growing.

I closed some ends, some not in the way I would have wished to.

It was quite messy and hurried at the end, with mounting confusions and uncertainties. I wish I had better sanity and patience at many circumstances.

And am here, State College. I am possibly going through another transition in life, the only thing that continues is that I will continue to observe and understand people.

Wish I could jot down regular thoughts and updates.