Off to the Races (in a toy ambulance)

Yesterday marked the first day of classes for the class of 2012 with students, eager and reticent alike, embarking on their respective academic journeys at SOM. It was a bittersweet time for most of us as we officially bid adieu to our seemingly routine (and altogether comfortable) professional lives of the past to start our new lives of relative chaos that will undoubtedly prevail over the next two-plus years. Nevertheless, with the comfort and reassurance of knowing that we were all in this together, in the same pursuit of conquering our futures and in turn impacting the world, we felt like we could accomplish anything. It is now Tuesday evening and our second day of classes, each as interesting and as well taught as the one previous, has come to an abrupt end. In Microeconomics yesterday, we learned why the Yale Health Plan can, counter-intuitively, obtain lower costs for drugs when compared to much larger national pharmacy chains; and, in Financial Accounting, we memorized and even recited in unison that omnipresent accounting equation which will unquestionably stick in our minds forever, like ALOE- err glue. Today brought with it our Probability and Statistics, Problem Framing, and Careers classes. Each class was intriguing and taught by entertaining, engaging, and extremely knowledgeable professors. While one professor drove his point home in a toy ambulance, another revealed it through the introduction of alternative frames/perspectives to a well known story, while yet another utilized video evidence and analysis to ensure that it was grasped. By the end of the day, no matter which cohort color we called our own, or which Harry Potter character we were deemed, we could all agree that the one commonality among all of our classes was the top-notch professors that taught them. Indeed, at your request, each professor can provide you with a laundry list of his or her accomplishments, experiences, awards, and publications. However, with that said, it was not the professors' breadth of knowledge and achievements that so enraptured us; instead, it was the way in which they taught, the obvious enthusiasm with which they delivered the subject matter, that struck us most. It was infectious. It made us want to learn, to want to do the assignments, to want to master a subject so that we can teach and invigorate others to do the same. I expect this outstanding quality to be consistent among all of the SOM professors, and I look forward to working with them and mastering my own subject(s) in the next two years. Needless to say, I sit at my computer late on this Tuesday evening, inspired and excited to embark on the chaotic journey that SOM will assuredly provide.