Happy New Year

It's morning in Brooklyn, and I am keeping my boyfriend's cocker spaniel company while working on my second cup of coffee. Only a few days left in the old year. It amazes me how removed I feel from the lady who started SOM only four months ago. It feels like two years have passed.

As usual, we rolled right into finals without a breath (some call it a "reading period", an idea I overheard in the grad bars). I plowed through finals with fear of failure--countered by the rationalization that if I drive down to Jess's house at 10pm the night before the Sourcing and Managing Funds final, we really will study. Those mochi ice creams were delicious, Jess, and I did learn a lot from Facebook that evening.

Working on a pass-fail system is an odd struggle. There is a high probability that you will receive Proficient: 80% of the class does. However, at least for me, if I do not study, I will fail. Add that to the large number of problem sets and papers we output (37 assignments before Thanksgiving, by Ivan's count), and you have to do a significant amount of work to keep paddling at SOM. However, by the time you get to the final, you realize that as long as you give some push, you will land within the range of Proficient. Being in the 15th percentile or the 85th percentile gets you the same grade. It's kind of like playing Hearts.

I have long outstayed my welcome on this post. I am off to India on Jan 1, a great adventure to kick off 2008. Viva SOM!