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Final Exam On Leadership

One month after moving to Evanston and beginning our Kellogg experience, my classmates and I finally finished our first class on Friday. Week number one was our KWEST where the entire class split into groups of 20 and went to different locations all around the world (click here for my post on KWEST).  After KWEST, we began the second week taking part in orientation where we participated in CIM and bonded with classmates while being immersed in the Kellogg culture (click here for my post on CIM). In the third week, we began our Leadership Class, where we read cases, wrote papers, and had a lot of interesting in-class discussions. And last week, that class came to and end, which culminated with our first final exam at Kellogg on Friday.

At most business schools, the orientation is filled with fun activities combined with non-graded courses that are more of a refresher than anything else. But that’s not the case here at Kellogg. One of the unique parts of Kellogg is that despite the fact that our MORS class is condensed into three weeks and despite the fact that it takes place during CIM orientation, it still counts for a grade.

One reason is because managing orientation and class is a good introduction of how life will be at Kellogg. All of us will not only have classes everyday, but we’ll also have a long list of other competing priorities, including extracurricular activities, fun nights with section mates, and job hunting. And another reason is that the Kellogg culture really is both team oriented and a lot of fun, so the activities we took part in were not unique to that week but they were also a staple of Kellogg. So in a sene so this was a good way to be immersed in that culture right away.

Right after our exam, everyone was relieved to finally be done with our first exam. We had about an hour after the exam to relax and chat with classmates, and after that everyone headed over to TG – Kellogg’s weekly social event that takes place every Friday in the atrium to celebrate finishing up. TG was a good way to catch up with old friends and make new ones, which is still important since we’re still meeting lots of people in the class of 2012. I spent time catching up with a few of my KWEST trip friends and also with some of my JD-MBA classmates.

After that, a small group of us went to have dinner at Bat 17, a local pub here in Evanston. The group included a few people from my section, a few friends from different section, and two members of the class that I met that night because they had previously seen my blog – this has been happening quite a bit here the past couple of weeks.  Over some good pub food and Cabernet in Evanston, we enjoyed being finished with our MORS final exam and got ready for what would be a fun night both in Evanston and downtown in Chicago, all before the first day of classes.

Ultimately, the sentiment of the last week was “fun but also touch times ahead” and that has been largely shared across the student body.  That’s because while Kellogg is going to be fun over the next two years, it’s also going to be a lot of work because we’ll be balancing all that fun with managing classes, taking part in the student-driven activities, recruiting for jobs, and anything else people have on their plates. And we’re doing this alongside a group of very highly talented people and at a school where there are grades for classes.

And as a result, my view is that Kellogg has a distinctive culture.  The students are both fun loving and driven. They work hard and play hard. And they not only like to spend time relaxing but they also have high energy levels. In fact, on a scale from one to ten, the energy level is probably a ten. The energy is both unique and contagious and it creates a culture that everyone is excited to be a part of.

But in the end, it’s clear that the next year is going to be a journey. Maintaining momentum for nine months will require finding the right balance. People not only want to feel excited about being at Kellogg but they also want to be rewarded for their hard work, so figuring out the right balance of activities will be important. It will be interesting to see how that process plays out and where everyone ultimately ends up.

Stay tuned to read as I write along the way!

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