Often, when I'm outside the Tanner - say when I'm at church, or with family and friends - people ask me "so how's the grad program going?" And I usually make my response as short as possible. Not because I'm trying to put people off really, but because I'm trying to have my time outside be as "Tanner-free" as possible.
But here I am, almost done with my 2 year program, and beyond Benj (who I move to sainthood for putting up with my antics, crazy schedule, and vent sessions; & my amazing parents who have been incredibly supportive despite the fact that they know for sure now that I'm completely nuts) people don't really know what it is I do everyday. So, here's just some of what keeps me on the move.
This year I've spent quite a bit of time with this:
I was recruited to be the Events Director because somehow people heard that I used to "do that for a living". I laughed when I heard that, mainly because my days event planning were surreal - oh the stories from that job! Despite the craziness, its been a good time because 1) I get to work with some pretty talented people; and 2) I've had fun working with the marketing director on the logo redesign (the new one is above) and creating this years theme for the event.
This semester's classes are all electives, which has been nice for a change. I have a couple of HR classes - Talent Management is by far my favorite, probably because it seems the most applicable. If I'm not in class I'm probably studying or reading for class in "the office". Michelle (an MBA buddy) and I study on a specific set of couches on the fourth floor of the new wing. I guess we're there so often that the administration (who's offices are also on the 4th floor) have taken noticed and have talked about getting us name plaques for those couches. I guess it's true that we do spend quite a bit of time there, the other day I was there by 6:45am, left for a class, then returned and stayed until my next class at 2pm.
When I'm not in "the office", I'm working. Yes, that's right... "working". I'm a coach for an undergrad field study. When I agreed to this I was excited about the estimated hours, 2 -2.5, that were to be clocked each week. I adore the team of undergrads that I mentor, the project isn't too hard, and grad pay is pretty nice, but a more truthful time estimate would be 5-6 hours. I'm not opposed to that, but there's that issue about budget and being able to compensate me. So I'm desperately trying to still do a good job but scale it back.
And finally, I'm researching this semester - women in business. I started the project last semester but we're finishing up with our qualitative research this semester, which means focus groups! So evenings are filled with MBA women and treats with the topic of discussion being focused on personal experiences in the program and how we can recruit more women into the program. The saga that I could tell on this one is lengthy, so if you really want the full beef about how to get more women in BYU's MBA program ask... otherwise, just take my word for it - it's more complicated than it sounds!
So there you have it. My life in the Tanner.
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