First 7 Weeks at BC

by Matt

Hi and welcome to my blog! First, let me introduce myself. My name is Matt and I am a full-time first year MBA Candidate at the Boston College Carroll School of Management. About 7 weeks ago, my classmates and I began what will be 18 months of rigorous study, culminating in the award of an MBA in June 2014.

These first few weeks have been extremely busy. My situation was unique from my other classmates. I am an Air Force Reserve officer and recently returned to the US from a deployment, arriving a week after the start of classes. While arriving in the US from Afghanistan on Saturday morning and sitting down in class on a Tuesday was a quick transition, the first thing I’ve learned about the BC community is that everyone, from the faculty to my classmates, was incredibly helpful and went out of their way to ensure I had a smooth arrival and was setup to succeed.

The 1st year of the BC MBA program is broken up into 7-week quarters, essentially scheduling the coursework of a full semester into 7 weeks. Needless to say, the workload is substantial, but everyone works together to get things done. Between collaborating on our weekly group accounting projects, studying together for exams, and bouncing ideas off each other for our other classes, I’ve gotten to know my classmates very well, very quickly.

Of course, all work and no play makes Matt a dull boy! The MBA program sponsors weekly Thursday meet ups at local bars and BC’s home football games provide a great chance to meet and socialize in a relaxed environment, introduce classmates to significant others, and generally blow off some steam on a Saturday afternoon.

Overall, this last month and a half has been a whirlwind of meeting new people, learning new things and settling into a new lifestyle, but I know I’ve made the right choice and chosen the right school. As the next quarter begins, I’m looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.