I’m always excited right before school starts. I love school. I love new notebooks that have clean pages, I love meeting new teachers (ahem, professors) and I love meeting new people. Even though it has always been challenging, I’ve never been too nervous about the actual school part, though, since it’s what I’m good at and enjoy doing.
This time it’s different. This time they’re paying me to do well. (Although I guess my parents were previously “paying me” to do well…but they’re my parents and would love me even if I hadn’t done so great). This time it’s my job. This time so much more is expected of me. I’m kind of freaking out.
I made the decision to go to graduate school last summer while I was interning at a software company, ExactTarget, in Indianapolis, IN. GREAT company–I recommend it to any recent graduate looking for a place to work with fun, dedicated people in an amazing work environment. While I realized the work wasn’t exactly for me, it also led me to start thinking about potential research questions.
**A little background here is necessary, I think**
I started off at Notre Dame as a Business student; to ensure breadth of education I chose the Management-Entrepreneurship track. In all of my courses I got a little bit of each part of business: Marketing, Management, Finance, Accounting, IT. I don’t regret that major in any way.
Second semester freshman year I took an introduction to anthropology course to satisfy my social science requirement. Fell in love right there. My professor was James McKenna, the tap-dancing, mother-infant studying, mouseketeer. He is the kindest, most sincere man I have ever met in my life. Beyond that, he just oozed passion. I could tell that he absolutely loved the work he was doing. I never looked back after that class (even though some people considered it an ‘easy’ course, I think you really got out of it what you put into it, and Professor McKenna just let you make that decision for yourself). I decided I would minor in Anthropology. Scratch that, with a few more classes I could second major. Oh hell–I might as well go for the dual degree! (This kind of thinking earned me several 18 credit semesters…but now I have two beautiful diplomas hanging to my right, and I think I’m a better person for it).
Fast forward to that internship last summer. At the beginning of the summer I was still planning on a JD-MBA program. I was studying for the LSAT, albeit not wholeheartedly. Instead of the Bones summer program with Sue Sheridan, I decided to take a business internship. My job was to profile different positions in the company, specifically individuals who excelled at their work. I was to observe, interview and process all of my data gathering into a list of traits requisite to be successful in the particular positions. This list of traits was then translated into a behavioral interview guide for new hire candidates. My favorite part of my work was the observation and interviews. Sound familiar to another discipline I enjoy?
On top of that, ExactTarget had such an amazing office culture. It was focused on (genuine) relationships, merit-based seniority, openness of communication, and the desire to make sure that every employee sincerely ENJOYED coming to work every morning. Jeans and flip flops were the uniform (unless of course you were a developer, in which case you wore shorts and tshirts). Flex hours were acceptable: as long as you got your work done, who cares if you come in at 10AM and leave at 7PM?
I was in awe of how different it was compared to the internships my finance major peers had. How different it was from any notion of “corporate America” that I had previously held. What made this company culture so different? Did the predominantly young workforce influence its direction? Is the culture driven by the ideals of the CEO? ….My mind was a-buzz with all of these questions. [By the way, I think in this case, the CEO played a large role. I invited him (me, a mere summer intern!) to lunch to talk about my internship and about his company and how he ended up where he was. He accepted and took me and a fellow intern out to lunch at a fancy club restaurant, and was completely candid and genuinely friendly.]
I came to the conclusion that the only way I’d find out would be to study them myself. And so the decision to go to graduate school for Anthropology was made. I felt so happy when I finally said it aloud that I knew it was the right choice for me.
And now I’m less than two weeks away from it all starting and I’m freaking out. What if I don’t do well? The only other two first years I have met are intimidatingly focused and certain of their research interests. They’ve taken a few years off in between undergrad and grad school and used the time working in the field. What if I don’t measure up to my peers? Ahh. It’s all a bit overwhelming. I just need to calm down, I’m sure it’ll all be fine. But I’m starting a massive 6 year journey that I am sure will break me down at times, and I really need to just dive in head first.
Here’s hoping the water’s fine!
