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Can’t believe two years are over just like that.  I learned  a lot and for the most part enjoyed my experience at Darden. And now it is time to move on.  If for some reason you want to read about my life post-Darden you can do so on my new website.  Cheers!

You can check out an ever growing list of Darden students, alums, etc. who are on twitter.  Why?  Because if Oprah is on twitter you should be too.

If you are affiliated with UVA or Darden (student, alum, faculty, staff) you can now submit your entry into the Darden UVA Business Plan competition.  The final deadline is March 20th and the grand prize is $10,000.  At least one member of your team must have a UVA/Darden affiliation.  Good luck!

Also, please vote for my team (Fashion Forward) in the Dell Social Innovation Competition.  Registration is required to vote (”promote”) but I promise it’s painless!  Thanks!

EDIT: Vote for 2 other Darden Teams as well: TeleMed Africa & Clean India.  Thanks!

The lack of motivation mentioned in my last post (yes, the one from December 2, 2008) persists.  Sigh.  

Let’s see, I’m taking 7 classes, well, 6 and a DBP (Darden Business Project):

• Supply Chain Management
• Leadership, Values & Ethics
• Bargaining and Negotiating
• Innovation (mostly in healthcare)
• Starting New Ventures
• Business Ethics through Literature (aka Dinners with Ed and Greg) 

Basically, I’m tired, unmotivated and the work is piling up.

Here are some pictures I recently took around Darden.  Enjoy.

This is something I’ve been meaning to write about for a couple of weeks.  Nothing is perfect and Darden, not surprisingly, is no exception…  Over the past year and a half almost there’ve been a few things that have bothered me and that I wished were different.  That is to be expected and as a student you are deceiving yourself if you think otherwise about any school.  I can’t speak about those other schools, but Darden is very good at listening, collecting and attempting to correct problems and complaints.  There is of course that long FY survey everyone completes in the spring of their first year, and the detailed analysis that is completed over the summer with the results distributed to the whole school, but there is more.  There is action.  I have two examples which affected me personally and which have been remedied.  

First, as an aspiring entrepreneur who came to Darden knowing that I wanted to start a company right after graduation I was disappointed last year that there was no specific entrepreneurship track.  At times I felt like I was being guided into a more traditional banking or consulting direction and that was frustrating.  I think there must have been a few of us who felt that way last year and some of my classmates worked with the administration and the CDC to create a career track just for us.  Not only that, but it was actually implemented this year, so the wonderful entrepreneurs of the Darden 2010 could take advantage of it right away!  I hope that they found it helpful.  

Second issue really reared its head for me this year.  Darden is very lucky to have a parking garage right next to the school, however we do have to pay for passes to park there.  Last year I drove to class pretty much every day and so the $600+ fee didn’t bother me so much.  This year, however, I’ve been carpooling with my fiance.  In Q1 he was able to drop me off every morning and so I never drove to class, but in Q2 my schedule allows us to carpool only half the week, which means that I must drive some days.  I’m also not going to be in Charlottesville much after Q3, so when I went to the department of transportation I asked for a temporary pass to last me just until the end of this semester.  Much to my dismay I was informed that I must buy one for the full year, or what’s left of it.  That was almost $500!  You can imagine my delight when I received an email from our DSA President that Darden has decided to make changes to parking rules.  Not only can I now buy a temporary permit, I can actually buy a booklet of 10 1-time use permits which encourages carpooling! That’s in addition to changing the time when you can park in the garage for free from 5PM to 3:30PM.  This change was in response to some afternoon shift workers start at 4PM and who’ve had to pay full price just to park in the garage for a hour.  Amazing!  Not only am I saving money but I also feel like I’m being rewarded and encouraged to do my part for the environment.  

It’s nice to know that while not perfect, Darden is listening and evolving to meet my needs and concerns.  

Here are some pictures from the Darden UVa Business Concept Competition Finals.  Right now I really need a nap, but I will edit later with the actual results.  In the meantime check out LifeBlogDarden for some great coverage of the event.  

Life Sciences & Hi-Tech Teams

Consumer Goods & Services Teams

TeleMed Africa Team

Philippe Sommer awarding Consumer Goods & Services Category winners

MJ, she's instrumental

LifeBlogDarden author

Here are some recent pictures I’ve taken around Charlottesville. I will try to take some at Darden soon as well.

Skyline Drive

Another one while hiking on Blue Ridge Parkway

Again, on the hike. It was beautiful.

The Rotunda

Looking out to the Lawn from the Rotunda

And don’t forget to check out this New York Times article about Charlottesville.