A Day in the Life
Lasith Lansakara
Hometown: Dubai, United Arab Emirates / Sri Lanka
Where I lived and worked prior to Stern: Product manager for technology company in Long Island
Summer internship: Planning and operations for Toys "R" Us
7:33 a.m. I finally motivate myself to turn off my alarm and roll out of bed after hitting snooze for the fifth time. I don’t usually wake up this early, but at the start of the semester I had promised myself to go to the gym more frequently. It was one of my resolutions for the new semester, given that I now have more free time since accepting a full-time job offer. Thus far, I have made it to the gym seven days over these first two weeks – a far better record than in the Fall. I brush my teeth, throw on some sweats and sneakers, and head to the Palladium.
9:15 a.m. I'm back home after sweating it off for an hour and a half. I have a little over an hour to have a shower, get dressed and walk over to Stern’s KMC – the Henry Kaufman Management Center. I am meeting Anthony, a first year, at 10:30 a.m. to do a mock case interview. He has an interview for a summer internship with the Boston Consulting Group and is looking to refine his casing skills. The second years were a valuable resource for me and my classmates when we started the recruiting process last year, so we all make it a point to continue the cycle and find the time to mentor MBA1s and prepare them for consulting interviews.
11:45 a.m. Anthony cracked the case. I gave him a few more pointers on further improving his casing and behavioral responses. I wish him the best of luck for the interview this weekend – though I know he doesn’t need it. My first class is Equity Valuations with Professor Damodaran at 1:30 p.m. I decide to go down to the KMC lobby and see if I can find anyone to go to lunch with.
12:15 p.m. I run into some friends from my block – block 2. We decide to go to Cafétasia on 8th Street, which by the way is the best lunch value in the area. We have Thai for lunch and catch-up, exchanging stories from our travels during winter break. I spent twelve days in Brazil with a bunch of Sternies, while some of the others were on the Doing Business in ...(DBi) trips – seems like everyone had a blast! We also start discussions on possible spring break trips.
2:30 p.m. I am currently in Professor Damodaran’s Equity Valuations class. It’s only the third session, but I have the feeling it might be competing as one of my favorite classes at Stern. Yes, the legend of Damodaran is true – he is an absolute star! Looking back, I am amazed that I ever considered not taking any finance classes and credit Professor Silber for sparking my interest in the subject… okay, now I need to turn my attention back to the class.
3:00 p.m. My previous class ended ten minutes ago, and Professor Yermack is about to begin Restructuring Firms and Industries. I look around and see a lot of unfamiliar faces because half the class is from the Law School. This certainly is one of the larger classes I have taken at Stern. I am not surprised though, considering the class is extremely popular at both Stern and the Law School. Professor Yermack is very entertaining and is an excellent story teller in how he presents his cases. I highly recommend him.
4:25 p.m. All done with classes for the day… at least during this week. Next week our night classes begin, and then I will have my last class of the day starting at 6 p.m. Next on my calendar is the ProMotion Pictures Gala at 7 p.m., but I have some time to kill until then. I go up to the Student Leader Lounge on the 6th Floor to see who is around…
4:40 p.m. I see some of my friends in the lounge, and we decide to go to The Half Pint, a nearby Pub, for dinner and a few drinks before the Gala. This brings me to my second resolution of the semester: spend more time hanging out with my classmates. I accepted an offer to work in management consulting with Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in the Middle East, and these could be the last few months I get to spend quality time with these people.
5:45 p.m. A few beers down, I feel the calories pile on and realize that my second resolution could be in conflict with the first. Sticking to the latter is easy; I hope I continue to hit the gym and stick to my first resolution…
7:10 p.m. We head over to the ProMotion Pictures Gala; it’s at the IFC Movie Theatre on 6th Ave and 3rd Street. I walk over with my friend Beth, who is Co-President of the Media, Entertainment and Sports Association - the student club that organizes the event, Dean Gary Fraser and Jeremy Carrine, who works in MBA Student Activities. We arrive to a grand red carpet production and pose for the cameras inside the theatre. I see some of the cast and crew from my film and walk over to say hello and exchange pleasantries before taking our seats for the screening. ProMotion Pictures is an annual competition, during which Sternies team-up with our counterparts from the NYU Tisch film school to create branded short-films. Last year’s sponsors were Diageo and the Johnnie Walker brand, who gave my team a budget of $35,000 for our project – Payback, a film about drinking responsibly.
8:00 p.m. The screening just ended. After four long, red-eyed nights of shooting from dusk till dawn and four more months of post-production, it was nice to unveil the fruits of our labor and see everyone enjoy it. The other team had also done an excellent job with their film Growing Up – a short that described the five labels of Johnnie Walker. We exit the screening theatre into the reception area, where we sampled some JW and mingled with Diageo executives as well as Tisch and Stern students and administrators.
10:45 p.m. I am now home trying to do some preparation for tomorrow’s Game Theory and Business Strategy class with Professor Brandenburger – a great class that I would highly recommend. I get distracted for a short while and chat on MSN with my sister, who is currently in Sri Lanka. She is in the process of applying to grad schools, and I take a break to give her some feedback on her application essays.
12:15 a.m. Yawn, its time for bed! I flip through my DVR find last week’s episode of the Simpsons to watch while I fall asleep.