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A day in the life: Tuesday Why do I love school? The variety! Why do I love NYU Stern? The opportunities!! 10:15 a.m. – I arrive on campus. I'm starving. Good thing I have this protein shake! I finish reading today's case discussion for Managing Growing Companies. 10:30 a.m. – Managing Growing Companies begins with Professor Okun. We discuss a helmet manufacturing start-up. We address compensation plans for new hires. I say: pay people as little as possible--save money! 12:00 p.m. – I leave class and run upstairs to drop off graded papers for a class I TA. I wish I could give everyone As! 12:15 p.m. – I head to a panel discussion on sports marketing but bump into a fellow student on the way. He reminds me that Seth Goldin (renowned digital marketer) is giving a talk at 12:30. I have read some of Seth's blogs and decide to attend that instead. 12:30 p.m. – I find the last seat in a packed auditorium. There are over 200 hundred students in the room. More come in to find standing room only. Seth Goldin discusses his new research: How we, as students, have been trained to only do as we are told. We are trained to be white collar drones. For true happiness, we should become artists - unleash the genius within. Be an artist of business. (Seth Goldin is also wearing funny colored socks - green and pink with large white stripes.) 1:30 p.m. – I head up to the computer lab. I read slides for my 3:00 p.m. class. I answer many of the huge amounts of emails I receive on a daily basis. I have many things to do. My classmate reminds me of the real estate group homework that is due tomorrow. "What section of the homework are you taking?" she asks. I growl at her. 2:45 p.m. – I'm blind from how busy I’ve been. For a break, I log onto Yahoo, ESPN and CNN to see what's happening in the world. The balloon boy's parents plead guilty! Barack is in China! Allen Iverson was waived! I'm in 3rd place, 5th place and 1st place respectively in my various fantasy football leagues. Just gotta make the playoffs. 3:00 p.m. – I head to my Foundations of Entrepreneurship class. We discuss ways to acquire small businesses, how to see many deals, what to look for when considering a small business, how to get a good price on the business and how to sell it a few years later for 39 times EBITDA! 4:30 p.m. – I present the plan for the Media, Entertainment and Sports Association (MESA) Trek to LA to a room full of students. We're headed to LA in the first week of April. I go into great detail about the companies that we’ll be seeing, the schedule, the hotel we have reserved and all the partying we will do! 5:00 p.m. – I am cornered by 3 students who want further details on the MESA Trek and would like to know how to get an internship at Disney Studios for the summer. I spill my guts. I believe in the circle of karma. 5:30 p.m. – My LA Trek team and I meet to plan out the remaining details of the trip. We are still awaiting call backs from some companies we are visiting. 6:00 p.m. – I sing along to Stevie Wonder on Pandora. 6:10 p.m. – I pitch a few ideas to the head of Stern Follies (annual comedy show) about the theme for this year - Time Travel. She wants me to write for Follies. I wonder if I have time to do it... 6:30 p.m. – I prepare for my 7:00 InSITE meeting. As a team leader for InSITE, I mentor entrepreneurs to position themselves to receive Venture Capital funding. The space is really competitive, and most start-ups don't have a clue. 7:00 p.m. – My InSITE team and I meet with our company. The CEO calls from India. We discuss improvements to the business model, and we question the marketing strategy as well as the financials. We make many, many edits to the presentation. 9:00 p.m. – Meeting over. 9:15 p.m. – I read and write emails about upcoming stuff. A crowd forms around my computer terminal, and they bring me into a discussion about trekking to Tanzania and Vespa helmets. What does it all mean? Only Allah knows. 10:15 p.m. – I decide to skip the gym and head home. 11:00 p.m. – I kiss my wife. My son is running around throwing his football. We play catch. I put them both to bed. 12:30 a.m. – I start working on my real estate homework. 1:30 a.m. – I adjust my fantasy football waiver wire picks. 2:00 a.m. – I email my homework to my group. 2:30 a.m. – I pass out.... Today, I'd like to get into some specific interview questions faced by students entering the Media & Entertainment field. The Media & Entertainment industry typically conducts behavioral interviews. Interviewers are looking for experience and/or demonstrated passion for the industry. The questions are sometimes broad and random. The interviewer is looking for a fit, as there are generally limited numbers of positions available at each company. Here are some questions I have been asked in the last year: 1) What do you think of Hulu from a content provider's perspective? 2) What are some of your favorite movies? 3) Why are you applying to work in…(film, music, etc.) as opposed ....(music, film, etc.)? 4) What aspect of entertainment do you want to work in? Distribution? Marketing? Finance? Production? And why? 5) Where do you see yourself in the next five years? 6) What is your opinion of digital's impact on EMT? 7) What do you think of the potential Comcast/NBC deal? Why do you think Comcast should do the deal? Why should NBC do it? 8) Why are you in New York? Would you move to California? (Asked a lot!) 9) What is 243 power divided by green eggs? (just kidding) 10) Why Media & Entertainment?!! What I enjoy about business school is that every day is atypical. Some of my next few entries will outline my schedule so that you can get a sense of a full-time student's life. On Monday, I woke up and spent the morning preparing my son for school. I then spent considerable time reviewing my calendar. I found out what projects, tests, interviews and extracurricular activities I had over the course of the week. I arrived on campus at 1:00 p.m. to start work as a gallant graduate ambassador. In this role, I met with numerous prospective students. I gave tours of the campus and answered emails. I finished at 6:00 p.m. and immediately dashed off to my Game Theory Class. In class, we modeled out the risk/rewards of complex games - some were based off of the Nash Equilibrium. After 3 hours, class was dismissed! I had a 30 minute meeting with my group regarding our upcoming presentation. I then ran over to the gym to get a quick workout in. I headed home famished around 10:30 p.m! I attended five corporate presentations in the past two weeks. During a Corporate Presentation, an organization comes onto campus seeking to recruit MBAs for various internships and full-time positions. Each presentation targets various segments of Stern’s business school. Some will target both MBA1s and MBA2s, while others may target just one group. Last year, I rarely attended corporate presentations because most of the companies I recruited for did not offer these on campus. So far this year, I’ve been very intrigued by the companies that have come to Stern. I have decided to attend any that seem fascinating. At these presentations, a representative(s) from a business unit and an HR representative(s) give a PowerPoint presentation that begins with an overview of the company. The presentation then goes into a description of the job opportunity and what they are looking for in Stern MBA students. The presentations usually end with their contact information for further questions and specifics about application deadlines. Usually, we have to apply for the position through our personal Stern career account with a resume and a cover letter. Afterwards, it becomes a networking hour. Over delicious cold beers, cokes and shrimp cocktails (or perhaps mini burgers), we network with representatives of the companies-most of the discussions end with the inevitable -“Pleasure meeting you. May I get your business card?” Who presented recently ? Amazon, Harrah’s Entertainment, Capgemini, IBM and Samsung. I really enjoyed attending the presentations. It’s interesting to learn specific details of the companies-many of them offer unique opportunities for MBAs to gain a variety of great experiences. At these particular presentations, opportunities abounded in General Management, Finance, HR, Marketing and Strategy and Business Development positions. Aaaaah it feels fantastic to be back in school! After just a week of school, there is a different feeling as an MBA2 versus this time last year as an MBA1. There is a greater level of confidence and ease as a student in a beloved and familiar environment. It has been a week of intense catching up with my fellow MBA2s about their summer. Everyone had incredible experiences - even those who did not necessarily enjoy their summer internship gained invaluable knowledge about what would be their ideal post-MBA job. I'm excited about my school schedule. I've chosen some highly regarded electives: Managing Growing Companies, Operations in Real Estate, Foundations of Entrepreneurship and Game Theory, just to name a few. I plan to use these particular classes in my future job(s) post-MBA. In addition to classes being in full swing, club kickoffs and corporate presentations are almost as intense. All the clubs are hosting kick-off meetings. I am a board member for the Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students (AHBBS), the Media, Entertainment and Sports Association (MESA) and InSite. We are in the process of selecting MBA1s for 1st-year board positions. This process requires long nights of reading through MBA1s' resumes and essay materials. It is crucial to compose a strong 1st-year class, as many of these students will go on next year to lead the club. Additionally, the recruitment process is now in full swing for MBA2s. Of course, the pressure is greater for those students who do not yet have a full-time offer. The heat, as they say, is on! Excelsior! 
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Eni Bakallbashi
Godfrey Powell
Godfrey Powell, Class of 2010
