A Day in the Life

Krista Barton 

Hometown: St. Louis, MO
Where I lived and worked prior to Stern: As Assistant Marketing Manager at Arby's Restaurant Group in Atlanta
Summer internship: Marketing Establishment Services at American Express

7:00 a.m. I spring out of bed and throw on my running gear. (Actually, my alarm goes off twice, I can’t believe it’s already morning, and I ponder whether there’s any way I could go for a run later in the day). Like most, today is packed, and I figure I need to take advantage of this unusually warm New York winter day.

Once I’m outside running with my iPod grooving, I’m really glad I decided  to let the morning air and sights of the city awaken me. I run my usual loop from SoHo over to the Westside highway bike path. There’s something about running along the Hudson River and seeing the Statue of Liberty in the morning fog that’s incomparable to my morning runs in any other city. I’m reminded of how happy I am to be living in the heart of New York.

7:45 a.m. Back at my apartment I stretch, clean-up and check my email. My Corporate Finance group sent an email with the study room number that we’ll be meeting in this morning before class. We have a half-hour quiz at the beginning of class today and going over one more practice quiz will definitely be helpful.

9:00 a.m. I grab a cup of coffee on my way to meet my finance study group. My favorite is the coffee from the cart that sits directly in front of the Stern building. Even though Starbucks is literally across the street and small, locally owned cafés are on every corner, this coffee from the cart just tastes the best (and it’s the best value you’ll find anywhere around school).

10:30 a.m. I sit down in Corporate Finance with my study-mates. Even though my previous work experience was in marketing, this class is still one of my favorites at Stern. Professor Damodaran is excellent! He has an amazing ability to make finance concepts interesting and relevant. By 11:00 a.m. we’re happy the quiz is over (which, by the way, will be personally graded by the professor and returned to us tomorrow even though there are over 300 students in the class).

12:00 p.m. I meet three of my classmates at our favorite Thai restaurant, Cafetasia, just three blocks north of school. They have a wonderful lunch menu (and it’s a bargain – which seems to be a theme among my eating habits). The three of us meet for lunch usually twice a week and naturally start taking about our current classes and upcoming summers. I’ve learned more about sales and trading and consulting during these informal lunches than I ever could have imagined!

1:30 p.m. My Operations class meets only once a week so it’s a long class (three hours, to be exact). Today we’re discussing a case on Toyota – specifically, their methods of quality management. I find this case to be particularly interesting after visiting a Toyota factory in Japan over our one of our breaks with 120 of my classmates. (The Japan Business Association (JBA) puts together the most well-organized, fun “trek” to Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. I highly recommend it!)

4:30 p.m. Once class is over I catch up on some emails and head back to my apartment to change before jumping on the subway to attend the filming of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report. A friend of mine had reserved tickets months ago, so we are really looking forward to tonight. Since I didn’t live in New York before coming to Stern, I’ve really tried to take advantage of unique experiences in the city since moving up here this past summer.

7:30 p.m. The Colbert Report taping experience was better than expected! Spending almost two quality hours in the presence of Stephen Colbert was the highlight of my day (sorry Professor Damodaran, your class ranks second, but only for today).

9:30 p.m. After getting dinner with my friends, I head home to begin homework and get ready for tomorrow. I have Professor Silber’s Foundations of Finance class tomorrow (another highly recommended professor) and he makes you stay on top of your game. I do the reading for his class and also for my Judgment Decision Making marketing class that I have tomorrow as well.

11:30 p.m. I turn the actual airing of The Colbert Report on as background noise and doze off hoping it will be raining in the morning so I have an excuse not to go running.