The MBA Student Voice

MBA soccer champs!

A quick shout out to all you soccer fans out there as I just participated in the MBA Austin winter invitational tournament which is held annually and organized by McComb and I had one of my best weekends at Anderson so far. Not only did we win the tournament for the second time in three years but we did it in such a style and with such an amazing group of people that I am once again so grateful to have ended up at Anderson. I hope to be playing alongside many of you readers next year!

-Chris Varin, 14'

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Election time - Join the EA!

So it has once again been an eternity since I have written here but there have been a lot of things going on. When people say business school is really what you make of it they're absolutely right. For me there are four major areas that take up the majority of my time: classes, my internship at Muckerlab, my own business (which luckily partially counts for one of my classes) and most recently the Entrepreneurs Association has taken over a large chunk of my life.

The EA is the biggest organization on campus and is responsible for bringing together entrepreneurial minded people at Anderson and expose them to UCLA and the LA community to help them start businesses, get recruited at startups and learn more about entrepreneurship. This club has been an unbelievable resource to me so far and I urge any and all new studentsto join the club as it tends to have the most and the biggest events, bring in the best speakers and get the most funding. Now I'm just preaching of course and the reason for that is that I am now running the organization.

Being the biggest club on campus, the EA holds elections earlier than anyone else (including the student association) and the power transition starts very soon in the year. That means that for the past two weeks I have been running around trying to learn as much as possible about the diferent facets of the organization that I did not yet know about, putting together a team and networking with board members of the Price center and other entrepreneurship organizations around campus and LA. It's been a lot of work but I'm unbelievably excited about it and while he current EA board has done an amazing job this year, we're really hoping to jumpstart from that. We've been lucky enough to have a lot of potential candidates come through this year and talk to us about the EA so please don't hesitate to reach out at any point as we have so much to share.

-Chris Varin, 14'

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Wheels!

Wow, I'm late. Ayushman's article did an excellent job in explaining why I haven't written an article in over two weeks. I will spare you the melodramatic complaining that I'm ridiculously busy, going out most nights, averaging 6hrs of sleep a night (welcome back to investment banking) and don't even know what day of the week it is to focus on a matter that is dear to my hears at the moment and that is wheels.

Hollywood Boulevard at Night (source)

Detroit is the automotive heart of the United States but LA is where driving takes its true meaning. Despite its pot-holed roads and rude, lousy drivers LA offers incredible driving opportunities, whether you are going for a ride up the PCH, driving up the Santa Monica Mountains, heading East into the desert or cruising down Hollywood Blvd. Not having wheels my first month here was a serious handicap so the least I can do is encourage you to get them as soon as possible upon moving here.

Pacific Coast Highway

Getting a license in California is ridiculously easy but do spend the time reading the driving handbook as I have friends who have failed the written exam which is incredibly frustrating. Make sure to get an appointment as well as the California DMV is a real pain. The driving part is also really easy for those international students who need to take the behind the wheels part, just coerce one of your new American friends to lend you his car and go to the DMV with you (they're too nice to say no during those first few weeks - thanks Heather!).

Once this is done you need a car. Now I can't speak from personal experience as I just bought a beautiful motorcycle off Craigslist but I can shed some light on what my friends are going through so here are a few pointers: 1) set yourself a budget and don't go over it, once registration, insurance and taxes come in you're going to be over anyway; 2) buy second-hand - Craigslist if you know something about cars (you need to check it thoroughly), dealerships if you want a good warranty but are going to pay over or friends who you trust; 3) take your time - I know this goes against me saying that it's hard without a car but don't rush into a decision for the sake of road independence, people will help you out until you're settled and it's better than buying a car you don't want. Once all this is done and you've bought a car, a motorcycle, a scooter or anything else on wheels you're ready now you can join the hopefully-soon-to-be Anderson Motorsports Club.

My new wheels (Kawasaki Versys 650)

A couple of 1st years are getting together to try and start up a Motorsports Club at Anderson for anyone who loves engines and I just came back from our first meeting today which was looking really promising. Hopefully this will allow me to give you all insight into how to start a student club at Anderson as well. For now though, the brainstorming of all the cool activities that you can do in the LA area once again showed me one thing, there's way more to coming out to school here than meets the eye.

-Chris Varin, 14'

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Class of ‘14 insider summer scoop - PART 7 - "Start of an era"

This will be oue last collective summer post! We’re all here, orientation starts today, we’ve met a bunch of classmates, socialized and found out as much as we possibly could about what’s going to be happening to us for the next two years. We all have different first impressions but here is how we are seeing things today.

(source)

Kyle Forrest: This is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made personally. When I first began thinking about an MBA, I originally thought part-time would be the way to go - let’s face it, as Dwight said in the previous group post, not having a salary is a big change, and the two year MBA experience can be quite expensive. However, in the 6 weeks I’ve spent in Los Angeles before orientation started, I’ve been able to get to know my classmates in a way that I never would have been able to do in a part-time program. The relationships are already more meaningful, and I can’t wait to see how things turn out after the next two years with everyone!

Gregory Paige: Pressing the pause button on a career is a significant risk for most people. I certainly fit into that group. But here we are at the start of Orientation, and I can already tell that Anderson will prove to be one of the best decisions of my life. You’ve heard it before, and I’ll say it again: It’s all about the people. My classmates have arrived from all over the country and across the globe. From every industry imaginable. And with all types of personal and career aspirations. I feel privileged to have access to such a variety of minds and experiences. Ultimately I’m not hitting pause on my career, I’m upgrading from DVD to Blu-ray!

Ashley Mallinson: I have been incredibly impressed with my future classmates, Anderson and Los Angeles. I knew that business school was the right decision for me personally and fell in love with Anderson  as early as my first campus visit, and so far the experience has surpassed my expectations in every way. I truly could not have imagined being this happy with all the dramatic changes that have taken place in my life over the last two weeks. Based on my experience so far, it is truly the people at Anderson that make the school exceptional and set the entire experience apart. It is incredible to be surrounded by such a friendly, intelligent, open-minded group of people who are each individually outstanding in unique ways. I am beyond excited to see what we, as a collaborative group, are capable of. I feel confident that I am starting a new chapter of my life with new allies, realistic goals and no limits!

Alejandra Rodriguez: It has been as awesome as I thought it would be! I had the opportunity to talk with a lot of my classmates before even coming to Los Angeles so I already knew the kind of fantastic people I was going to share my next two years with and let me tell you I was not disappointed! It has also been surprisingly easy for me to adapt to living in a new country and I believe it is because my new friends have been keeping company and helping me every step of the way. Anderson has one of the best communities you will ever find and I am delighted to be a part of it! I am very much looking forward to the first day of orientation, which also happens to be my birthday, so expect a post about it soon!  

Dwight Asuncion: Happy birthday Alejandra! How auspicious! I’m excited to start school again, but I also have butterflies in my stomach. It’s the first day of school all over again. I’m sure I’ll be a little nervous again before classes actually begin. Today I’ll meet everyone in my section and start to build meaningful relationships with them. That’s what I like about Anderson. Everyone’s in it together and willing to help each other. We’re at the start of a two-year journey that hopefully be full of personal and professional growth, and I couldn’t be happier that I’m at Anderson.

Kate Edwards: The others bloggers are correct - it is all about the people! Having spent the past two weeks spending quality funemployment time with my future classmates, I could not be more impressed with how diverse, ambitious, and thoughtful everyone is. We have organized trips to the beach, explored Los Angeles, and even attended our first UCLA football game en masse (Go Bruins!). School hasn’t started yet, but we are all so eager to get to know each other; I know these will be lasting friendships. Getting to know these people reminds me that Anderson was the right choice, and I can honestly say I am just incredibly happy to wake up every day in Los Angeles knowing I have such an adventure ahead of me.

Ann Ching: Every time I have started a new school, whether it was junior high, college, or law school, I’ve always worried whether I’d end up eating lunch alone on the first day. Sounds weird, but I think that’s where I channel my “real” anxieties about new people and a new environment. Well, this is the first time I’m not worried about that, because I already have so many new friends at Anderson. Whether through Forte Foundation, organized mixers, or informal events, I have met a lot of my classmates and they are truly exceptional. I heard that what makes Anderson unique is the incredible sense of community among students and alumni, and so far I have not been disappointed. I’m starting orientation ready to take on a new challenge (and have fun at the same time!).

Chris Varin: I just got back from sunset on the Santa Monica beach with 8 of my other new classmates and I had this moment of existential angst as I briefly contemplated what these next two years would bring. I've had a lot of great experiences up till now and while I don't really believe in fatality it all kinf of lead to this new beginning - I guess I did somewhat engineer it. After three weeks of meeting up with classmates before things start I'm completely at ease and looking forward to take the next step. These next two years are going to be special and I'm incredibly fortunate to be here.

Ayushman Jain: Having spent my first fortnight in beautiful LA and the awesome company of my Anderson classmates, I can truly say that the pre-MBA experience has taken my expectations to a much higher level, and I’m pretty sure I’m still underestimating how brilliant the next two years are gonna be. The social events and even the international students’ orientation were great opportunities to meet a large number of classmates with such diverse backgrounds. The best thing is that we blend in very well together, irrespective of geographical or linguistic boundaries. Everyone has been immensely helpful even before the program starts and I can already see the collegial culture building up amongst ourselves. I’ve also got the chance to interact with people from the Student Affairs Office, Parker CMC as well as the Financial Aid office and they have been unbelievably courteous and encouraging. Thats why, even though I know the next 3 months are gonna hit us like a ton of bricks with all the coursework and job search, I’m totally looking forwarding to starting the next chapter of my life - the MBA!

-Anderson 14' bloggers

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Class of ‘14 insider summer scoop - PART 6 - "Biggest adjustment"

We're all basically settled in now. We still haven't officially started the school year yet, but Orientation is in a week. Here's what we expect our biggest adjustments to being a student again will be.

The biggest (initial) adjustment... (Source)

Ashley Mallinson: Moving from New York to California, I was somewhat wary of Los Angeles as I had heard many nay-sayers doubting the authenticity of the Angelos, harping on the traffic and hating on the "LA attitude". I was prepared to make a huge adjustment, however as a classmate recently announced, I have already “become one with Los Angles”. I love it after only one week! While it is inherently a pesky process to navigate a new city, settle into a new lifestyle, discover the layout and character of new neighborhoods, learn traffic patterns after years of jumping in NYC taxicabs, find the most fun nightlife and social scenes and, of course, balance beach and study time, it has been an exciting adventure so far and I'm loving every minute of it!

Dwight Asuncion: There are a number of things I’ll have to adjust to, but the biggest adjustment I can see is not having a salary. It’s not just not having a salary; it’s basically having a negative salary since I have to pay tuition, living expenses, etc. I’ve been in a couple stores and I’ve had to refrain from purchasing something or had to purchase the cheaper option to save some money. I have to think twice. I can’t spend with impunity. A couple other adjustments I’ll have to make are dealing with the LA traffic, being in sunny SoCal (won’t complain about that).

Kyle Forrest: I’d say my biggest adjustment is going to be getting back into the swing of studying. We’ve had a couple of pre-orientation assignments to do over the summer, one of which, the accounting case, has helped to a degree, but since my undergraduate experience was on a semester schedule vs. quarters I’ve been told to be prepared for a very high pace of learning.

Chris Varin: I must admit that no salary is definitely on the top of the list although I’ve been living on a bidget for the past year while travelling so I feel I’m somewhat used to that already. I guess I’m going to have to get better at time management. Working in investment banking, my days at the office all looked alike and I was basically there constantly. Now I’m going to have to work in club activities with socializing, classes, recruiting, administrative stuff and a whole lot more. While London was big, the public transport system was excellent so I didn’t need to worry or plan before going out of my bubble, here it's a whole new ball park but I'm enjoying the discovery so far. There are plenty of others adjustments I’ll have to make like wearing sunscreen, playing sports regularly and meeting new and interesting people all the time - it's going to be a hard life!

Ann Ching: For me, going back to grad school means an identity shift. For many years, my response to “What do you do?” has been, “I’m a lawyer.” For better or worse, people automatically associate certain characteristics with lawyers - authority, prestige, frivolous lawsuits - so it’s a convenient label. In the past few weeks, I’ve been adjusting to my new identity as “business school student,” which generates less predictable reactions. I’m pretty excited about student discounts, though! The commute to school will also be a big adjustment. According to a recent report, Honolulu (where I moved from) has worse traffic than Los Angeles, but that hasn’t been my experience so far.

Alejandra Rodriguez: The greatest adjustment for me has been transportation. I have been driving everywhere since 2008 and now I find myself without a car in a city that does not have efficient public transportation. To make matters worse I have no experience using buses and I gave up on trying to learn on my own so I bought an iPhone and use the map application to tell me what busses to take. I am loving the map application, it is the most useful thing ever!  I have also been walking a lot and my legs are not used to it so I feel very tired at the end of the day. If you are planning to go to an MBA, you are not very athletic, and you won’t have a car then consider walking in a park every day to train your body. Additionally I have been getting suntanned from walking in the sun so I recommend putting sunblock on frequently if you want to avoid tanning. Despite all this I adore Los Angeles, it is a beautiful city and walking long distances and riding busses is totally worth it!

-Anderson 14' bloggers

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What happens in Yosemite stays in Yosemite

When the pre-orientation trips were announced several months ago my eyes skimmed down the list of destinations to where the difficulty level read 4 (out of 4) and the duration read 5 days (the longest trip available). In short, hiking the Hetch Hetchy reservoir in Yosemite was a badass trip for people who were out there for a fully comprehensive experience; where being thrown out in the wild with a bunch of MBA classmates would provide the ultimate bonding experience and where doing a Texas twosome – a spiritual journey whereby two individuals lock their eyes and hold each other up by the arms as they perform their bowel movements in a 6 inch dug hole in the forest – is part of everyday life.

Yosemite Valley

Our guides demonstrating the Texas twosome

Led by our two fearless guides, Hannah “the mountain lion” Aldern and Jonny “the salmon” Jew, our group was able to survive in the wilderness due to their unique and exceptional skills and personalities. Amongst the brave we counted ironmen, marathon runners, college football players, lacrosse players, experienced campers (both mountain and desert), Israeli naval soldiers and other talented individuals who were looking for a challenge.

Back row left to right: Me, Dave, Jonny, Tanya, Brady, Hannah, Tom, Zach; Front row left to right: Narissa, Nhung, Lauren, Shawn, Dean, Bill (2nd year expert), Lindsay 

Looking back on this trip I can safely say that it will be amongst one of the top MBA experiences I will have. Who knew you could hike 27 miles with 40lb bags on your back while laughing the whole way? How is it that having a rattle snake slither within 10ft of your campsite can have an uplifting effect on the entire group? How can people who were strangers only 24 hours before give you more banter than some of your closest friends? Why are shockingly revealing details about the past always revealed around a campfire and more importantly why are you freely volunteering this information?!? When did poop become a major topic of conversation? All of these questions make perfect sense to me today (although maybe they shouldn’t).

Not sure what's going on here, I think it was maternity stretches (go figure) and Brady was wondering where he ended up

Rattle snake coming to visit our camp

Jumping off bridges 30ft high into freezing pools of water overlooking Hetch Hetchy, performing striptease moves to lead stretches in the morning (some of us were better than others), swimming across lakes, and drinking hot chocolate by the fire (a personal favorite) were just some of the activities we partook in.

Chilling by the pool

Getting ready to cross the lake

Hopefully the pictures will speak for themselves as to how fantastic this trip was but what is for sure is that I was unable to accurately convey the impact that this kind of shared experience can have on your MBA life and I highly recommend it to any student who wants to go on a potentially game-changing trip (although you need to be hardcore for Hetch Hetchy).

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir

Last hike

I’d also like to thank my group for an amazing time in the wild and look forward to pitching my tent next to yours in the near future!

     Trying to end with an artsy picture - by the swimming pool with reservoi in the background

-Chris Varin, 14'

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Class of 14' insider summer scoop - PART 5 - "I gotta feelin’..."

“...that this year’s gonna be a good year” - Ok so let’s be honest, many of us are looking forward to more than just going to class during b-school.  We all come in with high expectations academically and we are here to plan for our futures, but there is so much to experience socially with our classmates as well. So here’s what we’re looking forward to...

(Above: The UCLA Bruin Theatre at Westwood Village)

Kyle Forrest: In no particular order... learning to surf, hiking, camping, my first (of many?) triathlons... and on the non-outdoors side of things, Anderson Afternoons (beer and snacks every Thursday afternoon, sign me up!), all the Anderson related parties I’ve heard about (Casino Night, Anderson Prom, etc.), road trips to Vegas!!, and of course, exploring the LA nightlife. Also, crossing Coachella off my list.

Chris Varin: Playing soccer again. I tried to keep it going while in London and in South America but it will be nice to be on a full sized pitch again! I’m generally looking forward to being in an academic environment again where there are so many types of different interactions in different settings. Club-wise there are just so many activities to choose from that the decision might be harder than I anticipated. Vegas is definitely on the cards as is a PCH trip. An alumni also mentioned to me nights spent going out in Hollywood which sounded like a lot of fun (his stories weren’t entirely PG rated).

Ann Ching: The alumni I’ve spoken to all encourage getting involved in the Anderson social scene, especially Anderson Afternoons! I also want to participate in Challenge for Charity (C4C). As for LA, I can’t wait to hike in Griffith Park, visit the Getty Museum & Huntington Library, and perhaps sneak into a movie premiere at Westwood Village.

Ashley Mallinson: There are far too many things for one post. It is the people who make Anderson awesome, so I’m most excited to meet my classmates. I’m excited for Anderson Afternoons on Thursdays, Sundowners and Lit Club, a uniquely Anderson student-run event basically have a great comedy hour hosted by the “librarians” hilarious students who roast their classmates and host sketches the event. Learning to surf is high on my list. I definitely want to participate in Challenge for Charity! A few of us from New York have talked about starting a “Brunch Club” since LA seems to be quite lacking in that NYC sport, so stay tuned on that!

Kate Edwards: I’m waiting in serious anticipation for Lit Club, because I can’t wait to see how I get roasted! I’m also really looking forward to getting involved in lots of clubs and activities, and just diving into the Anderson community. Outside of school, I’m eager to doing many of the outdoorsy activities I’ve been missing out on in New York - hiking, biking, swimming, beach volleyball, and yes, like everyone else I do think I’ll have to learn to surf. I’m not, however, anticipating I’ll be very good!

Ayushman Jain: My calendar has literally spelled Monday, Tuesday, …WTF (hoping you get the pun) since the last 12 months or so. While on the one hand I know its not gonna be any better once classes start, I’m also kinda overwhelmed with the number of social activities that are already lining up on my calendar. Getting to know all my classmates eating, drinking, and orientation-ing is gonna take the major chunk of the social time. However, I’m so excited by the fact that I’m gonna be in Hollywood so catching a movie premier and some live performances is surely on the must-do list. I’ve always wanted to live close to the sea, so now that I’ve got a chance to, I’d make the most of it by swimming and learning to surf. Although I’m sure the year ahead is gonna be chock-full of social activities such as Anderson Afternoons, my locked-in plans for September feature trips to Disneyland, Seaworld and Universal Studios as well as the plethora of activities part of the True Bruin Welcome, an annual UCLA tradition. I’m so lucky to be part of the outgoing and fun-loving Bruin family!!

Alejandra Rodriguez: I am very much looking forward to hanging out with my new classmates and friends!  It’s all about who you are with, not where! I also want to join UCLA’s tennis club, I haven’t been able to play tennis since college and I miss it a lot. Los Angeles has awesome weather for any sport that does not require snow or ice. Additionally, I am dying to go to Disneyland again, after all it’s the second happiest place on earth (UCLA is the first one of course). Last, but not least, I am very excited about all the shopping I “need” to do. Moving to a new country is the perfect excuse for a little shopping spree…or two!

-Anderson 14' bloggers

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Class of 14' insider summer scoop - PART 4 - "Rush hour frenzy"

We’re almost all here now and everything kicks off very shortly but there is SO much to do once we get in. Here are the main things we had to settle upon arriving and what we did to make everything go smoother.

(Source)

Kyle Forrest: Outside of the typical items that go along with moving (setting up internet, utilities, etc.) most items on my to-do list involved paving the way for proving I should receive in-state tuition in year two. DMV visit for a California license and vehicle registration... changing the mailing address on all my current bills, credit cards, etc... and other items that the Financial Aid Office recommended I do to prove my intent to be a California resident and not just somebody chasing in-state tuition.

Ashley Mallinson: I’m not actually in LA yet, so my to-do list is still rather long. Top of list are changing mailing addresses, new drivers licences, establishing residence and of course, there is a huge push to be prepared academically, be recruitment-ready and ready to prioritize all the great events and club activities that we will soon be signing up for!

Kate Edwards: I just nailed down my apartment with two incredible girls from Anderson, and at the top of my to do list is to get settled! All three of us are moving with very few possessions from the East Coast, so we’re essentially starting from scratch. The decorating possibilities are endless. In addition to furnishing our empty abode, I’ll be working on finding a new car - do I lease, do I buy, and importantly - what awesome ride do I get?? There are lots of decisions to be made. And of course there is so much to do academically before school begins - I’ve been furiously working on my math skills and I even broke out my old accounting book from college. It’s been a while, so I have lots to do!

Alejandra Rodriguez: Thankfully I got an apartment at Weyburn Terrace so I do not have to run around looking for apartments when I arrive at Los Angeles in a few days. Sadly I had the silly idea of requesting the apartment unfurnished so now me and my awesome roommate, Nhung, will have to rent a car and visit Big Lots, Ikea, Walmart, Target, etc. until we find all the furniture and appliances we need. I am also ordering a Laptop to pick up at Best Buy and I am planning to go to the premiere mobile booth at UCLA where we can get discounts on mobile phone services. Finally, I need to pick up some of my belongings I sent to a Relative in Santa Barbara a few weeks ago and pick up my Bruin Card! I am attempting to do all this in three days, wish me luck everyone!

Chris Varin: If you’re international it really helps to get a place before arriving, I can’t imagine what it might have been otherwise. Also make sure that you have plenty of cash or credit available for putting down deposits for EVERYTHING. Gas, electricity, water, phone, apartment... if you don’t have a social security number your initial bill can be quite high. There is so much to get set up it’s hard to figure it all out. I still don’t have a bed to sleep on and I’ve been here 3 days, my back hurts. People are meeting up all the time and you need to be on the ball not to miss anything which you inevitably will anyway. Get a phone early as well as it’ll be useful to get in touch with people early on. Finally, getting a driver’s license is going to be a pain because to get to the DMV I need a car! I’ll probably figure that one out as I go but I want my two wheels ASAP!

Ayushman Jain: I landed here last week and what REALLY helped was the fact that I’d already rented .an apartment and my awesome flatmates Chris Varin and Daniel Kraus had already purchased mattresses. After a 30 hour excruciatingly long journey, I could sleep at my own place on a comfy mattress instead of couch-surfing and making daily trips for apartment hunting! The important things I got done were - opening an account in CHASE bank, getting my BruinCard (UCLA id card), getting a new number and phone and buying some groceries to survive on. The Dashew Center at UCLA has tied up with common service providers - banks, wireless network providers, apartment package providers, etc and all that is pretty helpful for international students, especially those who’re coming here without much preparation. I’m also slowly meeting up fellow batchmates who live close by though my jet lag did not permit me to attend Sundowners (a weekly UCLA Anderson happy hours get-together). Exploring the beautiful UCLA campus is next on my list!

 -Anderson 14' bloggers

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Lively beginnings

I landed in DC last Friday after having said goodbye to everyone in London and made my way to my friend Kelly's before getting dressed up for my visit to the West Wing (not the TV show). I felt awesome. It was a privilege for me to be able to visit the White House in a way that very few Americans and even fewer foreigners are able to do. I arrived quite early so Kelly showed me around her own office (internal affairs) and the general West Wing area. Then when the time of the appointment came she gave me a full guided tour with a few other friends of hers. I saw the White House cafetaria, the Rose Garden, Oval Office, the entrance to the situation room, the press room, the lobby and all the other really cool corridors covered with pictures of Obama on the road. Seriously awesome experience which I highly recommend if you get the chance to do it one day.

 White House press room - I felt uber special

We then followed up with a fantastic dinner at Rogue 24. The 24 course meal with wine pairing was possibly one of the most elaborate in my life. Before booking this restaurant Kelly had asked me if I was still on a backpacker budget to which I replied "I'm on an MBA budget but I'm not sure what that means yet" - she assumed that meant I could spend freely, I hope that won't be my MBA budget or I will forever be in debt.

Hungry? This was a little ridiculous over the top even for a Frenchman
 

The rest of my time in DC was spent walking around, catching up with friends and going to see a Nationals game. While I do like American sports in general, watching baseball for 3 hours was kind of boring. There were no big inflexion points and the highlights were drinking beer and relaxing in the summer sun.

At the Nationals game but I guess I'm supposed to be a Dodgers fan now? (I don't really enjoy baseball that much)

On Monday I finally arrived in LA and things have picked up very fast since then. I went out that very night to a bar/restaurant which had a large selection of beer which was a welcome sight. Having grown up in Belgium I'm used to lagers and ales but I guess I'm going to have to get used to hoppy IPAs while in California as that seems to be the standard. I don't know if I can convert to be honest. 

The next few days were spent meeting plenty of people and getting settled with the thousands of things that need to be done. Tonight I'm going to be going to my first sundowners which I'm very looking forward to and tomorrow will be my big pre-O trip to Hetch Hetchy which I'll write about when I get back. This has been a fantastic week and I'm looking forward to starting orientation and classes, I was assigned to the A-team yesterday which makes me feel really cool. I know Kyle said there was no trash talking between the groups yet but I'm pretty sure he was envious of group A and their early morning schedule.

-Chris Varin, 14'

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Making the leap, saying goodbye again and shaping up (?)

That's it tomorrow I'm flying out to LA, well not quite but slowly taking a step in that direction. I arrived in London from Brussels this afternoon and am flying out to Washington DC tomorrow morning. An undergrad friend of mine is working in the White House and offered to show me around the West Wing so I'm stopping over on my way to California for a week-end of catching up and hanging out in BO's house. And on Monday morning I'm leaving for the Best Coast to start the adventure.

This did mean that I had to say goodbye to my friends and family again which is always a bit sad although I should probably be used to it by now. I just spent 3 weeks at home which is the longest I've spent there since my first year of college and I must admit it felt great, I slept like a log in my childhood bed. I also came to appreciate the place I grew up a lot more having developed a much wider perspective on life over the past few years.

Caroline (aka "big sis" left), Claire (aka lil' sis right) and I

My family lives all over now so it gets harder and harder to see them (lil' sis in Montreal, big sis in London, Dad in Lausanne and Mom in Cape Town) and me moving to LA isn't making things any easier so it's been nice to spend a bit of time with them. I also said goodbye to my old roommate in London. He's also one of my best and oldest friends so we went out for dinner with another childhood friend living in London and it feels nice to know I'll always have my closest friends from back home even while I'm making new ones halfway across the world.

Good old Belgian meal - for me mustard crusted pork foot with "pomme frite", for my lovely companion "boudins blanc et noir" with apple and potato purée

Finally, I've been trying (with little success) to get back in shape these past three weeks. When the pre-orientation trips sign-ups were open back in June I was in China and just about to go on a 20km hike up a mountain in one day. I felt great and signed up for a 4 day camping trip in Yosemite to Hetch Hetchy (supposedly very intense). 2 months later after having lounged around a lot, I'm not sure I'm up to the challenge. With other people talking about marathons, triathlons and even ironmen (!!! good luck Kyle), I've been feeling a bit uh... lazy. On top of that I'm hoping to get back into soccer this year. So I started running. Not much but enough to make sure that while I might be the last one up Hetch Hetchy, at least nobody will be carying me up. Luckily for me, I live close to a forrest and fields in Linkebeek and my runs are done where nobody can see me and in a beautiful setting.

My running ground

That's all for now as I better shape up - I'm visiting the White House tomorrow. See you all in LA!

-Chris Varin, 14'

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