Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Last night our entrepreneurship team, cycleWood Solutions, won again.  We are 2-0 in competitions so far.  They are internal competitions, but we still won.  Last night we had the University Walmart Net Impact competition.  This competition is for teams that have a business plan around social responsibility or sustainability initiatives.  The winner gets to go to move on to the regional competition which is at Rice this year.  There was an unannounced prize last night as well.  The winner received $2500 to cover travel expenses.  This is very nice since cost is one of the factors that limits the number of competitions we can attend.  So we are headed down to Houston for the Walmart regional competition.  We've also been accepted to the Venture Challenge at San Diego State and the Cardinal Challenge at the University of Louisville.  Hopefully we can keep our winning streak going and provide positive exposure for the Walton College.  I'll keep you posted.

First Snow Day

Today was the first snow day of the year at the University of Arkansas.  They did wait til 9:30 to formally cancel classes.  The roads aren't too bad now, but this morning it looked a little dangerous.  We have another snow system coming early next week, so perhaps another snow day may be coming.

This was the first week of classes, so it's a good time to have a snow day since most professors are just going over syllabuses and course structures.  This semester we have a couple new professors for the incoming MBA class.  Molly Jensen is teaching the Business Analytics class and Steven Kopp is teaching Retail Marketing this semester.  This is their first semester teaching these courses, so take it easy on them.  Although I did hear that Steven Kopp is already assigning presentations.  We didn't have any presentations until three or four weeks into the semester.  It is good practice though.  These skills are required by many employers so practice. 

Get Ready

Orientation has come to a close. The incoming MBA class has an advantage over my class, they didn't have any full days canceled. This class is very energetic and fun for sure. Last night we had the MBA alumni panel last night at Hog Haus on Dickson. It was a good time. Afterward, we went over to Grubs for more food and fun. Below are a few pics from the evening.

The Spring semester is the most crowded semester.  We'll have two full-time MBA classes, MAcc students, and MMBA students all over the building.  It can be difficult to get a study room around midterms and finals.  From everything I've seen so far, we should all get along pretty well.  It should be a fun semester.

Orientation

Well orientation this year wasn't quite a repeat of last year.  Although the Mount Sequoyah overnight stay was canceled, the team building activities were not.  They were moved to good 'ol Willard J Walker Hall.  It was fun.  Hopefully the incoming class got to know each other a little better.  I was in charge of the River team building exercise.  Teams had to work together using "boulders" to get across the river, get their "treasure" and get back to the other side.  Below is a video of the activity.

The next couple of days of orientation involve a little case competition.  This is their first taste of case study work.  They'll have plenty more during the Spring semester.  Friday they'll go on a tour of a Walmart distribution center and store.  Then it's a weekend off before classes start on Tuesday.  It's an exciting time, I just wish it wasn't so cold.

A Repeat of Last Year

As orientation for the incoming 2012 MBA class approaches, I am reminded of our orientation a year ago.  Our orientation last year was shortened due to inclement weather.  It was also bitterly cold with temperatures in the single digits.  This year's orientation is looking similar to last year's.  Our overnight stay at Mount Sequoyah was canceled due to snow.  If we have snow tonight, the 2012 class may also have their overnight stay canceled.  Hopefully it won't be too bad and we can continue as normal.  We have some fun team building activities planned.  This builds comradery within the class and also helps everyone get to know each other. 

As far as preparing for my final semester, I've ordered my books.  Amazon is generally cheaper than the bookstore.  You can also find books on eBay, but often times those books are international editions which usually have the same content with different covers.  So if you get an international edition there is some risk that you might have a slightly different book.

I'm looking forward to this last semester.  It should be fun, with little stress.  Looking back, if you have the opportunity to take classes in the summer or extra classes in the fall it's definitely worth it.  Some of those classes are only offered during that time.

I just remembered I haven't done a review of my Fall classes and professors yet.  I will do that soon.  Probably this week. 

Merry Christmas

I'll keep this one pretty short.  Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.  Last weekend we went and saw the Hodo house in Van Buren.  The video is below.



The 2011 Walton MBA class also donated 72 cans of corn and green beans to Samaritan House, which is a non-profit organization that provides a food pantry for those in need.  They also have a Snack Pack for Kids program that provides children in need with food during the weekend when they don't have access to school lunches.

Christmas is a great time of year for sharing and catching up with friends and family.  If only Christmas were year round.  I'm off to enjoy the rest of my Christmas, hope you are doing the same.

CASA Kids

CASA is an advocacy group for abused and neglected children.  Each year they have a gift drive similar to the Angel Tree.  Children are sponsored and gifts are purchased.  This year the 2011 Walton MBA Class sponsored four kids.  Our original goal was to sponsor two.  However, our class went above and beyond our goals.  This should come as no surprise from such a generous and caring group.

Yesterday some of my co-workers at Walmart and myself went out to CASA to help organize the presents.

There were nearly 400 gift parcels in all.  The overwhelming success of this program shows the quality of the people in the communities surrounding the University of Arkansas.

I would encourage any students, anyone for that matter to go out and volunteer.  There are numerous opportunities.  These experiences open up perspectives that you might not see anywhere else, and like chicken soup it's good for the soul.  It's easy to turn away and think that everything is ok and no one needs help.  The truth is that we all struggle at some point in our lives.  To paraphrase a famous song it's always nice to have someone to lean on when your not strong.