Welcome New Austins!
Posted by James Zackler
Wasn’t that an awesome phone call on decision day when Kate
(or whoever called you) said – you’re in…
…oh and by the way –
You’re getting an Austin scholarship!
I was blown away. What a way to start the Kellogg
experience! It’s a pretty incredible gift we have received from the
administration. Don’t forget it, and use it to enable yourself to achieve what
you want to do (even if that’s different from what you wrote about). For that
reason – before introducing myself, I’m leading with my most important advice
first (which I’m sure you’ve heard plenty of times by now):
If you haven’t already, take no more than an hour to self-reflect
on what you liked / didn’t like about your previous job(s) and what you think
you want to do. Write it down. Let a couple days go by. Revisit and see if you
can add anything / cross anything off. Keep these thoughts handy, and throughout
the school year, revisit this list (whether physically or in your head) and
make sure that you update it as you gather more experiences in and outside the
halls of the Jake (our
beautifully ugly building). While you probably did something similar when
applying to Kellogg, I urge you to not leave it as a past-tense application but
to make it a living thing that you can revisit to [dis-]confirm if what it is
that you are doing is what you truly want to do.
Now – with the sappy pump-up and piece of advice out of the
way, a little about me and why I’ve had such a rewarding experience at Kellogg
peppered with thoughts that might be helpful.
KWEST Disclaimer: I am
leading KWEST Sweden/Norway so if you are on it (I don’t think any of you are)
– don’t read my background section.
Background
I was born and raised in the Bay Area, graduated from UC
Berkeley, and worked in San Francisco at a hospital financial consulting firm prior
to coming to Kellogg. I also devoted a significant amount of time and effort to
Family House – a non-profit providing
housing for families of kids receiving cancer treatments.
While at Kellogg, I wanted to have as many experiential
learning opportunities as possible so that I could continue to cross things off
that I did not like and further explore topics that I did. As such, my primary
focus during the first year was not on grabbing a leadership position in a club
but to get involved in as many interesting experiential opportunities that I could
physically handle: Kellogg Marketing
Competition (1st quarter), Kellogg Impact
Consulting Club (Q1), Neuro Start-up
Challenge (Q1/Q2), Kellogg
Board Fellows (Q2/Q3), Analytical
Consulting Lab (Q3), and Kellogg Rugby Club. However, in the first two
quarters, these along with classes, recruiting, and “networking” became a bit
overwhelming. I was so excited by the opportunity afforded at Kellogg that I
overextended. I felt like
Jason Segel learning to surf and that life/Kellogg was acting as Kunu telling
me to do less. Just understand that when you get to Kellogg, there will be
so many shiny objects in the room that you can participate in. It is all about
prioritizing. Be conscious that you don’t spread yourself too thin as it is
quite easy to do. And that self-reflection I suggest will help you on the
prioritization front.
This summer, I am working at a firm that Kellogg’s re-branding
team would love: Treacy & Company – a small management consulting firm
focused solely on growth and innovation (so no cost containment projects!).
It’s been an incredible learning experience, and I am quite grateful for it. My
client is in the construction materials industry – so, I think a lot about wood
and how to provide sustainable growth for a public company that is integrally
tied to cyclical demand and market prices. Been a definite shift from before
school and I’ve added/crossed off things on my list, which has been great!
Re-reading what I’ve written, I realize that it’s been quite
focused on professional experiences, and I don’t want to misrepresent. So – to
balance out and leave you with a more fun note – you should also start looking
forward to a variant of the following incredibly fun events during your two years
off from the “real world”:
·
KWEST Mystery to Fiji and Samoa:
Ski Trip to Aspen:
Spring Break Hiking the Machu Picchu Trail in Peru:
Weekend Travel for MBA Rugby Tournaments, with Games in Evanston:
The Three Charity Benefits:
CAB Events, to which you will inevitably over-commit:
f
This fall, I’m excited to have you join the Austin ranks and
look forward to meeting those of you I have not already. In the meantime (and
if you got to the bottom of this) – GO! Enjoy yourself. If it’s work or you’re
already on that FUNemployment train, get recharged prior to starting this
whirlwind adventure.
Best regards,
James Zackler