Orientation Week

I wrote and re-wrote this entry many, many times in my head. It has been a very eventful week, so there are a lot of things to talk about. I will take the chronological approach, so that you can get the most of this account.

Sunday, August 17th, was the first day of orientation. There were about 200 of us, nervous and overwhelmed to see so many new faces, but very excited to meet everybody. It helped a lot that a few days before, the campus organized an informal welcome reception giving us a head start in getting to know one another. Now, a bit less intimidated, we proceeded to take pictures, get our ID’s, take some more pictures, and talk some more.

Monday was the day that most of us headed to Calamigos Ranch for a retreat and for our first class in Organizational Behavior. It was a very interesting experience, but also very draining. We spent the next couple of days talking, networking, bonding, sharing a lot of emotional stories and space, and also some umm... brewing, sugary… water!? I swear there was some water in that!

Although very tiring, Calamigos gave us the opportunity to meet a looot of interesting people from all over the world. We definitely heard some amazing, eye-opening stories. I wish I could repeat them here, but for obvious reasons, I cannot. I just remember thinking: “Wow! Do these things really happen now in the 21st century?” It made me realize that we talk about globalization as an economic advantage, but we are more often than not clueless about what is really going on in the world.

Thursday was a full day of career workshops. I personally love that Pepperdine, and the Graziadio School in particular, puts so much effort into offering career resources. The sessions were very insightful and helpful, and I was pleased to see that some of the guests were actually MBA alumni. As Pepperdine graduates, we might not have the same career-launching platform as students attending big school names, but we do have the biggest alumni network in California. And sometimes, in business, and especially in LA ☺, it is not about what you know, it is who you know.