Kelleygues!

Life has been extremely busy! Work is absolutely crazy, as I am sure school is for most of you, specially this time of the year with finals and such. The economic situation has made it really difficult for many companies to achieve their targets, many of them have revised their "promise" to the markets and hope for the governments to intervene to provide some stability in this turmoil time.

Now that the elections are out of the way, I think things will get better and people will commence to regain confidence in the market. This will not avoid the global economy entering recession, but it should help a bit. For my part, we are trying to finalize several contracts with different airlines before the end of the year. This is a challenge, positive and negative. Its not the best time for airlines to go airplane shopping, nor it is the time when airlines are willing to sign long term contracts as most of them are either shrinking or parking aircraft.

It is a good challenge for all of us in the aerospace industry as we have to challenge ourselves to think in different ways of approaching the airlines and we have to think of them as partners, because after all we are in this together, without them we would not be here and vice versa.

Anyway, let's help the economy a bit by going shopping this Christmas. I am going home in a few weeks and can't wait to get to Indy, see the new airport, shop and relax from the intense but exciting world of business.

Jaime

Hello All,

How is the new semester going?! This is probably the best time of the year at IUPUI, there is so much going on and the weather is still great! I recently transferred to England from the US with my company and I now look after the Asia Pacific customers. This week I am in Bangkok negotiating a contract with a local airline for their engines on a few new Airbus widebody jets.

In my previous roles I had to negotiate a few contractual items and sell the ideas to the customers, but never had I negotiated a full contract. My expectations were daylong sessions and a lot of heated discussions. We have had long discussions, some heated but at the end of the day we are humans and there is always the midpoint where both parties concede and are happy with the results. I am greatly enjoying the opportunities that my company has provided me as I always wanted to become involved in the International Business world, and this is part of my everyday job.

Bangkok is amazing, this cosmopolitan city offers world class International Business experience as well with an amazing local and welcoming scene for all. There are so many ex-pats here and most business people in this city come from all over the world. I have started to think about going back to school when I return to the US next year and obtain my Master's degree. If you are a recent graduate or are thinking about getting one, I would highly suggest it. It makes a big difference and there is no better place to discuss your real world learning.

All the best,

Jaime

Hello!
 
It is almost time for all of you to go back to school, start school for the first time or enjoy your first semester as a new graduate! Whatever it is make sure you make the best out of it. I recently moved to England, working for Rolls-Royce has really allowed me to continually challenge myself and explore a business world that is truly global. In my US role and was charged with the commercial aspects of the customer relationship for those customers in Asia, Europe and some in the Americas (like American Eagle, etc) and it was in the regional airline market.  In my current role, I am charged with the commercial aspect of the business for the South East Asian region for the big engines (for Boeing 777, 747, Airbus A380, etc). It is a very challenging environment because these airlines need our product to perform with no mistakes- thousands of lives depend on us and as the airline industry suffers from increased oil prices they can not really afford any other inconveniences.
 
On another note, I usually try to provide some type of business advice every time I blog. Now, however, I would like to give you a personal advice. Life goes by way too fast, it is easy to put things that we enjoy off because of other goals/objectives. However, it is wise to find a balance that will allow you to do the things you really enjoy while working towards achieving your goals. It varies from person to person how to get there, but for me consistency and discipline have been a great help.
 
Good luck on your return to school.
 
Jaime

Kelley!
 
What’s up? It has been a few weeks since my last post and time has gone by fast! I am sitting in the plane on my way back to Indy, and thinking about what interesting things I can write about. The aerospace industry has been shaky, busy and extremely challenging lately. The economy has slowed down a bit and most companies are feeling the impact (especially the aerospace industry). We are paying higher prices for things that we had taken for granted- the world is finally catching up with the US!
 
As more and more countries travel further in their journey to become industrialized nations, resources that were once plentiful for a few Western nations must now be shared with other countries. There is high commodity demand and not enough supplies. Our generation will face increasing challenges in the global market, but I think Kelley does well in preparing us for these challenges. Now and going forward, we will have to work together with others from around the world to find solutions that will result in win-win situations for everyone.
 
In two weeks I will be moving to England for an assignment within the company’s overseas operations. I am very excited as I will not only be working overseas, but will be working with our Asia Pacific customers. International Business has always been a passion of mine- I truly enjoy working with people from diverse background. If this is something that interests you, I would highly recommend looking for a company that would give you the opportunity to work overseas for a period of time- there are many of those in the Indianapolis area- and of course if you are mobile, you have plenty of choices around the country. Further, as companies become more aware of globalization, they have specialized development programs for college grads with high potential. These programs provide years of experience in just two or three years!
 
Well Kelleygues, I promise to keep you updated on my European and Asian adventures. Until then all the best and enjoy the summer.
 
Jaime

Kelleygues!!!

How does it feel to be almost done (for you graduating in December)? You must be both overwhelmed and excited!! I remember those days, it will all be over soon, so enjoy your last days. I can not believe winter is already here, I like it for a month, so we'll see how much snow we get this year.

Work is great! I am on my second rotation now, doing mainly financial evaluations among many other great things. I am leaving Indianapolis in a couple of months; part of the program is to be transferred to different sites within the company and my first attachment outside of Indy is Washington, DC. I am very excited!

Since graduating, I've had more time to play around and have discovered many interesting things about Indianapolis. Last Friday, there was a culinary event through the Alliance Francaise, very interesting and of course surrounded by the French culture (got to learn as much as you can about other cultures to succeed in the global arena).

Well...keep it up the last few weeks and I'll post something else soon...(BTW, if you want to hear about something specific of the real world, let me know and I'll blog something related to it!

Jaime

The last couple of weeks have been rather exciting. It seems, however, that write the same every time...but everything is exciting! There is so much to do in Indianapolis and I am learning so much at work that is hard not to write about it.

I went to the Brickyard 400 last week. That was totally new for me and I had a great time. The race lasted like four hours! But the ambiance was awesome! It is hard to compare it to the Indy 500 or the Formula 1 because the crowds are totally different- it was like going to the state fair!

There is never a dull moment at work- the program that I am in allows me to learn so much! My rotations are four months or so. Therefore, I have to learn as much as I can possibly can from the business function I am at and accomplish goals in that time frame. Now, I am working with the commercial team and we deal with contracts, business evaluations, and the customer. It is extremely exciting and pretty challenging. One day we can be doing something and the next another thing completely different.

If you are thinking about what to do when you graduate, I would highly reccomend joining a rotation program that can give you exposure to multiple business functions (finance, marketing, etc). It is like doing an MBA program, and when you are doine you will be that much more marketable.

Anyone of the readers in a similar program? If so, can you share your experiences?

Keep it simple,

Jaime

My best friend got married this weekend! It was an amazing wedding, and I am so glad he married who he did; they are perfect for each other. I made so many good friends at the Kelley School, the type of friends that you keep for life.

Work is great...busier than usual, but since day one I have been busy, so no problems there. I keep learning a lot and still meeting tons of people. A little word of advice, try to learn from everyone as much as you can, you can even learn from the administrators and believe me, they are really helpful. The worst thing one can do is show up in the office believing that one knows everything- that shows arrogance and little humbleness.

It feels like summer is coming to an end, the weather feels cooler and it is starting to get dark earlier. Every summer I have so many plans, but for one reason or another I do not get to do all of them. That is one of the things about life, we have so many lists of things to do before we die, but how many of those do we actually do? Personally, I wish I could balance better my work and personal life. But again, I guess that is part of the learning curve of life. If you have any suggestions, please share!

Keep it simple,

Jaime

It has been a crazy few weeks!!! Work is amazing, yet busy! I am learning so much about the company and the global economy. People would not think that there are so many global opportunities right here in Indianapolis.  This city is like a hidden treasure; we have all the commodities and amenities of a big city, yet we do not have to deal with the crime, traffic and other things that big cities, because of its nature have.

Kelley gave me a great introduction to global business, and I am really putting in practice what I've studied. For all of you that are getting ready to start I-Core, be sure to learn as much as you can. Especially the presentation and case studies that you will be working on. You will be doing the same stuff in the real world!!

On another note, one of my best friends is getting married next week- I am excited about the wedding. Moreover, last weekend we had his bachelor party and we had a blast. So what have you been doing over the summer? What is the most exciting thing you've done this summer?

Keep it simple,

Jaime

Hello Everyone!

Life has been amazing for the last few weeks. I took a few weeks off from work right after graduation and just went back yesterday. On my break, I did not do much other than resting and enjoying the nice weather before going back to work on a full time basis (probably until I retire). I went to Colorado too for a few days; I really love that state. There is so much that you can do outside, not too mention the amazing scenery all around.

Work is nothing less than amazing. I joined a world class company on a leadership development program. Every four months or so I have different rotations. So I will be exposed to many teams and parts of the company that will give me a greater understanding of all the functions of the corporation. All my team members are great, and my manager is amazing. I am really looking forward to spending the next couple of years working with this company.

What about all of you? What plans do you have after graduation? If you like the corporate world, I would highly suggest that you look into a development program. It is a great way to get exposure and lift your career very early in the game.

Hope all is well with your summer and I'll keep you posted on how life is as a Kelley grad.

It has been a few weeks since I last blogged. It has been crazy around here! So what has happened?

I graduated! Finally graduated after four years in school! Graduation was great! It all started the day prior to Mother's day. I had a graduation party and had around 70 people that came to celebrate with me. Family, friends, co-workers, my whole life friends met at this event. It was a great time. Then graduation came the next day. It felt great to walk through the Kelley ceremony to receive my diploma (although the "real" diploma won't be ready until July or August). The IUPUI commencement was longer- nonetheless it was once in a lifetime experience. I am glad I attended both events (Thanks everyone who worked hard to put those together!).

Some friends and family members came and stayed here in Indy for a few days so I was busy showing them around. Indianapolis is a great city. My family comes from the big metropolitan areas of the world, but they were really impressed with Indianapolis. It is truly a world class city-- it is just hidden from the world!

I took a break from work and I resume on a full time basis in two weeks. It has been somewhat odd not to have anything to worry about (work and school wise). Nonetheless, I am sure I will get busy as soon as I get back to work. I am pretty excited to start my new job; it is a leadership program so I will be rotating in different sites through out North America and over at our UK home office. I am sure I will learn much and will serve me well as I develop on my position at the company.

So needless to say, I have not been busy as I usually am. It has been a challenge to learn to enjoy my free time but I am learning fast. This week I am going to Colorado for some more free time fun. I will tell you all about it when I come back.

Keep it simple,

Jaime

Well!

It has been an interesting few weeks. Everything has been going too fast, as usual. I had my last undergraduate class yesterday! It just hit me. The last four years of my life have really been an adventure. It has been great, challenging and exciting. I am sad that everything is coming to an end, but life goes on. My last final is next Friday, May 4th at 6 p.m. (I know, last day and time possible!). After my last final, I will probably go Salsa dancing with a few friends, or do whatever but I am celebrating! I wanted to send a bigger e-mail but finals and projects are still keeping me busy. I will make another post soon, once all this madness is over. Good luck with finals!

Keep it very simple this time,

Jaime

WOW...Three weeks to go. Honestly, Spring semester always goes faster than fall, not sure why but it does. I was in Wisconsin and Minnesota this past week. The American Democracy Project regional conference was held at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls campus. They have a great campus center, very much like the new Campus Center we will have in a few months.

The conference was great and we got to present about IUPUI's Democracy Plaza. It is truly a unique project that allows all of us to be more aware of current events and at the same time allows us to express our opinion on the same topics on a safe way. On the last day of the conference, they had an award for the most innovative and most sustainable projects. Democracy Plaza won the Most Innovative award!

I must say that through out my four years at IU I have had many opportunities to attend national and regional conferences, case competitions and many other important events. These all have helped me develop personally and professionally. I encourage all of you to take advantage of these opportunities when they become available to you, they are invaluable.

My final race to the end starts tomorrow. I have one exam and then another one on Tuesday. Good luck to all of you and I'll try to write something in between all these madness.

Keep it simple,

Jaime

Four weeks to the end!

We have entered the last few weeks of the semester. It is officially April and I am sure most of us are freaking out about the end. Paper, projects, and finals are comming. Not to mention graduation stuff, work and life seems to get in the way...lol. Nonetheless, I am sure we are used to this end-semester rush and we'll get through just fine, after all we are Kelley Students!

Last Friday we had the Top 100 Dinner at the Marriot downtown. At least 600 people were attended the event and it was a great time. I was very excited to see that 16 Kelley students made it to the Top 100 list, further 3 of them were on the Top 10! This really speaks highly of the quality of peers that we have here at Kelley. The MC was pretty funny, too-- he had a doll with him ( kind of different :)). Nevertheless, the doll was one of those that can "speak"-- it said "You can do anything you want" or something along those lines. That is so true, all of us are capable of doing anything, and only oneself can limit that. Through out my stay at IU, I have learned that lesson.

Looking back at elementary school or highschool, I remember limiting myself to many things because I thought people wouldn't like this, or that. But really, these people that we worry so much sometimes go on with their lives and do not really care that much about us. So do not limit yourself, go out play and reach your potential.

Good luck with midterms, finals and anything else that you might have going on. Until next time,

Jaime

Life is going 100 mph!

Now that Spring Break is gone, end of semester is just around the corner. I am sure that all of you are trying to wrap up projects and midterms by now. It is a constant adrenaline rush, at least it is for me now a days. Nonetheless, I am pretty excited about it. A totally new chapter in my life is about to start and can’t wait for it. At the same time, I will for sure miss school—maybe not the first few months, but at one point I will miss it, no doubt about it.

My godchild is now almost six months old and he is starting to touch and look at everything. Even his life seems to be going at 100 mph! Work has been going great, too. There are so many things going on worldwide, that one must be on top of things to really know what is and what is not good for the business. And really, now a days everything is global and one must really be aware of it. A currency change in some country in Asia can have an impact in our economy- everything is so connected! That is something that Kelley made sure I learned.

In the midst of everything, I am planning a graduation party. I am not very good at it, so any advice is welcomed. Well, until next time study REALLY hard, party some and be safe.

Hello All,

How is everyone doing? It’s been an interesting few weeks, a lot has happened yet it feels like nothing has really happened…have you ever felt like that? School is going great (we are closer to graduation of course); I have my first (or second, I can not keep track :)) test tomorrow. But weather is not looking good so it might be rescheduled for later in the week; either way it would be fine because I actually studied over the weekend for this test. Yes, for the first time this semester I actually spent last weekend doing homework- not all the time, but a big chunk of it-- which made me feel quite productive.

Here is a trivia game for you, what do these mean? ETI, FTF, NDPGR, DPGR, QPAI, QPAD, QPP: Extraterrestrial Item, Fried Thai Food? There are all sorts of acronyms that I’ve learned at my new role at work, most of these won’t make sense unless you make something up or you’ve been there for a few months. There are tons of acronyms at the office, but what company does not have a huge list? Even at home we have acronyms; it is part of a company’s culture and let’s face it, it sounds way cooler to say M&A than mergers and acquisitions. Needless to say, work is going great. I am learning a lot and I am quite busy with some projects. There is one project, however, that is very, very important and I can’t tell you about it or I would have to kill you all and frankly I rather not. Now I see that all the ethics that we learn in class does make a difference…sometimes you’ll find yourself working on projects and/or for companies that deal with a lot of classified information—so ethics, both personal and corporate play a huge deal in the real world.

On another note, there is this sort of challenge that I am making myself do. The challenge is to collect blankets and other bedclothes from my house and friends and pass them around to homeless people around the city. It has been extremely cold this winter and honestly just walking to the car can be extremely painful, so just imagine having to be outside all the time. Anyway, I challenge you to do the same thing if you can. You do not have to do pass clothes around, but you can always do something good for other people, like smiling to your fellow classmate…it can make a huge difference.

Well peers, I am off. Watch out for the weather and keep it simple.

Jaime

Indianapolis, we are going to the Superbowl!!!!!!

Is everybody bumped up because of the awesome victory of the Colts vs. the Patriots! Needless to say anything else my weekend was GREAT. I hanged out too much and did not spend enough time working on homework as I should have. Man! I really have to learn that I must do homework over the weekends; otherwise I will be in the same situation as I was last semester (freaking out the last few weeks of class, that is). Saturday, I was in school for a few hours, but not doing homework...lol. One of my New Year’s resolutions was to work out a little more, so I have been going daily to the gym at school since spring classes started. It is pretty convenient to have the gym on campus—if you are there (IUPUI) all day you might as well use it. I also swim, so is even more convenient- I lift some weights and then off to the pool for some laps.

Anyway Saturday was good, besides working out we went to the symphony and then for dinner and desert. Downtown was packed with all the Colts fans AND there was a cheerleader convention going on too (Unless girls like to go out dressed up with uniforms and paint their faces exaggeratedly on Saturday night nowadays, I am pretty sure it was a convention).

Sunday was football day- since the games did not start until 3:00 pm (Bears vs. Saints) I pretended to do some homework in the morning. Then my favorite person in the whole world came to visit, that is my godson Caden. He is barely three months old and he is awesome, he loves football and we have a blast every time he comes to visit!

Well, keep enjoying your semester and one word of advice (as usual): when you are watching your favorite sports team play, say the Colts, and you like to jump up and down like a kangaroo make sure that the ceiling is not too close—if you hit your head it can be painful!

Keep it simple,

Jaime

Indianapolis, we are going to the Superbowl!!!!!! Is everybody bumped up because of the awesome victory of the Colts vs. the Patriots! Needless to say anything else my weekend was GREAT. I hanged out too much and did not spend enough time working on homework as I should have. Man! I really have to learn that I must do homework over the weekends; otherwise I will be in the same situation as I was last semester (freaking out the last few weeks of class, that is). Saturday, I was in school for a few hours, but not doing homework...lol. One of my New Year’s resolutions was to work out a little more, so I have been going daily to the gym at school since spring classes started. It is pretty convenient to have the gym on campus—if you are there (IUPUI) all day you might as well use it. I also swim, so is even more convenient- I lift some weights and then off to the pool for some laps. Anyway Saturday was good, besides working out we went to the symphony and then for dinner and desert. Downtown was packed with all the Colts fans AND there was a cheerleader convention going on too (Unless girls like to go out dressed up with uniforms and paint their faces exaggeratedly on Saturday night nowadays, I am pretty sure it was a convention). Sunday was football day- since the games did not start until 3:00 pm (Bears vs. Saints) I pretended to do some homework in the morning. Then my favorite person in the whole world came to visit, that is my godson Caden. He is barely three months old and he is awesome, he loves football and we have a blast every time he comes to visit! Well, keep enjoying your semester and one word of advice (as usual): when you are watching your favorite sports team play, say the Colts, and you like to jump up and down like a kangaroo make sure that the ceiling is not too close—if you hit your head it can be painful! Keep it simple, Jaime

Indianapolis, we are going to the Superbowl!!!!!! Is everybody bumped up because of the awesome victory of the Colts vs. the Patriots! Needless to say anything else my weekend was GREAT. I hanged out too much and did not spend enough time working on homework as I should have. Man! I really have to learn that I must do homework over the weekends; otherwise I will be in the same situation as I was last semester (freaking out the last few weeks of class, that is). Saturday, I was in school for a few hours, but not doing homework...lol. One of my New Year’s resolutions was to work out a little more, so I have been going daily to the gym at school since spring classes started. It is pretty convenient to have the gym on campus—if you are there (IUPUI) all day you might as well use it. I also swim, so is even more convenient- I lift some weights and then off to the pool for some laps. Anyway Saturday was good, besides working out we went to the symphony and then for dinner and desert. Downtown was packed with all the Colts fans AND there was a cheerleader convention going on too (Unless girls like to go out dressed up with uniforms and paint their faces exaggeratedly on Saturday night nowadays, I am pretty sure it was a convention). Sunday was football day- since the games did not start until 3:00 pm (Bears vs. Saints) I pretended to do some homework in the morning. Then my favorite person in the whole world came to visit, that is my godson Caden. He is barely three months old and he is awesome, he loves football and we have a blast every time he comes to visit! Well, keep enjoying your semester and one word of advice (as usual): when you are watching your favorite sports team play, say the Colts, and you like to jump up and down like a kangaroo make sure that the ceiling is not too close—if you hit your head it can be painful! Keep it simple, Jaime

What's Up Everyone?

Have you ever noticed that little things that matter most are usually things that take the longest to complete? I do not know why I bring this, but that's what has happened lately for me. Big projects either at school or at work have been going on smoothly, however it's been hard to find time to do the small projects or little things (like writing this...lol).

This past weekend a group of friends from the Kelley School and I were down in Bloomington competing on the Kelley-Krannert case competition; it was intense but such a valuable experience. We went down there Friday morning and met the participants from Both Kelley Bloomington and Purdue, then we got the case around 3 and worked on it until 4 am the next day. We had barely a couple of hours of sleep before we had to present the case- so it was a challenging experience because we had to maximize the use of our time and exploit the use of our skills to make the best out of it. If you ever have the chance to be on a case competition, I would recommend doing one, you would learn so much from yourself!

Other than the case, life has been hectic as usual. Work and school is enough, but I have to make time for family and friends as well. I am really looking forward for Thanksgiving break, I am heading down to Colorado to visit friends and hopefully we'll get to do some skiing.

Well friends, study hard and play harder. I'll catch up in a few weeks.

Jaime

SENIORS: I find my self struggling to motivate myself to make it through the semester, however the race is not over yet. Remember to continue to study and do well in school, just a few more days!

Kelleygues!

Man can it be any colder today! It is Monday and it has been a great day thus far—I did not get Colts tickets but I went to the Colts hangar at the airport for a sweet preview of their Helicopter. It has Rolls-Royce engines, so a manager at RR graciously invited me to join them on today’s adventure. Besides work which is always exciting, life has been pretty busy—with midterms and papers and the semester starting to wrap up I have been doing a lot of homework and leaving behind the fun times.

It’s been a great semester for Democracy Plaza; we had some quality speakers and the Pass the Mic sessions keep attracting crowds of all sorts. The best thing about these series of events is that everyone can express what’s on their mind—the other day there were some people debating capitalism and this Wednesday, a group will be debating Indiana’s Marriage Amendment—should be interesting.

Well folks party hard, study harder and I’ll catch up in a couple of weeks.

Jaime

Hello Kelleygues,

How is everyone doing? I can not believe that I am writing again, it was two weeks ago when I did, and I know that I mention often how fast time goes, but it really does go by pretty fast! Over the last few weeks I've been somewhat busy with exams and homework, we had midterms this last week and a lot of papers are starting to get due soon. The weather has been great though, I have been able to be outside almost everyday this week-- but I fear this is or was, our last week of warm weather...we'll see how it goes.

I am at Panera Bread close to where I live, I am really impressed of the diversity of the city-- I've heard people coming in and out speaking at least five different languages within the last 2 hours! So it is October now, isn't Columbus day tomorrow? And then one of my favorite days, Halloween is coming pretty soon too-- I just love all the parties and people dressing in all sorts of costumes-- my favorite though is the people dressing like they belong to some sort of middle ages club.

Well, I hope to see some of you at these upcoming festivities-- until then have fun, be safe and study beforehand for your exams-- it's not fun to study a day or worse a few hours before them!

Jaime

Hello Kelleyagues,

How is life going for everyone? Pretty good for myself, can’t complain at all. We are a few days away from October and it is already getting cold :(. The past weeks since I posted have been quite interesting: Work is going great—I am at Rolls-Royce and the projects that I work on deal with all sorts of business activities including finance, process improvement, product quality, etc. In addition, I have been training on Green Belt methodology and just last week I was told that one of the projects that I’ll direct will be a GB one, which means that when I finish it I will be Green Belt certified, how cool is that!

This past weekend some friends and I went to a Middle Eastern festival, it was a good time. They had good food and great music—it is so easy to dance that type of music ?. What about campus life?! I’ve seen all sorts of events going on—the best one though was the opportunity to throw pies to the Deans. I think you paid a dollar or so to throw an entire pie to them. Quite a way to introduce yourself to the dean, wouldn’t you say so? And what about the progress of the new campus center? They seem to be on a rush to finish it, it’s going up pretty fast and I think it the exterior is supposed to be completed by December (hopefully traffic will get better over there :).

Do you guys know what’s the best way to get Colts tickets for this season? I’ve tried to get some but they are all sold out—I think before I call myself a true Hoosier I need to go and support our team. If you know how to get them and if you see me on the hall let me know!

Ok amigos—be safe, have fun and I’ll catch up in a few weeks.

Jaime (In case you are wondering how to pronounce my name it’s Hi- meh…kind of…)

Hola Everyone,

These last few weeks have been going too fast! This semester kicked off a few weeks ago, I can not believe we are already in the third week of classes!—There has been a lot of events going on on-campus and across the city. Over the weekend, I decided to “postpone” working on my homework and have some fun instead. Friday, I went to the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis; it was pretty amazing! The young contestants (probably younger than most of us, some are 16!) play like pros and you feel in Carnegie Hall. On Saturday I went to the Greek Festival-- they had excellent food and the entertainment was good as well. They had children dressed and dancing in typical Greek costumes, which was pretty interesting to see. After familiarizing myself with the Greek culture, I went to the Mass Ave. to get a little taste of it. Needless to say that was the best part of my day! They had all sorts of venues – you literally could taste Mass Avenue—they had all sorts of food and drinks, live music, and best of all there were people all over the place. You really don’t have to leave Indy to experience all this stuff, we have it right here.

Besides having a lot of fun and skipping homework, I’ve also been somewhat busy preparing for Democracy Plaza’s kick off season—there will be all sorts of speakers and next week (September 18-20th) We’ll celebrate the U.S. Constitution by hosting several constitution discussions across these dates in the Plaza (which is underneath the Kelley School building). We’ll be there from 12:15 to 1:00 p.m. and there will be FREE pizza for all of those who attend. Well, I better get going because I REALLY need to do homework after all this procrastination. I’ll be in touch soon, until then be safe and have fun!

Jaime

Well summer is gone and we are back in school!!! I came back to Indy a coupe of weeks ago and I am still trying to catch up with life over here—I was away doing an internship and let me tell you that the stuff that we learn in class here @ Kelley really makes a difference when you go out into the real world. Near the end of this finance internship, all the interns (including me :)) had to do a presentation on our summer projects to senior executives—so for all of you that are taking public speaking class take advantage of it, what you learn will come in handy when you have to do presentations in the corporate world. For my I-Core fellow students, be sure that you are not wasting your time on this project; another part of the internship was a one day “I-Core” experience. We were given less than a day to come up with recommendations and solutions for real life business problems and we had to present that to the CFO—pretty intense, but if you’ve been through I-Core you’ll be that much more prepared.

So we are back in school—I am really looking forward to this year (not only because it’s my last) but because of all the things going on like WOW (weeks of welcome), new students, new classes, catching up with old friends, etc, etc. Enjoy the beginning of your semester and I’ll catch up with you guys in a couple of weeks-- JNJ

Here are a few pics: one from the internship and the other from WOW