Just Another Study Night...

I'm trying so hard...

...to get my pricing homework done and to stay on top of my readings:


I wonder how much our cat knows about elasticity of demand...

First my phone...

...then my car died tonight. AAA took forever and I missed the first GBC meeting of the quarter. When I arrived on campus, I was that annoying person who was a half hour late and had to awkwardly find a seat in a room with over 90 students. Waiting for AAA made my cold even worse and being sick makes me grumpy.

If I was in elementary school, I would quote Alexander and say that I am having a "terrible, horrible, no good, and very bad" week.

On a positive note, I had a good day at work and think that I will enjoy my pricing class.

I'm on Fire!

Happy Hump Day & Happy Birthday Internet!

I'm having a great week thus far and am looking forward to finding out if it will continue to ride the waves of good news:

First, I got the green light to delegate the data entry portion of my sales tracking responsibilities (YAY!) so that I can spend more energy expanding my skill set and helping the client managers bring in new business.

On Tuesday, I realized that I wasted too much time over the last few weeks being a pre/post exam grump. I picked up my Operations midterm yesterday and happily discovered that I was ahead of the curve.

Bank of America's Hurricane Relief Team was recognized by Alan Rappaport and Jay Springer (no relation to Jerry) on this afternoon's all hands call. Rochester is one of the smallest cities in our market (DE, NJ, NY, PA and parts of CT) so it was a pleasant surprise that four of the associates recognized this quarter were from Upstate, NY.

In other good news, I'm only one wish away from becoming a lead wish granter for the Make-A-Wish foundation!

Highlights from Peet's Pumpkin Party!

Q: How many pumpkins can fit in the backseat of a MINI Cooper?

A: 6 pumpkins can fit in the backseat of a MINI Cooper with room to spare.

Jessica (upon arrival): "This pumpkin has neurofibromatosis and was the ugliest one in the patch."

Peet:

"Jessica, get your diseased pumpkin off my Buffalo!!"

Simon Students and Pumpkins:

Byron, Melly, Jessica, and Yankee Peet

When I got home...

Amelia (helping me carry our pumpkins inside): Mel, these are so heavy and won't fit in the fireplace! What part of small to medium don't you understand?!

Mel: I did my job! The prices ranged from $4 to over $10. At $5.50, these pumpkins are medium!

Study Sanctuary

I have a midterm a week from Tuesday which means I'll be anti-social until approximately 10:00 pm on October 21st.

I'm spending this evening at the "Stoffel Study Sanctuary" to prepare for my upcoming exam. Aunt Sue always has dinner on the table, snacks in the cupboard, and a never ending supply of dark chocolate desserts. I also love that she doesn't think I'm too old to get tucked into bed.

She taught me how to focus when I was little and now my study sleepovers keep me disciplined. Thank you, Aunt Sue, for the hospitality that helped me earn two financial licenses and waive the GMAT. :)

To read more about my wonderful aunt, check out Sarah's tribute!

Who you going to call...?

...Herbiebusters!

When I chose my second class for this quarter, I was being faceitious when I said that my GBA 411 modeling mishaps on my final exam meant that I was destined to excel in operations:

• "When the inventory falls below one, order one..."
• "Minimize costs by producing nothing..."

I'm either settling into the Simon workload or my self-inflated ego led to "good inferences" during last week's during factory simulation. Kidding aside, I'm proud of my fellow "Herbiebusters" for the collaboration that brought us to first place.

Election Results!

Thank you to everyone who voted for me during the Graduate Business Council (GBC) Part-Time Representative elections! I am very excited about representing the part-time community and working with the GBC executive board!

Congratulations to the other newly elected representatives:

• Daniel Beth, M.S. representative
• Ranbo Chen, M.S. representativ
  
• Peter Dwyer, 1st year representative
• Ricardo Medeiros, 1st year representative
• Erik Monostory, Part-time representative
  
• Jason Reminick, 1st year representative
• Myrdna Vargas, 1st year representative
  

Voter Registration Instructions

Please take a moment to visit the Graduate Business Council (GBC) website on Simon Exchange to cast your ballot in the elections for Part-Time student representative:

• Log into SimonExchange
• Click on the GBC link in the upper left hand corner to get to the GBC homepage
• At the top of left hand column, click on the link for the Part-Time student elections (under surveys).
• On the purple header row, click respond to this survey.
• Finally, click on the radio buttons next to Melisa Beauchesne

I'm Hitting the Campaign Trail!

Please remember to vote (for me) in the upcoming Graduate Business Council elections. Elections will be held online through SimonExchange September 29th-October 1st.

My name is Melisa Beauchesne and I am running for the position of part-time representative on the Graduate Business Council.

Over the summer, I served as an advocate for the part-time student community during several meetings with the student services office. I raised issues such as the timing and communication of campus events. As a result of these discussions, the most recent coffee hour was moved to a later time so that more part-time students could participate. If I am elected, I plan to work with the Graduate Business Council to develop a quarterly forum where part-timers will have the opportunity to personally share their suggestions as well as the issues we are facing.

As working professionals, the flexibility of the part-time M.B.A. program is appealing but also presents challenges for building relationships with our peers because we are completing our coursework at different paces. The diversity of our life and work experience is one of the greatest assets that Simon students have to offer. In my current role as Vice-President of Special Events for Simon Volunteers, I am spearheading the “Selfless Saturday” initiative to bring full and part-time students together while giving back to the community.

As our part-time student representative, I will continue to voice our concerns and seek new ways to integrate the Simon community.

Thank you for your support.

"Life's a journey, not a destination."

Between heavy traffic in Rochester, crossing the border with Red Sox Nation, and construction on the QEW, our delays seemed endless. At 6:30, Byron, Jessica, and I realized that we were not going to arrive at Roger's Stadium in time to hear Peet sing.

Garmin helped us find the nearest sports bar where we frantically and politely explained that the three of us had spent the day traveling to see our friend sing "O Canada." Upon our request, the Lone Star Texas Grill (in Mississauga), kindly turned off the Olympics and changed all of the channels in the bar to Major League Baseball so we could watch Peet's performance on television.

Unfortunately, while he was singing beautifully and throwing the opening pitch, we were watching food commercials instead of enjoying the game from our fantastic seats on the first base line. Jessica won the arrival bet when we finally sat down during the 5th inning.

Jessica and I were originally going to root for the most attractive team but that plan was discarded in the midst of our search for ballpark franks. Being a Red Sox fan seemed like fun so we cheered loudly for the away team during the 7th inning stretch.

Byron tried to protest when Jessica and I suggested that we move to highest seat in the nosebleed section to finish watching the game. The voice of reason was outvoted and the three of us proceeded to climb to the top of the stadium. Our new friend, Val, the security guard, took our photo after he informed us that we could not have an entire section to ourselves.

We were craving Dippin Dots so the three of us left the nosebleed section and the stadium to get our beloved ice cream. When it was nowhere to be found, we decided to try poutine, an authentic Canadian dish, which seemed like a reasonable alternative at the time. We ran into our concession stand friends from Massachusetts at an Irish Pub and we were all happy when I received a confirmation via text that the Red Sox had won the game.

When Jessica, Byron, and I got back to the hotel we ordered a second dinner to go with our Simon celebratory champagne. We raised our coffee mugs for a toast to friendship and how much we have all learned in just one year. The night was filled with great conversation, laughter, and late night TV.

I was the first person to fall asleep and the first person awake in the morning. Not wanting to disturb Jessica or Byron, I went to the front desk to request a clean cup to quench my thirst. The hotel clerk mumbled something so I repeated my question. He still spoke softly but this time it seemed like he was talking slowly because he wanted me to read his lips. When I got back to the hotel room, I realized that I was still wearing the complimentary earplugs that I put on before I went to bed.

We spent our lazy morning laughing about our newly created memories. Byron stayed in Toronto another night and Jessica and I hit the road in time to get McDonald's breakfast. Traffic was still horrendous as the QEW was stop and go at 20 MPH and didn't clear up until we passed the Lewiston bridge.

To pass the time, Jessica and I began blaring Christmas music and wishing nearby cars a Merry Christmas. Most people responded with raised eyebrows, a five second pause, and reciprocal holiday greetings. Occasionally, we received dirty looks which prompted us to turn up the volume of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and start dancing in our seats. We were a sight to behold and were usually able to make the most grumpy people smile. At long last we made it to the customs booth with the least amount of questioning that either of us had ever experienced:

::Jessica pulls up and slightly lowers the volume to our Christmas Music as she gives the customs officer our identification::

Jessica (to the customs officer): "If people are crossing the border in a good mood today, it's because of us."
Customs Officer: "What was your business in Canada?"
Melisa: "We were spreading Christmas cheer!"
Jessica: "If we are going to be waiting at the border until Christmastime, we might as well have Christmas spirit!"
Melisa: "Oh! And, we went to the Red Sox game."
Customs Officer: "Did you bring anything back?"
Jessica: "Nope. Nothing, not even money."

::Customs Officer returns our ID, waves us on, and tells us to go ahead. Jessica turns up the music.::

Jessica and Melisa (waving): "Merry Christmas!"
Customs Officer (smiling): "I'm a Yankees fan but Merry Christmas to you, too!"

Although we didn't make it to our final destination as early as we had hoped, we had a lot of fun getting there. Friends that couldn't make it were missed. Overall, we had a wonderful time in Toronto and much needed break from our recent exam stress.

When we try this again, we'll arrive in time to hear Peet sing and might even catch a bit more of the ball game.

Congratulations Byron!

Congratulations Byron for being the first person in our study group to become a matriculated member of the Simon community!

3 M.B.A. Students and a social worker are going to kick off our summer vacation by taking Toronto by storm as we celebrate in style! We are traveling to see our good friend Peet, and fellow Simon student, sing the Canadian national anthem and throw the opening pitch for the Toronto Blue Jays.

This is going to be a fun filled weekend with multiple reasons to celebrate!

20%

My final was on Wednesday and it felt like I was hit by an oncoming train. I'm not alone. It was scheduled to end at 8:30 but I think about 75% of class was still working at 11:00pm.

I'm frustrated because I know that I knew the material but I don't do very well under pressure. I can already tell that Simon is going to help me get better at thinking on my feet. It isn't good enough to simply understand the material as I need to know how to apply what I have learned on a moment's notice.

I'm (unsuccessfully) trying not to dwell on everything I wish I could have, should have, or would have done differently. On a positive note, moments like Wednesday night remind me why I'm here. As much as I love when I pick up on things right away, I don't want to attend a school if everything comes easily and I'm not challenged.

We won't be defeated!

Lessons learned from the Crystal Ball:

1). Price can't be raised indefinitely.

2). Units are important.

3). It is unlikely that the optimal profit is in trillions.

4). When stating assumptions, always assume that your answers are correct.

5). Budgets are constraints.

6). Partial people don't exist even if you have a bun in the oven.

7). Attempts to reduce inefficiencies with trial and error resulted in more confusion when Solver Sensitivity yielded the same results as Data Sensitivity.

8). If(# of "if statement" parenthesis >=6, there is a problem, 0 problems).

9). It isn't profitable to pay people to go to your amusement park.

10). 48+ hours is too much time to spend on one problem.

11). Maximizing risk in an investment portfolio is not a good objective.

12). A model riddled with errors occasionally produces the best result.

13). It is possible to get the wrong answer with correct formulas.

During ACC401 we learned that, "You can make good inferences and bad inferences. More credit will be given for good inferences."

We hope that our mistakes will help us make good inferences on Wednesday.

14). Post Final Update 1: Order 1 when your inventory falls below 1 is not a good strategy to minimize lost sales.

15). Post Final Update 2: If the best way to minimize costs is to produce nothing, the objective needs to change.

Pre-Exam Rant

I miss the real Java City...

On Wednesday, my study group's attempt to boycott the 4th consecutive week of split pea soup ended in defeat by the closed cafe in Goergen Hall. I surrendered to a Fiber One bar, the most appealing choice in the vending machine.

This morning started off well with my traditional pre-review McDonald's breakfast with Jessica. After a two hour review of data sensitivity and tornado charts and another hour to go, I was ready for a tasty cup of coffee which was impossible because Java City is closed on weekends during the summer quarter. The vending machine made me choose between coffee, cappuccino, or espresso with sugar and/or lightener.

What is lightener and why does it belong in my coffee?! I paid full price for a glass half full that tasted like chalk.

I'll be in a better mood tomorrow because we will be getting together for a post-review Study BBQ, my most favorite way to prepare for exams.

How do you spell....?

What is the correct way to spell the word that Jessica shouts with enthusiasm when she throws her arms up in the air? Your choices are:

1. YAY!
   
2. YEAAH!
3. YAAAH!

Please vote in the comments section for the official spelling of Jessica's trademark line.

2 Simon Promises

While contemplating spreadsheet models and the wonders of Crystal Ball , two members of my study group and I made promises to each other:

1. When we all get into the program, we are painting the town red. Clark is going to wear a suit; Jessica and I will fancy it up. The other group members will soon be informed of this plan. And they will love it. YAY!
   
2. When we all graduate, we are going to spend a week in Marco Island painting the town with every color in the rainbow. Super YAY!
   

17.5%

I just completed my 4th midterm and am officially 17.5% finished with my degree! Even though it is a small milestone, I think it is a reason to celebrate. I felt more prepared for this exam than ever before (and have been happy with my grades thus far). When I walked out, I didn't feel like like I was sinking on the Titanic or had just been run over by a bus. Between office hours and tri-weekly study sessions, I know that I couldn't have possibly worked any harder.

I will never forget how proud I felt on Sunday night/Monday morning. Our study group had planned a study BBQ to get through our optional problem set. When Jessica and I touched base in the morning to plan our grocery run, we promised each other that we would not go to bed until we had finished all of the problems. Our BBQ started at 3:00 and we were all diligently working and helping each other when we got stuck. After we finished our burgers and massive amounts of ice cream, it wasn't long before our group members began to finish up. The first person finished at 7:00 and everyone else had finished by 9:00. Jessica and I were still struggling with problem 4 and were determined to keep each other motivated to complete the problem set. We stopped at Starbucks for a mental break because we knew we would be up for awhile. As the night dragged on, our light bulbs were finally going off and keeping us energized. Problem 9 was the first time we didn't consult each other or the solutions. At 1:45am we both hit "Run Solution" at the same time and held our breath as we checked our answers against the Professor's. Upon realizing that we were both correct, we jumped up, hugged each other, and screamed (not very quietly) with excitement. Shortly after that, we heard both of her dogs barking and her husband's footsteps as he tried to shoosh Phoenix and Farrah back to bed. True to our word, we kept our promise and completed the 10th and final problem at 2:11 am.