The rest of the campus

Going to SOM can be isolating because all our classes are in the same building. And that building is 0.5 miles from my apartment, so basically I'm woefully unfamiliar with the greater Yale campus, despite having attended school here for a year.

I imagine this is common among grad students. You get so caught up in your bubble -- especially during first year, when you have all your core classes with the same people -- that you may not do much outside that school or even meet many students elsewhere.

This year, though, I'll be taking nothing but electives, and those can be outside SOM. So I'm enrolling in a semester-long film studies class called Theory of Media, which will meet in the little room pictured above, a good 25-30 minute walk from my apartment. (It was pleasant exercise today; ask me again in December.) I'm looking forward to taking a liberal arts class, getting out of the business-school building for a bit, and meeting a few non-SOM students ...

... assuming that's the vibe. Back in undergrad, I remember expecting to meet new people as I took various classes, but in real life that wasn't always the dynamic. But I'm not as shy as I was then. In New York this summer, I got better at the art of chatting with randoms. I think most people really do want to be spoken to; and if they don't, it'll be obvious, and everyone will move on unscathed.

Meanwhile, at SOM today I met with a new Career Development Office (CDO) "relationship manager," which is what they call our career advisers. My old one left; this fellow started a few weeks ago. I liked him a lot. I'm starting to explore some new directions and career possibilities. I don't want to give too much away, but these opportunities start with a "c" and end with an "onsulting."

I also expected tonight to finish a case write-up due on the first day of class Wednesday, but somehow resting my eyes in the late afternoon turned into like a three-hour nap. So much for that. Better luck tomorrow.