Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
2 days...
Two more days of class. Two more days until I am 99.8% complete with my Walton MBA experience. Excited? Yep. Bittersweet? Kinda.
It is a beautiful night in Northwest Arkansas. I think that the temperature is about 65 degrees, just a slight breeze, and no humidity to speak of. As I write this, I am sitting on my back deck, studying for our ERP final tomorrow and enjoying a nice cigar. The studying is kind of ruining the cigar, but you do what you have to do. Tomorrow, the rain is supposed to start again and I do not think that we will get a break from it until graduation on May 9th.
After graduation, the weather will hopefully cooperate and allow me to catch up on all of the golf that I have missed during the program. I have roughly three weeks until I have to start work, so that is plenty of time for 10-15 rounds. Additionally, one of my buddies in my cohort is getting married at the beach, so a few of us are heading to Alabama the weekend after graduation for some sun and wishing Justin well in his future endeavors. June 8th is the first day of work at Walmart. I will be part of the Finance Department, as a manager with the Accounting and Finance Development Program. This is an awesome opportunity for me, as it is a 2-year program that will give me invaluable experience within many different areas of corporate finance. For those still deciding on the Walton MBA, please know that I hit upon this position at the Fall Career Fair at the Sam M. Walton College of Business and the various career resources at Walton College played a key role in preparing me for interviews and salary discussions.
Rebel has asked that the graduating second year students put up some posts to reflect upon our time here, and I will start that tomorrow. Right now, back to the cigar, the ERP final, and some Kings of Leon.
It is a beautiful night in Northwest Arkansas. I think that the temperature is about 65 degrees, just a slight breeze, and no humidity to speak of. As I write this, I am sitting on my back deck, studying for our ERP final tomorrow and enjoying a nice cigar. The studying is kind of ruining the cigar, but you do what you have to do. Tomorrow, the rain is supposed to start again and I do not think that we will get a break from it until graduation on May 9th.
After graduation, the weather will hopefully cooperate and allow me to catch up on all of the golf that I have missed during the program. I have roughly three weeks until I have to start work, so that is plenty of time for 10-15 rounds. Additionally, one of my buddies in my cohort is getting married at the beach, so a few of us are heading to Alabama the weekend after graduation for some sun and wishing Justin well in his future endeavors. June 8th is the first day of work at Walmart. I will be part of the Finance Department, as a manager with the Accounting and Finance Development Program. This is an awesome opportunity for me, as it is a 2-year program that will give me invaluable experience within many different areas of corporate finance. For those still deciding on the Walton MBA, please know that I hit upon this position at the Fall Career Fair at the Sam M. Walton College of Business and the various career resources at Walton College played a key role in preparing me for interviews and salary discussions.
Rebel has asked that the graduating second year students put up some posts to reflect upon our time here, and I will start that tomorrow. Right now, back to the cigar, the ERP final, and some Kings of Leon.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
speakers
I know that a few of my entries have been about the great business community that surrounds the Walton College, but here is another one.
Today in our Corporate Strategy class, we hosted two guest speakers: Andy Ruben and Andrew Hudson. If anyone is slightly interested in sustainability, you should hopefully recognize Andy Ruben's name. He is the individual who led Walmart's recent push to incorporate sustainability into their business model and is still one of the major players in corporate sustainability efforts in the US. Andrew Hudson is from the Environmental Defense Fund and is part of the EDF project team located in Bentonville. Just like the people from Walmart and SAP who came to talk with our ERP class, Andy and Andrew are at the epicenter of corporate sustainability. The class had a great discussion, lead by Andy, Andrew, and Dr. John Johnson of Walton College's Applied Sustainability Center (check them out at http://asc.uark.edu/).
I did not have a chance to ask Andy or Andrew where else they have gone to speak with students like they have done with the Walton MBA program, but I am sure that the list is not that long. This just serves to highlight the benefit of the business community that the Walton MBA is a part of, and the access that the students have to corporate leaders.
Today in our Corporate Strategy class, we hosted two guest speakers: Andy Ruben and Andrew Hudson. If anyone is slightly interested in sustainability, you should hopefully recognize Andy Ruben's name. He is the individual who led Walmart's recent push to incorporate sustainability into their business model and is still one of the major players in corporate sustainability efforts in the US. Andrew Hudson is from the Environmental Defense Fund and is part of the EDF project team located in Bentonville. Just like the people from Walmart and SAP who came to talk with our ERP class, Andy and Andrew are at the epicenter of corporate sustainability. The class had a great discussion, lead by Andy, Andrew, and Dr. John Johnson of Walton College's Applied Sustainability Center (check them out at http://asc.uark.edu/).
I did not have a chance to ask Andy or Andrew where else they have gone to speak with students like they have done with the Walton MBA program, but I am sure that the list is not that long. This just serves to highlight the benefit of the business community that the Walton MBA is a part of, and the access that the students have to corporate leaders.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
pie a professor
During our push to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Stacy suggested that we have a fundraiser to throw a pie at a professor. It was a great idea and we raised almost $450 with it. Dr. Tom Jensen, chair of the Marketing and Logistics department, had the most donations on his behalf and subsequently received a pie this afternoon. Special thanks to Dr. Jensen for being such a good sport and helping us raise a total of almost $5,000.
The Ingredients.
Making the pie.
Project almost complete.
Dr. Jensen reminding everyone that he can still change their grades, even after the semester has ended.
Michael's $15 worth.
The result.
The Ingredients.
Making the pie.
Project almost complete.
Dr. Jensen reminding everyone that he can still change their grades, even after the semester has ended.
Michael's $15 worth.
The result.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
dallas pictures
I will add more later.
Luther King Capital
About to head out to Town North Bank.
Finishing up our presentation.
Dinner.
Luther King Capital
About to head out to Town North Bank.
Finishing up our presentation.
Dinner.
dallas
Man, that was a whirlwind trip. The Shollmier MBA Portfolio Management Team took a short trip to Dallas, TX, along with the undergraduate portfolio management class and some individuals from the fixed income portfolio management class, to meet with alumni and other contacts we have in the Dallas banking and investment arenas. It was a great trip and I made a lot of new contacts.
Special thanks to the following individuals for really making the trip happen:
Special thanks to the following individuals for really making the trip happen:
- Dr. Craig Rennie – University of Arkansas
- John Reap - President/CEO of Town North Bank (and his entire team for their hospitality)
- Nick Beare - Stephens, Inc. (and the entire Stephens, Inc. office in Dallas)
- Mario Ramirez - TIAA-CREF (and his entire Wealth Management Team)
- Jody Staggs - PBS Capital (and his entire team for taking the time to meet with us)
- Jonathan Deweese - Luther King Capital (and his team, including Mr. Luther King, for the hospitality and advice on equity managment)
- Jack Sharp - Credit Suisse
- Patrick Carrigan - Smith Barney
- Nate Stinchcomb - White Horse Capital (thanks, also, to Jay)
- Sean Davenport - BNP Paribas (thanks to all of the individuals in Merchant Banking for their time and advice)
- Barry Davidson - Lakeside Capital
- The Graduate School of Business (for picking up the tab on the trip)
Thursday, April 2, 2009
been a few days...
It's been a few days since I last updated the blog. School is starting to pick up with projects and the Shollmier MBA Portfolio is taking a road trip to Dallas this weekend for meetings with local bankers and hedge funds to showcase our work, so I have been pretty busy. Right now I need to get my sector report for the quarterly publication finished, as well as the US economic outlook for our roadshow presentation. I will update with pictures from Dallas in a few days, as well as a more detailed account of life the past few weeks.
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