Isaac is a T'15 from Denver, CO. After graduating from Brigham Young University with a degree in economics, he headed east for a job with Sears Holdings Corporation in Chicago, IL. Heading even further east, Isaac came to Tuck with his wife and one son. They’ve recently welcomed another little boy to their family. Isaac is currently exploring general management positions in a variety of industries.
5:50 – Wake up with my wife to our crying baby. It’s so painful when he steals that last hour of sleep from me. By the time he ate and was back asleep, it was time for me to shower, grab breakfast, and run out the door.
7:20 – Catch the bus from Sachem Village up to campus. I rode my bike to school almost every day during the fall, but after getting back from our winter break, the sidewalks have been covered in snow or ice so switched to the bus. There aren’t many Tuckies that take the bus, but it’s a great option for us when my wife’s not heading out at the same time (we have just one car). From my front door to Tuck, my trip probably takes about 25 minutes.
7:45 – Quickly read through my strategy case for class and go through my email. Recruiting season has forced me to do a lot of skimming through class material instead of fully preparing (don’t tell my professors).
8:30 – Class starts. First, I had Competitive and Corporate Strategy, which is a completely case-based class. The professor is fantastic at leading the discussion and pulling out great insights. Definitely the most fun class of the term. I also had Global Economics for Managers, which is also a core class.
12:00 – State of the School with Dean Danos. This was the first of these while I’ve been at Tuck, but supposedly they happen from time to time. Basically, Dean Danos and a couple other deans shared with us (all the students, faculty, and staff at Tuck) what they thought about where the school was and the strategy to keep it there and improve it. It was really interesting to see how deliberate they were to position Tuck as it is today and how they think about its place in the competitive landscape going forward. I was encouraged to see how committed they were to holding on to everything that makes Tuck special, while also remaining aware of how Tuck needs to develop going forward.
1:00 – Mock interview with a second year student. Second years, as well as recent Tuck alumni, are the best resource in every step of the application process. In this case, the same 2nd year that helped me with my cover letter in the fall was giving me a mock interview for the company with which he interned. Because the company just told me about the interview a couple days before, I was actually interviewing with him less than 2 hours before the actual interview.
1:45 – Went for a run. It was a surprisingly warm and sunny day so I decided to go for a quick run around the Dartmouth campus to clear my head before my interview. After running I stopped by the Tuck gym to workout briefly, too. It’s a small gym, but really convenient because it’s right at Tuck. I didn’t take advantage of it in the fall but I’m hoping to a lot more from here on out.
2:45 – Phone interview. I always take phone calls like these on a landline in one of the small phone rooms at Tuck or in a study room (cell service isn’t the best in the buildings at Tuck). To my dismay, all of them were taken (it’s a busy time with mock interviews and networking calls taking place all the time for first years), so I did what I always do when I run into an issue and I headed to the MBA Program Office and talked to Sally Jaeger, the Assistant Dean and Director of the MBA Program. She knows all the Tuck students before they even get here and is always ready to help with anything. She found me the office of someone that had left for the day and I was able to take my call without any problem.
3:30 – After my interview I finally did a little prep for my classes the next day and walked to the post office to send a late (very late) Christmas present for my wife to her parents. Then caught the bus back to Sachem.
5:00 – Phone call with my First Year Project Client. I stopped by the Sachem Community Center for this conference call before I went home. The First-Year Project takes place during the spring term and gives first year students the chance to work with a company or organization (or their own entrepreneurial idea) with four classmates. Tuck sources a lot of great projects, but students can source their own as well. My project originated from a phone conversation I had with a T ’04 in the fall who worked at a company that I really wanted to work for but that didn’t officially recruit at Tuck (or any other business schools as far as I could tell). I inquired about internship opportunities but also threw out the idea of an FYP and she was really excited about the idea. Over the past few months we got it officially approved on both sides and this was the first conversation to talk about the specifics a little more before I put together my team.
5:30 – Got home after a very busy day. My wife had just as busy a day at home taking care of our boys and she was anxiously awaiting my arrival. I try to always be home between 5 and 6 and the vast majority of days that works out. I spent the rest of my night playing with the boys.
8:30 – Thought about doing some prep for meetings tomorrow, but decided to take it easy. I was tired and I’d spent the past 3 nights working on school/career related things so I kicked back and watched a show with my wife until our baby boy was ready to go to sleep, which miraculously happened before 10:30 so we got an early bedtime!