New Adventures

The day finally arrived. My two years at Columbia Business School began last Sunday night, and since then, it has been a jam-packed week of new friends, new places, and lots of promise for what will come in the months ahead. We have had orientation activities all week, starting daily at 9 a.m. with the earliest evening ending at 8 p.m. Don't ask me about the latest night...

My 538 classmates are amazing, though I must confess I haven't met them all yet. Our class is divided into 65-people "clusters" with whom we take all our first semester courses. We are broken down further into 5- or 6-person learning teams that serve as the core unit for many of the group projects that will be assigned. The learning teams are carefully selected to include members from all different career and cultural backgrounds. My team consists of myself and four guys, one of whom is from Korea and one from Italy. So far, we have had a great experience, and I am excited about learning from all of them.

Next week, two of our classes begin and then the real semester begins the following week.

It is slowly sinking in that I really am here at Columbia, an internationally respected institution with outstanding faculty and students. I think I will learn more here during the next two years than during any other two-year period. I know that the last couple years and all their varied experiences have prepared me to take advantage of this opportunity, and I plan to do just that. I know there will be a lot of challenges, but I think this is a great place to experience them.

In short, I'm excited, and I can't wait to see what lies ahead.

Our Peer Advisors (2nd year students who guide the orientation process) line the stairs every morning and cheer us into the building. There is a lot of energy and enthusiasm here! (Sorry I don't have more pictures yet... I'll see what I can find from other people)

My Best Bud and I

(From Zach)
Exactly a year ago last night, I had just finished a long day of 13 interviews with many of the best firms in NYC. That day had started very rough with the subway being flooded out and us arriving at the interview hotel pretty wet and discouraged with the start of the day. I had not originally planned to have MB come with me to NYC, but she had elected to drive to meet late at night after getting up early for a fast flight down south and back so that she could be with me. Had she not been there to hold the pieces together through the pressure of those interviews, I would not have made it through the day successfully. She literally dried me off and got me ready to go. More importantly, had she not been throughout the preceding months to dream of going to New York, I would not even have been there that day at all. Somehow, the day passed and I got a job as a result.
A year later to the day, we were sitting in a small restaurant in the Kingdom of the East (Upper East Side) having dinner with my partner liaison from THE FIRM. We had a three-hour conversation over an excellent dinner. More importantly, MB and I had the joy of sharing in the victory of the challenge we had faced exactly a year earlier. I had wrapped up a very successful and encouraging summer at THE FIRM and had accepted a full-time offer to return. More importantly, in my partner, I had developed a true friendship and professional mentor. The dinner repressented so much of how we have changed and grown together as a team. Neither one of us would be where we are today without our Best Bud to get our back. I only hope that I can the same support and chearleader that MB has been for me over the last three years as she enters the most challenging year of her life this fall as she starts her MBA. I am so excited about the chance to grow together as a team through this fall.

Two Years...

(and also, everyone needs some 'tation)

So, two years, one week, and one day ago, I was walking down the aisle and Zach was praying that I didn't change my mind and leave him stranded at the front of the church. At least, that's what he says :-) I never even thought about deserting him. No cold feet :-) The last two years have been absolutely the happiest, most adventure-filled, probably most challenging, and most rewarding years of our lives. My marriage advice (if two years gives you the right to give advice): marry someone that makes you better than you would be by yourself. I can safely say that the majority of what I've accomplished--personally and professionally--in the last two years would not have happened were it not for the amazing man by my side. So, here's to many more amazing years together!

The reason that my anniversary post is so late: our 'tation overlapped our anniversary and we ended up with an unexpected trip to Ohio to visit Zach's family. With Zach out of work for two weeks and my semester not yet begun, we had intended to spend a few days in PA with my family and then spend the remaining time here in the city hanging out. But, last Sunday morning, we decided on the spur of the moment to drive to Ohio and surprise Zach's family. And what a surprise it was :-) Only 2 people knew we were coming, and they kept it a secret until our arrival. Great fun. We ended up staying longer than we expected, because we were having far too much fun to leave. I don't think I fully appreciated the beauty of rolling corn and wheat fields until I moved to the city. I love the city, but there is something very refreshing about wide open spaces!

Our trip included a very special tour of the area where Zach's grandparents grew up and a stop at the graveyard where his 8th, 7th, and 6th generation grandfathers are buried. It was pretty cool for me to see the history in such a tangible form. We took a long bikeride one morning around the valleys and fields near his family's house. There was also lots of cookie baking and enjoying of homemade food.

The week ended back in PA with a somewhat scenic tour on the drive home (there was no map in the car, so we were going a little on faith of my recollections of roads, etc.). Thankfully, the nice weather made it an enjoyable detour.

We had the opportunity to drive to Lancaster with my Mom for some errands, and on the way, stopped at an Amish bakery for some fresh donuts. I remember a lot of trip as a kid when we stopped at "Sadie's," and you always hoped that the trip would coincide with one of their donut baking days. Thankfully, this was one such day, and I got to enjoy a piece of my childhood. Mmmmmm, so tasty. There is nothing quite like Pennsylvania Dutch cooking--especially when it comes to sweets.

My brother recently bought a fixer upper duplex that the family has been working on to finish. Zach and I worked together to get the vinyl floor put into the kitchen on one side while we were home. It was a new challenge--drawing out a pattern on large sheets of paper, cutting it out on the vinyl, and hoping desperately that it fit the right way. It did :-) I was happy... my knees--not so much. I've decided that flooring is not the career choice for me.

One thing we definitely enjoyed in OH and PA--the cheap, fresh farm produce. I love summer dinners made up of all vegetables preferably fresh from the garden or a local garden. Corn on the cob, red tomatoes, green beens.... So good!

We came back to the city on Sunday to get a few days of down time in before school starts next weekend for me. Zach's sister is going to be visiting later this week as well. We found two new "friends" today (albeit inanimate objects) that will generate a lot of fun for us! See pictures below :-)

Us in Downtown Wooster, enjoying some 'tation

The gravestone of Zach's 8th Generation Grandpa, Edward Martin. The stone says that he was the first Martin to move to Ohio and defended the Whites against the Indians.

View from the graveyard

Zach with his grandparents

The barn Zach built by himself when he was 15 from a pile of raw logs

Old railroad in Jim Thorpe, part of our scenic detour

Beautiful valley in Jim Thorpe

My parents' house--looks pretty idylic with those flowers!

Our new friends--you can't really see, but they're folding bikes, so they fold all the way down to a little larger than the size of the two wheels placed side by side.

We rode all the way up the west side of the island from downtown to home--this is the Hudson River, riding through the Hudson River Park.

HIRED

(from Zach)

Today I leave THE FIRM for the last time (at least for a season). I turn in my BB and building pass. Today an entire season of life is over - the journey that began more than 3 years ago has an ending.
In August of 2005, I was running down a little road in the middle of OH desperately trying to prepare myself for the Marine Corp's officer school and trying to decide whether I was in love. Two months later, I was in Walter Reed Hospital in the middle of the night getting a CAT scan as the doctors tried to figure out what I had broken in my wrist. At that point, I knew two things: my dream of finishing OCS was gone and I was positive I did not want to go to law school. Two months after that, I was sleeping on the sofa in a house with 4 other guys I hardly knew and trying to figure out what to do with my life. Only the grace of God got me through that season - I don't know how I managed to live without a real home or job that I enjoyed for 9 months. The hardest part during that season was dealing with the feeling that everyone was a little disappointed with me for working a job as a janitor at the college from which I graduated with honors only months before. Fortunately, I had a seat at George Mason's law school and had enough smart people around me to push me to take it. Equally fortunate was the fact that I got married before law school and had someone to help me through the hard spells of that first year of law school.
A year ago, I was working for free at the DOJ and sending out dozens of resumes to law firms. Marybeth gave up any kind of nice anniversary present or trip so I could interview in NYC. Almost a year ago to the day, I interviewed with the hiring chair at THE FIRM in a hotel room in lower Manhattan. The day did not start off very well: the subway had closed due to the rain and we got lost on our way to the interviews. I arrived, dripping wet and upset, minutes before the first of 13 interviews. Somehow, my dearest wife dried me off, pulled me together, and kept me moving through 7 hours of interviews. THE FIRM called me back for a second interview and I began a series of day trips to NYC from DC as I courted it and several other firms. I was getting pretty discouraged after receiving rejection letters from countless firms. For the first couple weeks, I saved them, but when they starting coming by the 3s and 4s everyday in the mail, I just gave up and started throwing them away. Ultimately, I ended up with two offers: one from THE FIRM and one from a DC branch office of a large firm (that has subsequently fired people because of the economic downturn). We opted for NYC, not knowing how how the details would work out. Now, we are at the end of the summer and I have received and accepted an offer of a full-time job in a year at THE FIRM. Those details have all worked out and a new set of unknowns lies on the horizon. Marybeth will be starting her MBA at AN IVY LEAGUE this fall and we have been blessed with a home for me in VA while I finish school. God has been good. I do not think I could have found a better fit for a place to start out as an attorney and I believe it is the next step toward something bigger. The summer was amazing. Unlike some firms, there are no people that think they own the world based solely on their law school's reputation, there are no screamers, no assigning partners that drive junior associates into the ground, and no expectation for you to completely sell your soul. The firm values performance and social normalcy, two things that are sometimes overlooked. As summer associates, we have had a great time, drank enough hard liquor to preserve us for life, eaten several herds of cows (or at least their steaks), and generally gone from forty-odd strangers to more-or-less family in 12 weeks. Everyone passes the 48-hour test, meaning we will be able to work on a deal closing together for 48 hours straight and not kill each other. I will honestly be glad to return - while I value the freedom of being a summer associate, there will also be a good feeling to being a full-time, contributing member of the team. After weeks of working 80+ hours working construction and cleaning bathrooms, law firm life looks less scary. As much as this feels like an ending, I don't want to see it as such. Even as the future has become more clear, in that I have a job I could conceivable keep for the next 40 years, I have become increasingly concerned about settling down mentally. While I am perfectly comfortable with working a regular job and assuming adult responsibilities, I don't ever want to let that daily routine become a mental default. I believe this is a step and not an ending point in our lives. I want to look back in 3 or 30 years and see that the same drive and divine blessing that brought us to this point was not the end, was not just a way for us to gain a comfortable but static life. So, here's to the future.
Now, off to the last happy hour.