School’s out

Since the last time I blogged, my schedule has been the craziest possibly in my entire life. All the big name I-banks came out with their lists and it was good or bad depending on who you ask. It was very clear where I had spent my entire semester on because I came out very satisfied with the number of lists my name appeared on. There was even one I got on that I really pleasantly surprised me. It was completely unexpected because a lot of people had told me some stuff about certain things that the bank is particular about.

Anyway, we all got over that phase and had to face 5 exams including one on a Saturday. I have not had up to 5 hours of sleep in the last 2 weeks. I suppose that is what you get when you try cram 8 weeks of classes into a few nights. The janitorial crew and I have become buddies since they always meet me studying at 4am everyday in school.

To make things even more dramatic, some lady rammed into my car from behind on the day just before my last exam. It was exactly one year ago that someone rammed into my car and completely wrecked it under the same set of circumstances. So I got a car very big and loaded with all sorts of safety features earlier this year. It was a wise decision because this time, I didn’t have to suffer the physical injury I had to endure last year. The lady was expecting me to freak out but I did not. She couldn’t help but say it out. I laughed and told her that I have one million things going on in my mind including an exam I had to study from the beginning till end that night (reading 75% of the materials for the first time too).. and oh I had a first round interview that I needed to seriously prepare for in NY 2 days from the day of the accident. So the last thing I needed to do was freak out and lose control. We called 911 and the cops came and made it clear that it was her fault. We exchange insurance information and I drove off with my dear bashed car.

The next day I went into the exam and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it will be. After the exam, I ran back home, packed up and rushed to the airport en route New York again. I had blogged about a bank that I was in talks with but doesn’t recruit for I-Banking from my school. I had a first round interview with them today and I have to say that it pays to prepare well for these things. I met two bankers and we started with the good old resume walk. Then came the technical part. We breezed through those until my second interviewer gave me a question that absolutely threw me off. He later said he got the same question during his interview and there’s no real answer.

If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that I’m a huge fan of the TV series, 24. My second interviewer looks remarkably like Keifer Sutherland (Jack Bauer). Since the interview got quite casual and we were both laughing in the last 5 minutes, I was sooo tempted to ask him if they were related. Reason prevailed and I chose not to take that chance. I’ll definitely ask him if I get to meet him again.

So now, school’s officially closed for the year and I am relived. I’m at JFK now on my way back to Chapel Hill. I plan to sleep till1 pm tomorrow. Get up and eat a big lunch, go back to sleep, watch movies and go back to sleep again. One Alum I met recently confirmed that this period was also the busiest in his life. He has not even been this busy since he started work as an I-banker. Interviews start on the first day of school and I’ll have to spend time preparing for these. I have mixed feelings when I think about the fact that all these will be over by mid January! I am really going to golf next Mod. I pray everything works out as planned. Big thanks to the second year students who have been of tremendous help drilling me with mock interviews (even though I felt hazed when I had a two on one with them… you guys know who you are). One actually met with me during my exam for 3 hours between 11pm and 2am! This is what I love about Kenan-Flagler Students. I will gladly do the same thing for first years next year.