Bank of America MBA Leadership Development Program

I recently accepted an offer from Bank of America to begin their MBA Leadership Development Program (LDP) in their Consumer and Small Business Bank (CSBB) Division. The position starts at the end of June after I graduate from Arizona State. I will start with a class of 25 or so MBA grads, five of which will be from ASU. The program is designed to train incoming MBA's in general management to develop future leaders and executives in the bank.

The LDP consists of three rotations over two years. The first rotation is a corporate project in one of their divisions (Online, Mobile, ATM, Credit Cards, Demand Deposit Accounts, etc.). The second rotation consists of a two month mini-project with the other incoming MBAs and then a six month position where you work with a market manager and supervise more than 40 branch managers. The third rotation bring you back to a new corporate project for another eight months. Once the rotations are complete you move into a new full-time position such as product management or product development.

I'm super excited about this opportunity and thankful for the ASU alumni and Career Management Center staff that made it possible to land the internship last summer and the Bank of American associates that helped make it a great experience, ultimately resulting in this job offer.

I'm Engaged!

In case you haven't heard the news, I'm engaged to the beautiful Carly Pedersen! Just two nights ago I surprised her by having signs asking her to to marry me outside of the security gate at Sky Harbor Airport as she returned from her trip to Utah. With some help from my friends Meghan, Katie, Chantal, and Dane, we set up the best marriage proposal I've ever done!

As you watch the video, the reaction on her face is priceless. One of my friends said it gave him the same kind of goosebumps as he got when they let Rudy play for Notre Dame. This was a million times better!

I'm so grateful for Carly and the love we share. She has brought me a lot of happiness and joy. She has all the qualities I've been looking for in a girl and I told her that she was even better than my "list."

I look forward to the day we will be married in the Temple for time and eternity.

I love you Carly!

Six Minutes of the Dark Night Rises in Mission Impossible 4!

My roommate let me know today that select cities with IMAX theaters showing Mission Impossible 4 will  also show the first six minutes of the new Batman film coming out next summer! I CANNOT wait!

I'm super excited for Mission Impossible anyway, especially since it is a J.J. Abrhams film. For those who are unfamiliar, J.J. produced LOST and the most recent Star Trek.

The next Batman will be epic considering the last two were phenomenal. Chris Nolan, the director is a amazing. The first two Batman films he directed were some of my favorites of all time. He also did Inception, which was a remarkable film as well.

Anyways, I can't wait for this extra bonus in MI 4!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was great! Carly and I flew to Charlotte for six days and had an absolute blast with the fam. We came in the day of Thanksgiving and Carly got to know the 'Rents, as well as KC, Lauren, and Cameron. Carly happened to just get her iPhone before we left, so she got initiated well into the family culture by trying out her new toy.

We went to Grandma Wade's house for Thanksgiving dinner and went to Kerry's house for Breakfast on Saturday. Both activities were super fun and it was neat to have Carly meet my extended family.

We had a lot of free time as well to just hang out, realax, watch a few movies, and have a lot of fun.

It was a great trip and I can't wait to go to Utah to meet Carly's family for Christmas!

The PhD Project

Last week I attended the PhD Project conference in Chicago. It is a conference hosted by the KPMG Foundation that provides prospective PhD students from minority backgrounds to learn more about business doctoral programs. Since 1994, they have taken the number from only 200 business professors to over 1,000. I was happy to be invited with 300 prospective students.

We had several sessions that covered what the application process is like, the life a doctoral student, and the career path of business academia. They also had breakout sessions for each discipline. I attended both the Management/OB and Marketing panels.

This was a great opportunity to network with current Professors, Doctoral students, and prospective students. They also hosted a university fair and we got to meet with different doctoral program admins and professors.

Interestingly, there was another conference going on at the same time at the same hotel. The Mid-West Fur Fest. There were like 100 guys dressed up in full body animal costumes. Loved it!

I'm considering working for a few years and then going back to school. There were many people in that scenario and it was good to hear their stories.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about PhD programs and meet others with similar interests. The best part was all the free food!

Peter Bishop is Back!

They finally brought back Peter Bishop! In the last episode of Fringe, Peter Bishop returned and he explained more of his story and appears to have insight on why no one remembers him. In this time line, the Observer never saved Peter from drowning in the Lake. But for some reason, the Observer has decided not to erase him completely. He was stuck in some parallel dimension or something until he was released by one of Dr. Bishop's failed experiments.

It will be interesting to see how he will get everyone to remember him. I'm sure Walter will find a way at some point  once he gets motivated.

Interview with Dean Mittelstaedt

I had the opportunity two weeks ago to sit with the Dean of the W.P. Carey Business School, Robert Mittelstaedt. In that interview I had the opportunity to learn more about his background, his accomplishments with the school, and his vision for its future.

Before we got into details about the school he learned about my background and gave me some career advice. He said to starte with what you are interested in, but not to plan too far in advance. He cited his own experience of going to Wharton for his MBA and not planning on getting into academia, but eventually found himself as a VP in Wharton's administration, which lead him to ASU.

One of the key issues he expressed for W.P. Carey graduates was to understand that technical skills will only get you your first job and that leadership skills will enable you to grow in a company.

He also said that after our formal education ends that we should be still reading the Wall Street Journal everyday, as well as other business publications.

In terms of the school, he was pleased with the trajectory the school is going with receiving funds from W.P. Carey, the McCords, and gaining high rankings with only a few years of existence. Out of 10,000 business schools in the world, only 1,000 are accredited by the AACSB, and only 500 of those are in the U.S.

He also spoke highly of the faculty and felt they were just as qualified as the Wharton professors. Our Supply Chain emphasis is ranked number three in the nation by U.S. & World Report. The management department is highly ranked in research and we spoke about Prof. Sinha, my New Product Development professor, who is highly regarded in his field.

It was a great interview to learn more about career management and the school's history and future. I'm glad to be part of it!