Social, academic, extracurricular- Wharton's trifecta
equivalent of the legislative, judicial, and executive. Three puzzle pieces
which snugly consummate all the time I spend here at Wharton not sleeping,
which is a lot of time.
Swamped and exhausted is he at Wharton who attempts to
maximize his effort at all three above endeavors. There simply isn't enough
time for everything. It is this realization that weighed some hesitation upon
me when I strolled into the Wharton MBA Club Fair this past Wednesday, because
each additional club I joined meant that I would spend fewer hours studying for
a certain class or dressing in costume for a Wharton theme party.
The MBA Café in Huntsman hall was sea of activity- tables,
banners, students hungry for involvement. Finance Club, Caribbean Business
Initiative Club, Canada Club, Francophone Club, Latter-day Saint Student
Association, Martial Arts Club, Ultimate Frisbee Club. There were tables and
representatives and sign-in sheets for every possible activity or focus this
side of Neptune.
At the Technology Club table one representative told me "We
have industry education chats, technology conferences that we host, bi-monthly
social events, recruiter information sessions, student-led technology treks,
and key corporate partnerships." This level of offerings was typical of each
club. I concluded that I could have made a full-time job out of simply being a
member of the technology club. Where do I sign?
An hour later at the Cigar Club table, I remarked to the
club representative that in order to one day become a business mogul I would
probably need to learn to smoke a cigar properly. He responded that although
Cigar Club could offer that service, I might find the greater life challenge to
be actually becoming a business mogul, rather than smoking the celebratory
cigar. Point taken.
At the end of the day, my shopping bag was filled with:
Entrepreneurship Club, PE & VC Club, Technology Club, Squash Club, Whiskey
Club (they have frequent mixers with the Cigar Club), Latin American Student
Association, and the Philly Club. The only one I missed was probably the Turkey
Club (hold the mayo).
Why so many? The Wharton MBA education is not
a four-walled classroom. Though my involvement in Entrepreneurship Club may
lower my grade on next week's statistics quiz from an A to a B, that's a
worthwhile tradeoff. See you next time campers.