Monday, December 20, 2010

December Break

Quite a nice break, actually. Finished the sim mid term last night. Some people did theirs last weekend. Starting on stats momentarily.

Sleep. Glorious sleep. I have been sleeping a lot since the last day of school. Slept in this weekend a little. Took a Saturday morning off.

I feel like I can see the finish line from here. There remains a rather intimidating stats exam, 2 more sessions of this semester, the electives and then the last week.

I'm starting to think hard about what to do post graduation to keep up the momentum. I want to keep studying in some capacity.  The intersection of skills learned in AMP with skills applicable to the smart grid is quite significant. I'm anxious to apply some of the skills learned here to the Energy sector, perhaps I will find an as of yet undiscovered application of these skills and disciplines. Or maybe it will help me understand what we already know about energy a little better. Either way, very pleased with the relevance of the program to my particular career concentration.

We return to school in less than 2 weeks. I'm hopeful to find some time to review what we have covered in stats so far and perhaps have some time to read ahead a little.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

An application of statistical sampling

Professor Brown, our stats teacher, has for his first lecture an example of statistics applied to the D Day invasion. The contribution from statistics and probability to the defense sector is very real and I enjoy the examples of their application.

I thought this was another interesting example.
http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2010/12/06/military-intelligence-from-serial-numbers/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+TheEndeavour+(The+Endeavour)

"During World War II, America and her allies needed to estimate the number of Panzer V tanks Germany had produced. The solution was simple: Look at the serial numbers of the captured tanks. If you assume the tanks had been sequentially numbered — as in fact they were — you could view the serial numbers of the captured tanks as random samples from the entire range. You could then use statistics to estimate the range and hence the number of tanks produced. More details available here."


Neat stuff.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

AMP as a Parent

We had an open house today and a young couple with an exceptionally cute little boy attended. Prospective AMP students may be wondering what to expect as far as attending school with small children. As a father of a little one, I think I can probably speak to the experience of attending AMP as a parent.

Any prospective graduate student must weigh the opportunity cost of attending school. Fortunately, the AMP program permits you to continue working while you obtain your master's degree from The University.  This is an advantage in my opinion over quitting working to return to youreducation.  There is no free lunch, however, and the stud- work model carries with it certain tradeoffs. Depending on your particular circumstances, this tradeoff will be valued differently. This is a fancy way of saying going to school with young kids while you are working means you forego time with them. I'm not a parenting expert and I offer no advice to the best age to take time away from those duties to go to school. I can however, note my experience.

Fortunately, I have lots of help and understanding from key people in my life. I have had to spring for babysitters, had to forego trick and treat and have had to bite my tongue many times to not compromise my child care coverage.

I have learned that the Saturday returning from AMP is a good night to allocate for time with the little one since your brain is very fatigued and you probably aren't going to be doing a lot of studying anyway.

I do want to be clear about something, though. I do not consider having a child while attending AMP(or any graduate school) to be a complete disadvantage. I will tell you that the level of motivation that you have while attending graduate school sans child just doesn't compare(or at least it didn't for me) as when you have a child. Again, this may be my personal thing, but failing yourself is much more forgivable than failing your offspring.

As with all things, when you have a little one that depends on you for everything, you must weigh your decisions carefully.  This includes studying a little longer, going with a little bit less sleep, and suffering a little bit more.

The other advantage is that as a parent, you are already accustomed to your time not being your own, having to forego certain luxuries, and showing up to work with no sleep and still delivering.

In Intro, we had a time where we went around the room and shared a little something about ourselves. I deliberately didn't mention my son, only because I didn't (and still don't) want special treatment. Predictively, this came out soon enough anyway, just for scheduling reasons. In hindsight, I wish I had shared this, but in fairness, my interviewer didn't know to ask.

The takeaway is this. Attending AMP with a little one is completely doable. Things may be different for you, but you should be accustomed to this. For me, its an excellent opportunity to positively influence your little one by setting an example of lifetime learning.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

PC or MAC

short answer - PC

long answer - I bought a macbook pro for alterior motives. I wanted to get on the platform so that I could have something to dev I phone apps on. As a technologist, I recognize this an emerging part of the market. It's part of my job to be on top of these like this. Plus, as a guy that spends a lot of time on the computer, the hardware is first class.

As a student, though, going Mac has not been without its disadvantages. R behaves differently. You will need a special cord for the break out rooms to use the projector. Office works differently. Perhaps most maddeningly is office 2008 didn't handle formula symbols very well, which meant I had to use PC.


If you are looking to optimize your capability as a student, I say go PC. You won't need an amazing machine, only something you are comfortable with . Any CPU from the last 5 years will suffice.

My $.02

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Stats is hard

i'm just now finishing up week 1's homework assignment. Some things the prospective AMP student needs to know;

You've probably just finished up Risk. Stats will give you no quarter.
Do prepare for Stats. Our class appears to be "emerging to standard" to put it nicely. Professor Brown suggested, in response to our exasperation, to practice as we read through.
which brings me to my next point. Do read through first. It's clear those of us who have read and those of us who haven't.

You will want to fully absorb this course as the skills learned here are powerful. So is risk. I think maybe we over-did risk at the expense of Stats. That's the royal we.

R is very much like programming, or so it seems to those who don't program for a living. So if you aren't comfortable developing by google, you will need extra time to get comfortable with R. There is no escaping this.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Early Bird Penalty

I think it is fair to say that your success in AMP will in some part depend on your ability to make time to study. Each person in AMP will have a different personal schedule, but I think it is fair to say that with a full time job, a little boy who has his father's personality and various other commitments, i'm as stretched thin as anybody else in the program.

What I have discovered is that there is a bit of an early bird penalty. What happens is that the homework assignment is given to the cohort shortly after the class is over. Invariably, there will be things that are unclear about the assignment. As members of the cohort begin to ask questions of the TA or other members, items that are unclear are resolved. The first person to "pioneer" through the assignment does so without the benefit of someone else finding all the nebulous items and getting clarification from the TA. If things are unclear to enough people, the TA will send out an email clarifying the assignment. If you didn't have this information, you may spin your wheels in the wrong direction for some time, or sit there and scratch your head and try to figure out what you are missing. Thus, the early bird tax. Those that come through later have the benefit of those that go before.

On the other hand, those that do their homework late play a different game. There is only so much time for the material to sink and for the student to iterate over their work. So, we have a bit of a trade off. I tend to get a bit anxious if I don't have my homework squared away, so the early bird penalty is worth it to me, because at least I feel like I am putting in work towards learning.

Sometimes it makes sense, especially if the assignment builds upon itself, to only go so far and let things shake out.

If you are fortunate enough to have a job that will let you flex work, then this is the time to get in work. If things are still unclear about the assignment, put in work with your day job so that you can have more time to work on the assignment en masse.

Okay, my $.02 and unrefined. I need to get back to studying.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Still in recovery

That weekend took a lot out of me.

I also think its worth noting that we paid $42 to have our final printed at Kinko's, for what its worth.

Tonight I am finishing up the risk final, which is not supposed to be a formal analysis. I think the meat of our grade will come from the final project. I hope so, at any rate. I think the intent here is to get some sort of post paper analysis of your project.

I have yet to start on the next mini-mester's HW and I feel a bit behind already. Of course, in the shell game that is the dance of trying to find enough time to be productive at home, be there for your family and have this level of involvement at school required that I put in both time with my son this weekend and put in time at the office on Sunday.

All worth it, IMO.

Also, I got pulled over tonight for expired tags. From August. I was like, wait, its not August yet is it? Some things have I let "slide" because I have been a "little busy."

Saturday, November 6, 2010

tough 2 weeks

One of the objectives of writing this blog (perhaps a gradient?) is to be a sort of field guide to those that travel this path after I. To that end, this past 2 weeks was really, really tough. Aside from Halloween, it was mostly 6 AM to midnight work, take care of my son, school. No time to workout. No time for special people in your life. Just work, son, school, repeat.  Here's why-

Econ and Risk are both team oriented classes. Meaning, your grade is almost completely a team grade. Unless you do something really bad, your grade will be just like yours of your team members. Thus, we have a game theory situation. Each member of the cohort will act in his or her own best interest. That can make things a little complicated. A couple of words of advice -

Risk will likely dominate Econ demands. 

If you want to have different teams for both, which isn't a bad idea, you may want to make sure that the teams are completely heterogeneous. Meaning, if you are the only odd man out on each team, then your incentives won't align with others. Perhaps your risk team will finish early, but your econ team is still working on their risk. Or vice versa. So you can see the implicit advantage of having homogeneous teams for each as far as grades go. 

however -

I try to consider why the faculty makes things like they are. The faculty are smarter than you are. I intentionally do not qualify that statement. They are all really. are. smarter. than. you. I do believe that they do things with careful consideration and with an overall plan. 

Being on diverse teams is a way to enrich your learning experience. That does not mean, however, that you will get a better grade, necessarily. I do believe that you will retain more. You will also work more for it.

Thankfully, I was with 2 very strong teams, IMO. So, we really didn't have much issue with proper incentivation.

The workload is ridiculous these 2 weeks. Homework, plus final projects, plus a  Risk final, which is still due, which I should start soon. maybe tomorrow.

My advice is to do the following:

Have the attitude that you are working on your Risk final from the beginning. That way, you will have a consistent voice and flow to your risk final project. Otherwise, you will have a very, very long 2 weeks. You all may thank me later.

Start the econ final early, when they give it to you. That is, after all, why they give it to you early.

Other than that... this is just... part of it. I am not upset or resentful in the least at the amount of work I went through to get to where I am now. The effort it takes to get through this program is part of the reason why this program is worth so much. Not everybody can do this.

For those of you facing this down after my AMP class.... good luck.


Friday, November 5, 2010

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

gChat statuses today of AMP cohort

Death by Lagrangian.
I need a vacation.
Can school kick me any harder.
Get the power.
[name redacted] 1, Econ 0
Stomp, Clap, Stomp Stomp, Clap.


And some of these were edited for polite company.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

AMP weekends

Since this question, "How much of a time commitment is AMP", is asked a lot about AMP, I am going to go ahead and post again on this topic both for posterity and to try to really give prospective AMP enrollee's a perspective.

Thursday and Friday night, I think I got a total of 8 hours sleep. Friday I was up at 4, reviewed our presentation for completeness, then out the door to Charlottesville. I was nursing a sore throat this weekend so I wasn't exactly sleeping well anyway. Charlottesville a few minutes before class started (do not be late for Professor Haimes' class!) Class all day, presentations in the afternoon. Mid term retake at 5 because I flat out bombed the first one, along with a few others. Dinner, then seminar, then worked with my econ group to finish our homework. Bed at 1. Up again at 6, scrambled for a printer that actually worked and had paper, then breakfast, class. Left Charlottesville at 4. So, from Thursday night after work at 5 until Saturday at 4pm, I was either doing something for AMP, sleeping or eating.

Now, I normally give a fellow cohort member a ride back to Richmond, but there was a game that he stayed for.  I feel bad for him because I am normally grumpy and brain dead by this time so the ride back is not pleasant.

Saturday nights after AMP are a good time to schedule something social or to spend time with your family or friends.  You will not feel like do anything productive.

I had an oyster fest to attend which was nice, but its always hard to hide your mental fatigue. Fortunately, most people are understanding when you mentioned that you've had no sleep.

Crashed early Saturday night, up late (to me, 8:30) Sunday morning. Brunch at Black Sheep, which I highly recommend,  including copious amounts of caffeine. Then more coffee and the post at Starbucks.. and then a nap.

It was about 3p before I felt like doing anything productive.

I am constantly trying to find the right amount of work/rest ratio that produces the best output (d/dx that function?)

I am sure others have a much different story to tell, but that is mine and that is my typical AMP weekend. Hopefully, it gives insight to what kind of time commitment you are looking at with AMP. The good news is that this only lasts a year and we are halfway done already.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Almost half way

We are all searching for a way to rationalize saying that we are halfway done. Kind of tells you something.
The course is moving along at a pretty good clip. You have these nice 2 week sprints (Agile method-esque.) Charlottesville has turned cold in the morning. A quick take on Risk and Econ

Risk is a very insightful course. I mean that it has opened my eyes to many things that I hadn't even thought of before. The industry is still relatively in its infancy so there is still lots of promise for a young man or woman in this field.

The risk mid term is ahem... rough. So for this cohort, we waited until the 4th session to take a mid term. The mid term accounts for 20 points of your final grade, IE, the difference between a 95 and a 75. It is also closed book. So we have your first exam, in class, closed book. The first mid term given was bombed by many of us, your blogger included. I did not do well and it was morally crushing. The grades were poor enough that they gave retake which i took last night. I feel much better about this mid term.... amazing what a difference that makes.

Econ is not what you think it is. It is not macro, it is not micro. The best description is that it is econ wrapped in riddles. You will see what I mean, but it is not what you think it is.

Monday, October 11, 2010

the Lagrangian

Make doubly sure you understand the lagrangian before you come to AMP. You will need this for both Risk and for Econ.

This is close to it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagrange_multipliers
Get to know it, live it, love it. You cannot escape it.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

AMP nightmare and scheduling

I woke up at 4 AM this morning from a nightmare where I envisioned prof Scherer saying to me, in disgust "get out of my classroom."

Let the psycho-analysis begin.

This is not the first incidence I am aware of where I have been dreaming about AMP. I definitely taught a lot of probability in my sleep, which is an obvious metaphor for "I must be dreaming if I think I can teach probability."

I've also revved up the study time this week in advance of the mid term and and going to spend the $ to go down early so I can be ready.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

more continuum

Today's status - head down, trying to get my arms around the risk assignments and prep for the mid term.
Cal Newport says you should study the material until you get to the point where you can teach it. I am hoping to recalibrate to this goal.

My "special friend " is a HR project manager who just happens to be putting together a project plan and she must account for risk. I'm hoping to be able to teach her some of the concepts we are learning in risk and perhaps we can create some of these awesome charts and graphs we end up creating in academia. That's a win win.

On the flipside, we are well into econ and haven't received any grades yet. As an engineer,the lack of feedback makes me wee uncomfortable, but I am sure we are doing fine.  Though I am singularly focused on risktoday, I will start on the econ final tomorrow. Per usual, the final expects us to incorporate everything we have learned so far in the course, which makes a lot of sense when you think about it.

Which leads me to this;

as you go along in class, be sure to grasp everything as you go, as you will see it again. This is very different from some of my undergrad experience. If something baffles you, you can kind of minimize it and get through.

The expectation of AMP is that you grok everything. This is true even though we are doing a master's degree in less than a year.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

AMP is about more than your coursework

Don't get me wrong, AMP is mostly about your coursework. The amount of material you will cover is incredible in breadth and applicability.

But there is another element that should not be ignored with AMP and that is making the alumni connections that you will draw upon for the rest of your life.

Try to make it a point to get to know each and every member of your cohort. The level of talent in the program is nothing short of incredible and the diversity of skill sets will floor you.

Today we had a speaker that is a graduate of the AMP program and is great success story. He has started his own business and is receiving funding from DARPA. DARPA, guys.

One of the many things that I picked up from the optional lunch session (Attend every session you can, get to know every speaker that is approachable) is to surround yourself with talented people. In my short 10 yr career, I can tell you that my most productive period of my life was when I surrounded with a small, elite and talented team.  Mr. Pak is no exception. Through personal contacts and through his alumni network he was able to venture out on his own, overcome and be successful.  It's a great story, a familiar refrain and excellent reinforcement.

Also, great run Friday night and then some quality time with the cohort. It was one of those rare, magical fridays where the homework as squared away. Looking at the schedule, that won't happen again for a while I think.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Risk Homework

We are looking good for homework in both classes so far, but I suspect I am overly optimistic. Just kind of waiting for the realization that we missed something.

One thing I would like to point. Professor Haimes is very prominent figure in his field. The man knows his stuff and is an asset to us all. Since he both figuratively and literally "wrote the book" you can reasonably be assured that everything from class is in the book, which is quite nice.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Practical Application

There are many things that you will learn in AMP that will have practical applications. For example, probability has helped me have a better grasp of how people respond to energy initiatives. Network has given me several practical tools that I would feel comfortable breaking out in the workplace. Intro is especially relevant.

If you attend AMP and you apply yourself, you will soon find yourself applying AMP to your daily job.

Several times this past week I have used the SA technique. I could tell it was a little aggravating to others, but I took the time to go through the analysis. Questions such as "What is the goal?" "How do we measure this?" "What problem are we really trying to solve here?" are systems questions and I feel more comfortable asking and have become to appreciate. What are we really trying to accomplish today?

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Charlottesville

Homework for the next weekend is actually going well so I have a minute to share my thoughts on a couple of things about AMP that are worth mentioning.

If you didn't go to UVA undergrad, the AMP experience may make you regret that decision in that Charlottesville is absolutely gorgeous. Granted, we stay in sponsors, go to Darden and eat in Abbot which is a far cry from the undergrad life per se, but it is still worth mentioning that the atmosphere is absolutely phenomenal. As in, I get excited about going back.

The food is really, really good. It deserves an entire paragraph call out.

So there you have it. You have an atmosphere that I look forward to coming to every other weekend.  You have material that is challenging and engaging. You have world class professors.

You will find that your cohort members are quite impressive as well. Just last weekend the seminar lecturer made an off hand comment about "they haven't gotten space travel there yet" and one of my members stated, in all seriousness "that's what I am working on." Seriously.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Study Hacks

If you aren't up on the Study Hacks blog then this may be the best tip for you yet.
http://calnewport.com/blog/2010/03/15/how-to-become-a-star-grad-student-james-mclurkin-and-the-power-of-stretch-churn/
Start there and then keep reading. Make sure you read the part about knowing how well you should know the material. If you can teach the material, then you know it well enough. Don't just learn it well enough to turn in the homework. If someone comes to you for help, and you know that they have put some time into it and they have the general idea, then you have a moment of synergy. Take that moment to teach it to them and  you will both benefit. Then let that person teach it to someone else.

In the medical field they call this watch one, do one, teach one.

AMP kicks hard

Alright, this is hard to share. I put everything I had into probability and the best I could do was a B. That was/is a very hard pill to swallow.

Take heed the warnings given by professor Smith and Mrs. Harrison. I mean, I've done some things in my life. This was humbling.

Do you know how to calculate conditional probability? If not, then you need a refresher course. There is no shame in that.

Do you know how to calculate an anti-derivative, a partial derivative and how to integrate by hand? Then you need a refresher course in calculus. Take this before you come to amp. I knew all of this at one time, perhaps back in the late 90's when I first took these courses. Your success in AMP / probability will be compromised if you have to re-learn these things at the same time as you are learning new material.

Also, if you cannot put a matrix in row reduced echelon form, you will have trouble. Thankfully, I remembered this sweet trick.

And you should know that I am writing this @ 4:30 AM.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

pick a good problem for risk

other groups were done in an hour. We have been in this room for 4 hours now, plus the hours we worked on this earlier. Also, make sure you are comfortable with lagrangian function.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

day before

I'm up early to get work in while my son sleeps in. Neither team did much last night. There is almost always a flurry of activity the night before school as those that come in the night before get together and finalize their homework. I don't go down early because I live an hour away and it would be kind of a waste of money, IMO, but I do if required. I try to avoid these sort of situations myself but you can only do so much.
We also realized late last night that the problem we choose for risk requires a m/m/1 server queue model which makes our life harder.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

On a team with an all-star

I'm on a team with someone that has proven themselves to be an all-star already. I don't think anyone in the cohort would argue that the guy brings his "A" game and is prepared. If you are in a subsequent cohort and are reading this (and I hope you are because that is my targeted audience) I offer the following advice to you. Your natural tendency will be to loaf. DON'T DO IT, for a couple of reasons.

  • The entire AMP program is also an audition for a job or partner that you may need later in life. Treat it as such.
  • The AMP program culminates with a group assignment in Professor Smith's class. By the end of the year, people will be jockeying for the strongest teammates. You will want to be seen as someone that pulls his or her own weight.
  • Slacking and relying on other teammates is the equivalent of only doing half your reps when working out. You are only cheating yourself.
Be thankful you have the good fortune to be on a good team and make the most of that experience. 

Cheers

Sunday, September 5, 2010

more tips

also, if you have the time, in advance of economics, go ahead and read chapters 1-4 for brush up. The assignment will be read chapter 5, but I am finding 1-4 helps.

similarly, for risk, your biggest challenge will be to pick an appropriate problem to look at it. Rather than brainstorming at first, read all the material and then brainstorm. You will find your choice will be much more appropriate after grasping the material.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

quality work

Also, while I am thinking about it, your goal should be to turn in professional quality work, like you would at work. Printed homework, nice and tidy. Something that you would be proud to include in a folder as representative of your work. Not "good enough." The extra effort sucks but you will be glad you did after you are done.

Time Sacrifrices

Case in point; My mother is visiting and is playing outside with my son in some of the best weather we have had in some time. I am stuck upstairs reading and working on risk. I could blow it off, but then I would be behind, so that isn't an option. The pace here doesn't allow you to get behind, especially not in the first week.

Takeaways? Be prepared to sacrifice family time, and be absolutely sure that you don't fall behind, especially at the beginning of the course. You may want to budget more time just to make sure you don't.


Thursday, September 2, 2010

your schedule

If you are like me and both a full time student and full time employee (and full time dad) then you will soon learn that your time is very valuable and as such, it makes sense to optimize it. From time to time I may post examples of the extremes I have taken to allow for time. My time constraints are a bit extreme, and I would assert that are right up there with anyone that has gone through AMP.

As such, I'll get right to the point. I'll give credit to Kanshu, our illustrious TA for this, who pointed out that the best optimization of your time is to spend time Sunday on the material from the past weekend. It seems draconian to follow up your weekend in Charlottesville with a full day of reading and studying, but you will find that when the material is fresh in your mind you will be better able to capitalize on this for your homework.

Also, for God's sake, read your assignment. In class you will either have to pay attention to the lecture or transcribe the lecture. Your choice. But you won't have time to both grok the lecture and to accurately reflect what the professor is telling you.

If you are in AMP then it is safe to assume that you have already made a large commitment in terms of time, money and opportunity cost to be here. I'd challenge anyone to come up with a good reason to not make the most of the program( and that includes reading ahead of the lecture).

Monday, August 30, 2010

network grades are up

...and i can reasonably be assured that I can remain in school for at least another semester.

Also a heads up. one of the assignments for the next class for risk to read a book of 177 pages. Just FYI. I'll talk to professor Smith to see if he is okay with posting the name of the book so that you may read it ahead of time. I am reasonably sure I would have, along with the 5 or 6 other books that professor Haimes mentioned. But i'm not sure if I should be sharing that information or not.

Now for the probability exam. I'd like to get both of the exams back, especially since I put so much into them, but I have a suspicion we won't be seeing them.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Economics of Engineering, first bad decision

Professor Garcia started out the day explaining a theory about maximizing social welfare. Being a patriot (Sarcasm intended) I wrote that off as something that couldn't be all that valuable. Who would actually pay someone to figure out what is best for everyone rather than what is best for them?

Now I have to go back and figure out what I missed because our homework is on this subject. Also the course material is delivered through lecture and the book is just a reference so that is a non starter.

Friday, August 27, 2010

first day of risks reactions

We are about to go down to the intramural area for the family picnic which starts now, so I will give some quick hits here,

Professor Haimes is incredible, and is a big deal in the field of risk analysis. We are fortunate to learn from him;

Lots of homework.

im surprised at the number of people that did not read. Disappointed, really. But I guess I am the nerd for having read. But that is the type of learner I am.

Everyone made it back.

Only one person was late, but he was late several times today, so there is that. I think it his thing. Prof. Haimes gave him a subtle dig.

No end of the day quiz is phenomenal.

Also, lots of talk about the exams. I think I did okay. I guess we will find out. I hope I did okay.

Again, lots of homework.

It is an absolutely gorgeous day here. I had a moment to hit the gym between class and now. Great gym over there but a little crowded.

I have to take some time tonight to read for econ, cause I am a nerd like that.

Exams are done

Today is the deadline to turn in exams. I've been mostly done with these since the 20th, but I've held on to them in case I get an epiphany of some sort. I redid my probability exam and its hopefully a good thing that I did because I clearly had one answer wrong.

Also, we had a 3 week "break," which wasn't a break at all because the whole time I was anxious about these exams and the 40% or so of the final grade that they represent. I have the worst image in my head of Professor Smith coming in to the classroom to pull me out of the program for sub par grades. I also worry that if I had just done a little bit more I would have done a lot better. It was really hard to let the exams go. I had to just put all of that out of my head and submit the exams.

I'm up early and anxious to get to Charlottesville. I'm giving myself an hour and a half to get there because class is back in session and I hate being late, especially on the first day. That being said, I'd put money on at least 2 people being late.

The last break we returned from there was one victim of attrition. I hope we all return.

We have Risk Analysis today which I am excited about. I suspect that this will be the more difficult class of the 2 for the next 10 weeks.

I had a nice chit chat with my VP yesterday. When I brought up my participation in this program, he indicated that my company "felt" it. My productivity shows that I have "a few things going on." It was, however, for my career one of those meetings where someday I may look back and see the gravity of the event. There are several good things that came up. Wish me luck.

Friday, August 20, 2010

The AMP blog

The AMP program at UVA is one of the best experiences of my life, and also one of the most demanding. That being said, I want to use this blog as a place to collect my thoughts on the program as I go along as a guide for the next year. But please don't expect refined content. I barely have time to anything other than study or work, so what I post will be raw and un-edited. But if it serves as a guide worth its read for the next year, I will have done my part.

I gotta get to bed, I have to get up in 6 hours. Thus is AMP.