ArpitGarg's Weblog

Hi Friends,

Last three days have been wonderful, better than I could have ever imagined. The sense of togetherness, honor and responsibility that has been instilled has brought me ever closer to the Fuqua Family and Duke Family at large. A quick recap seems to be in order.

Day 1
Stuffed with heavy breakfast, the herd headed from Winter Garden to the Geneen auditorium, into the unknown. Everyone was as anxious as the next person, though were trying hard not to show the anxiety and keep the palpating heart in check. As the clock struck 9, the carnival began. What followed for the next 3 days was nothing short of a welcome one receives from long lost family. I felt like, I have been at Fuqua all my life. Such was the initiation.

Dean Bill spoke and spoke the truth. How the business community is increasingly seen by common men with suspicion and how the next generation of business leaders (we) have an added responsibility to make things right. The evergreen Russ Morgan was welcomed with a thunderous applause. Leena and Andy, the coordinators struck a great tone right from the beginning. The introductions they gave of each speaker, made us familiar with him/her. I never knew Russ, but once he was introduced, I knew all about him. Who came first, “Russ or Fuqua”, became a running joke and we all got invested in it. When Ruth said, she feels like our Mom, I could feel the warmth in her voice. It was followed by inspiring words from Steve and the Section Time. O-Team did an amazing job. The transition was smooth. Section 4 became table bangers, Section 2 were the Rocky. “You are not a section of 75, but a family of 150”, the words still resonate in my ears.

After a quick practice of Cheers and course pack pickup, we left for our homes. Only to party at Rickhouse later that night and get snapped in some weird Nerdy Costumes.

Day 2
Day 2 began with a severe hangover for most of us. The night was a blur and how we reached home was a mystery. The day brought with it some great speakers from the industry, especially GM and Accenture. But the biggest draw of the day was the Section Olympics. It was frenzy, shouts and boos, claps and jeers. Each section was competitive and gave its best. There was CMC introduction for Career Management but all that was just filler. We all were waiting for the Fuqua carnival.

Meeting with the families of our fellow mates was a nourishing experience. The games, the drinks and the food. We called the day early @7 (by traditional standards) for getting relaxed for long day tomorrow.

Day 3
The speech by legendary Alison Levine, gave us all goosebumps. The story of her success and how she related her Mt Everest conquer with problems that ail us in our professional lives enthralled us all. We all took an oath to Honor Code and I could feel the pride among my fellow students while reciting the code. Next was the time for the Big Reveal, our FY teams. That was some legend level stalking by the O Team. They dug out our pics, we never knew existed and put it all out on display. A round of sharing our life history with our team of 6 made us bond in a meaningful way.

After couple more rounds of Section Olympic Games, came the big moment. The Cheer came. Here again Section 2 (yours truly) came out victorious, though Section 1 was the overall winner. Though the rivalry and win/lose was all in fun.

“Divided by Sections, United by Drinks”, we all headed out only to meet again at Shooters, in Costume and with Cheers!