Last day of work!!!!!!

I can't believe it. Today was my last day of work! Woohoo!!!!!  I was so excited last night that I couldn't fall asleep. It felt like Christmas.  Even though it was my last day, I was still fairly busy. It was tough to catch up with people and say good-bye because I was working right up until 6pm before our intern farewell event.

It's funny, at the beginning of the internship, everyone is gung ho and excited. Now, everyone is over it and wants the program to end.  Haha.  During happy hour, the other interns were asking each other if we would do this F/T. I personally thought that this was inappropriate to ask at this time since HR was at the event as well. I'm sure they would love to hear people hesitate or say no as they're going to be spending next week deciding who gets an offer or not. With that said, we're supposed to find out by Aug. 31 if we get an offer. The most likely feedback time will be early next week though. With the recent downturn in the banking industry and layoffs at work, they're cutting the number of offers this year.  It's going to be tough. I'm very curious to see the numbers and who gets an offer, who accepts and declines. Barclay just announced their numbers and it's 1/3 offers, 1/3 hold and 1/3 no offers.

All I know is that I'm looking forward to going back to school and doing orientation next week! We start Peer Advising training tomorrow so no rest for me, but I don't mind. The welcome reception for the incoming first years will be on Sunday night.  It's going to be a crazy week but a lot of fun to relive orientation week. I'm already losing my voice though! I can't believe that! I think my second year is going to be awesome.  Hopefully I figure out my full-time job and can relax about that.  I plan on doing a lot of travelling and enjoying time with friends in this last year.

Rooftop Luau

This past Saturday, Rahul (our classmate), Braxton and Morgan (one of Braxton's roommates) had a rooftop luau at Braxton's apartment. They have been looking forward to this for several weeks, but have also been very nervous. No one is actually allowed on the rooftop and 120+ people RSVP'd. They were afraid that the roof was going to collapse. Patrick, one of Braxton's roommates, was so worried that he decided to not be a part of it and actually left for his gf's place that day. I was pretty worried too. I had a feeling that they were going to get into a lot of trouble.

Well, first thing is that I got the night off from work! When I walked into their apt, they had leis all over the couches. It was cute! I picked up a lei and headed up to the rooftop. I must say, Rahul goes ALL OUT. Any party of his is going to be pure awesomeness. He gets really into it. He put a lot of time, effort and money into this. Not only did Rahul buy the leis, he also bought 4 feet tiki torches and taped them along the rooftop. He then had a ceremonial lighting and lit the torches, which provided very nice mood lighting for the event. The boys borrowed blow-up life rafts from friends to hold the beer and ice. Brilliant idea. I'll have to remember that because it's easy to deflate and store away when you're done with it. I, myself, have been wanting to be more social and found a ledge to sit on and was catching up with people.

The party was going really well...until the cops came. The luau started at 7pm and at 9:30pm on a Saturday night, the cops came because some people complained. I could not believe it. I did expect cops or the super around 11:30ish or midnight, but not at 9:30pm on a saturday night.  On top of that, we actually weren't loud at all. The music was so low that you didn't need to talk over it. No one was screaming or yelling. People were just talking. I was surprised that it was so tame actually. In any case, all ~70 people tried to cram into the guys' apartment, which definitely was too small.  We lost a lot of poeple because of that.  We tried to move the party to another rooftop that was 20 blocks away. I went with Braxton and a few other people to scope it out and it turned out that no one wanted to leave the apt and move to a new place.  So we went back to Braxton's apartment. I enjoyed the luau the most. I wish they didn't shut us down so early. Rahul also planned a hula dance too with his friends. He got to do it, but it was inside a cramped living room rather than on the roof. Oh well, at least the roof didn't collapse, which was everyone's biggest fear.

Here's a picture of Rahul in the life raft next to the beers. Even though it was such a short party, I felt really good afterwards. One of the shortest, but best parties that I've been to.

Last week of my internship!

It's my last week of the internship. I can't believe the end is near. I'm looking forward to starting Peer Advising and orientation. One good thing is that I will be ready for long hours at school after this summer.  My last day is on Thursday, August 16.  I do have to say that I'm bummed that I won't get to finish this project that I'm working on. It's a sell-side deal and I'll be uploading files to the data room. It's funny how I'm on the other side of the team now. In the end, I prefer the buy-side. But it's still cool to see how management presentations and data rooms get created. I wonder what I will do with all of my free time now...CLEAN. I'm never home, yet my apartment somehow turns into a disaster by the time the week ends. I will also catch up on sleep and see friends. The other interns are ready for this to end too. It makes you question why people take the job though when they're so desperately waiting until our last day. As a F/T employee, there is no end date until you quit.

In any case, my mood has improved a lot. I'm working less hours and actually got out early on Friday around ~9pm. I also didn't have to work super late this weekend. I'm glad the work load has gotten lighter. It's been a tough summer.

I start PA training on Friday and go through the weekend. Then orientation begins Monday. It's going to be great to re-live orientation. I remember how I felt last year when I started school. I was so nervous! I hope that I can be helpful for these 1st years. My second year is going to be GREAT. I'm really going to enjoy every moment of it. After orientation, I'm taking a block week class on Personal Leadership. It has incredible reviews, although I'm not really sure what the class is about. I think it'll be good for me. I did read in the syllabus that there is a lot of self reflection and learning about how to manage stress in the workplace, which I need.

Anyways, 4 days and counting!

Visit to the NYSE!

I think the highlight of my entire internship this summer was our visit to the NYSE exchange.  After business hours, they opened up the floor to the all the DB interns.  There were appetizers and cocktails.  Now, this whole summer, I NEVER had a drink at the evening receptions because I always have to go back to work afterwards.  Well, I finally decided to break that rule.  Needless to say...lesson learned.  As soon as I got back to the office, I was hit with a ton of urgent work and I had to try to mentally force myself to be sober. It was tough. Haha.  I have to admit though, I only had one glass of wine, but my tolerance has gone down significantly this summer. 

The NYSE was really cool! I only had an hour there because I had to get back to the office.  I wish I could've taken it in more though. The lights and atmosphere was unbelievable.  The best part, of course, was taking a picture in the balcony where they ring the opening/closing bell.  We each got to keep a photo that was framed for us!  What surprised me is that it's not as high off the floor as you think it is.  It's only one flight of stairs above the floor.  Also, the NYSE seemed small in general.  But it was the best part of my internship!

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Days gone by...

I officially have 2 weeks left of my internship and it's been quite a ride. Needless to say, all I do now is think about drinking. Is that bad? I just can't believe that I've survived 8 weeks. It feels like months have passed. The days are just a blur. Everything blends together because I'm at the office all day every day. To not have a weekend off makes you lose track of time. I have no idea what day of the week it is. All I know is that I try to get off work in time to make the car line which stops at 1am. If I make the car line, then I know I got out early.

To be honest, my hours have improved since I started my new rotation.  I now get off some time between the hours of 12:30am and 2:00am.  It's funny, but the outside world doesn't seem real. I forget about what's going on...birthdays, bills, etc. The only thing I try to do is laundry every week and to pay my rent on time. Thank goodness for automatic credit card payments. I probably would be behind in paying bills if I didn't have that. Although, it would be easier to stay connected to the world if my company didn't restrict all social media and email-related websites. 

I heard/noticed some interesting things lately. Two different people have told me that they set their alarm for 6am every morning so they can check their emails and then they go back to sleep and wake up at 8am.  The reason is because MDs start working at 5am and usually start to send out emails. I also work with this guy who is really nice and calm. He's incredibly busy but never seems to lose his cool.  I admire that.  What's concerning though is that when he types, I notice his hands shake.  I wonder if it's from this job... The other intern in my group has been complaining about his wrists. They hurt and we do a lot of typing/modeling. He doesn't have time to go to the doctor either. I feel really bad for him. 

I wonder if I have an ulcer. I'm pretty sure that I've lost weight, but it could be muscle loss because I'm not working out. Many times I feel lightheaded from lack of sleep. People say you get used to this though. I guess it's true. Last week, I only got 3 hours of sleep per day.  When Friday came, I finally slept 7 hours and I felt worse. It would have been better if I continued to sleep for only 3 hours a night because then I'm just napping and the exhaustion doesn't hit me as hard. Speaking of which, it's time for bed.