Monday, September 14, 2009

Community and Life in the Ivy Commune

When I originally turned on my computer to blog, the plan was to talk about prioritization and my insanely busy schedule. As I sat down to write, however, there was a knock on my door. It was one of the guys who lives downstairs returning a dish from our BBQ yesterday. Him and I discussed one of the cases for tomorrow, he left to go back to his suite, and I returned to my computer.

Not five minutes later, there was another knock on the door. One of my friends had gotten my text about having her jacket at my place and was swinging by to pick it up on her way home from learning team. Her and I chatted for what was probably way too long before parting ways to go back to finishing prep for tomorrow's cases and the upcoming briefings.

The closest I've come to community before living here was when I shared a house with a friend living in the basement suite. We would watch movies together, cook Easter dinner together, and borrow food as necessary. I have to admit that living in Ivy Gardens and experiencing community here is actually a great experience. For a long time, the notion of borrowing a cup of sugar was old and outdated to me. But in the last few weeks, I've gone downstairs to borrow wine glasses and corkscrews. And, although reciprocity is never a condition of being neighbourly, I've picked up the slack as well, throwing a shirt in with my laundry, giving someone without a car a ride to the grocery store or the mall and contributing food to a Sunday BBQ.

If I'm having a lousy day, I know there are people close by who will give me a hug if I need it. If I need to borrow a textbook, a set of wine glasses, or anything, I know that someone in Ivy will have it. When I'm walking home from class, there's usually someone to walk with me.

Anyway, I will talk about prioritization later, as I attempt to define exactly what makes Darden the most rigourous first year MBA program.

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