I wake up early to finish the finance problem set for my 10:30 a.m. class. I might not get cold-called to present, but regardless, working on the set helps me learn the material. I head to campus around 7:30, which is my favorite time of the day. I have my pick of tables in the BofA (Bank of America) forum and begin studying in the peace and quiet. At about 9:00 a.m., my classmates start rolling in, and I can no longer use my iPod to shelter myself from all the distractions, so I head to my favorite study spot – the computer lab.

I grew up in the Bay Area, majored in Environmental Studies at UCLA, and lived in San Francisco for four years before coming to Haas. I worked in the nonprofit field on environmental and social issues, and chose to attend the Berkeley MBA program because of the reputation of both the Center for Responsible Business and the nonprofit management program at Haas. I was also attracted to Haas’ diverse international student body and faculty. Opportunities here abound for me to continue working on the issues I find important while learning about a new array of topics.

After finance, I head to the biweekly meeting for Net Impact, one of the largest clubs on campus. Net Impact is part of an international organization dedicated to socially responsible business and nonprofit management. Another classmate and I were recently elected 2006 co-presidents. Today is the first meeting that we will be conducting, so I’m a little nervous. Between the five-week communication class and taking on leadership positions such as this one, I am slowly becoming more comfortable speaking in public.

Tuesdays are great because I only have one class. This gives me time to organize myself for the rest of the week. After my meeting, I sit down to sort through my massive email inbox. I get as many as 70 emails per day. Many of these are regarding clubs and activities on campus in which I’m involved, such as the Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) and the Corporate Social Responsibility Speaker Series class, which four other students and I are organizing for the spring semester. Today, I receive an email about the MOT-UNIDO fellowship that my team received. There are four of us on this team: myself, another MBA student, and two students from the Goldman School of Public Policy. We wrote a proposal to bring sustainable electricity to rural populations in East Africa, and our group was selected for the fellowship. We will take a course in the spring to plan our project and then travel to East Africa for a month in the summer. With this project, I will gain experience working internationally, which will help me reach my career goal of working on international sustainable development issues.

I finish my emails in time to meet my three study team members (our group was created by the admissions team at the beginning of the year). Today’s meeting should be quick, but knowing our group, the conversation will veer off-topic within the first five minutes. Although the four of us come from diverse work backgrounds, from nonprofit to investment banking, we’ve managed to maintain a pretty good balance within the group. Before our meeting finishes, I have a question about a difficult finance problem, and my team happily walks me through it. My lack of a quantitative background makes classes such as statistics and finance more challenging. I have gotten tutors for both, and my classmates have been extremely supportive.

I am going to stay on campus tonight to get some studying done before a late intramural volleyball game. I love Tuesday nights for this reason! The team is comprised of ten people – first-years, second-years, and my husband. Balancing my married/personal life with school has been difficult, so volleyball is great chance to bring my husband into the fold. He and I also try to meet for dinner near campus before our games, which is a valuable time for us to catch up.

We head to the gym at 10:30 p.m. for a quick workout before our 11:15 game (yes, it’s a ridiculous time for a game). Our team’s cheer on this night is “Bedtime” and soon the day is over.

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The alarm goes off at 6:00 a.m. My husband Amit, who is an investment banker, is getting ready for work, so I hit the snooze button on my alarm clock to get a much needed extra fifteen minutes of sleep. I am not a morning person, but today is a busy day at school, so I get out of bed by 6:15 a.m. Since Amit works in Menlo Park, we live in San Francisco, a manageable commute for both of us. Having lived in Los Angeles all my life, taking public transportation is a foreign concept. However, I commute to campus by taking BART, which is quite safe and reliable, so the transition to public transportation has been quite smooth.

The commute takes me roughly an hour, and I arrive at school around 8:00 a.m., with plenty of time to read the Wall Street Journal and study for my corporate finance and real estate courses. At 9:00, I attend my back to back classes, which require my full attention. Many of the professors at Haas base some of their grading on class participation, so it is important to pay attention and be prepared for each class. It’s a good thing that today I studied beforehand since I am randomly called on to answer a question in my real estate class!

After class, I have an hour break, so I meet my friends Kim and Patricia for lunch. I came to Haas partly because of the small size of the program -- as a result, our class is quite close-knit. I have been fortunate to form some strong and long-lasting relationships with the students, faculty, and administration, all of which will benefit me personally and professionally.

Though I am finished with classes, my day at Haas is not over. I have a mock interview appointment scheduled with a career counselor. I am interested in pursuing a career in private equity or investment banking, both very competitive fields, so early preparation with our career recruitment center is a definite advantage.

After my mock interview, I meet the rest of the Women in Leadership board. As president of the organization, I am responsible for conducting the meeting. Today, we are discussing our annual Women in Leadership Conference, the largest student-run conference, drawing over 400 people every year.

At 5:30 p.m., I finally head back to the BART station and arrive home around 6:30. Amit will not be home until approximately 8:00 p.m., so I still have some time to go to the gym and cook dinner.

Once Amit arrives home, we eat and begin to plan our wedding anniversary celebration. We were married almost a year ago in a traditional Indian ceremony, and I am surprised that a year has gone by so quickly.

After studying for two hours, I finally head to bed hoping to get at least six hours of sleep…to start another busy, yet fulfilling and challenging day at Haas.

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9:40 a.m.: I stumble over to my alarm clock and start the day. I am a night owl and still a bit groggy from an early morning flight from the East Coast the day before. After checking a few emails, I shower and grab breakfast, and bike off to class. Tuesdays we have a quiz in finance, so I take a brief look at my notes and run into class. As an anthropology major in college, finance is not the easiest of subjects, so I spend most of the class trying to make sure I understand all of the concepts presented.

Once class is over, I bike the two miles back home to focus on a number of little details. Luckily, I have the afternoon free on Tuesdays, and this week, I need that time. I email my platform for leadership in two clubs: Redwoods@Haas and Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC). I focus most of the rest of the afternoon on an email newsletter I am working on for GSVC. One of the former entrants has given me the green light to use her as a case study in the newsletter, so I am almost set with all of the content.

The afternoon is almost gone, and I fit in a quick 20-minute workout, trying to work on my shoulder and ankle injuries, injuries stemming from too many years of rowing. I can’t complain. I rowed on the US national team, but it took its toll in the end. I would do a long bike ride, but that will probably have to wait until the weekend. I glance at the time, rush out the door, and drive down to campus.

I typically attend a speaker series on marketing on Tuesday evenings. Tonight, there is a marketing firm night, where a number of companies come to campus to speak with us about potential opportunities. I worked in advertising in New York for three and a half years, and I am excited to learn more about switching to the client side and brand management. I show up at 6:00 p.m., slightly early to help the representatives from Symantec set up their table. Dan graduated from Haas a year ago and had helped organize last year's firm night. The breadth of the firm night is phenomenal, from Powerbar to Yahoo! to Taco Bell, I find out information about various industries and job roles. All of the companies are great, and the two-hour event flies by too quickly!

At 10:30, I head home, tired but happy to have learned more about new companies. I need to focus on marketing class and write-up four pages on Gillette and the blank cassette market. Most of the cases for our marketing class are at least 20 years old but represent relevant marketing issues for all companies. This write-up is worth 25% of our grade. No problem.

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