Recent Posts
My Initial Thoughts on Being an EMBA Student
We are nearing the end of our first term of the MBA for Executives (EMBA) program at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business and it has been quite the ride already. Our cohort of 62 has finished a week-long leadership residency (LR1), two On-Grounds...
Considering a Tech Startup – My Conversation with WillowTree App’s Michael Prichard
Last week I continued my exploration for Darden's Professional Advancement Course by meeting with a local mobile app development company, WillowTree Apps. *Note: Some of the comments below are my interpretation and opinion from what I actually heard from Michael --...
Learning About Entrepreneurship with Hillary Lewis of Lumi Juice
For our Professional Advancement Course, we were asked to conduct an informational interview. I still don't know what my future after Darden looks like: it could be a promotion at work, or maybe it's a job in a new industry, or maybe I decide to start my own...
48 Hours in Ischia, Italy
On my return trip from Afghanistan this past June (yes this post is long overdue), I met up with my girlfriend Jocelyn for a week-long trip to Italy, including Ischia, Pompeii, Amalfi, Positano, Sorrento, and Capri. The first 48 hours, after not having seen each other...
A Tribute to an Inspiring Man Who Wanted Us All to Live Our Legend
In early 2013, I was a little depressed with my job. I joined the US Army the day after 9/11 and after serving 7 years of active duty, I moved to the ranks of defense contracting and eventually a government civil service job. To no fault of the mission or the people,...
Preparing for Darden After 15 Years of No College
Getting accepted into Darden was a dream come true. After the stress of feeling unqualified for a top business school with a median GMAT score, history degree, and almost no actual private business experience, I then had about six months to both mentally and...
Being a Business School Student
The 14th anniversary of 9/11 just came to a close. It's kind of symbolic for me to be writing this post from the Darden Inn, the on-grounds lodging at the University of Virginia's business school, because when the first plane hit on the actual 9/11, I was driving...
Memorial Day 2014
I love America and I love that most Americans want to thank me for my service today. To all of them, I appreciate it, but I ask for one favor. Instead of turning your attention to me and fellow veterans, please take a moment to remember any one of the fallen veterans...
Starting Over During an EMBA Program
When we started our Darden EMBA journey back in August 2015, the career advising center recommended we wait until after our China trip (which was last month) to make a career move as we would then enter electives and a slightly less aggressive schedule; I probably...
Blogging and Live Your Legend
I hope I’m not alone in this, but blogging consistently has always been hard. I’m always in love with the idea of writing. I’ve thought of and even launched multiple blogs in the past on veterans issues, travel, family life… some of my old entries are recycled into...
Talking Military Transition with Navy Federal’s Cutler Dawson
This morning, members of the Darden Military Association (DMA) had breakfast with retired Navy Vice Admiral and current President and CEO of the world's largest credit union, Cutler Dawson. We were the benefactors of Darden's executive leadership relationship with...
The Darden EMBA Video Blog with Brett Twitty
For anybody seriously considering Darden for business school, I highly recommend taking some time to watch some of the many great YouTube videos from Darden. I included some links at the bottom to help you get started. But I had a chance to sit with Brett Twitty...
Coffee and Chocolate with Shark Mountain
Many of my MBA for Executives classmates do not live in Charlottesville. It's unfortunate because they miss out on a lot of local opportunities through Darden clubs. I joined the Darden Military Association (DMA), Darden Technology Club, and the Darden Wine And...