Of course such a greeting is not something I would have ever given anybody, until I had spent 16 weeks of this year at Babson. (A chufty badge for the first person to name the professor who once greeted us this way.)  Yes, 16, intense, enjoyable, sometimes lonely, sometimes boring, but always interesting, weeks.  Meeting all the different people who work and learn at Babson, learning Business and Finance essentials, learning about ourselves and what we can do as we continue down the path of becoming great leaders, these are some of the highlights of life at Babson. 

But when I think back on that time, the one thing that stands out is the 13 other fellows I had the pleasure of spending this time with.  All of them with their different quirks, insights, catchphrases (“Hello Everybody”, “Marriott”, “Quality…Right”), and all of them brilliant in their own way.  I miss all you guys, not quite as much as my family, but you do come a distant second, and I am looking forward to seeing you all again in August for our next two weeks of Academic Study.

I just hope Stevo’s cough has gone by then. ;-)

But, being in Boston does still mean that you have the largest number of Fellows in close proximity, and we are finding different ways of meeting up on a regular basis, whether its BBQ’s, Thursday Cinema Club, or just bumping into each other in Macys, we still have a sense of community, our own little ecosystem.

And with the end of Babson comes a new beginning/ challenge, my externship with Liberty Mutual  Group.  Life at Liberty has been both enjoyable and interesting for what has now been almost three weeks.  I am not alone, no I am joined here by Ian W and Paul, all working on different projects, but working at conjoined cubes.  Insurance and Marketing are both new to this lifelong engineer, but I have found that I enjoy working in the marketing world, and have found a new interest in the Insurance world, something that I didn’t ever expect to happen to this Insurance Cynic.  We had lunch with Helen Sayles, Senior Vice President at Liberty Mutual, and Saltire Foundation Trustee, and she is arranging for us to meet different people from within the business, to give us as much exposure as possible.  In addition to our working life, Liberty Mutual are arranging a lot of activities over the coming months including a Boston Harbour tall ships dinner cruise,  and a day working at a food bank, so life at Liberty is going to be very interesting over the next two months.

Until next time….

"You're Fired!!!!"