As much as I would like to quantify my experiences this week in St. Charles to everyone, I feel the need to point out that words will never really capture the Strategy College experience. Growing up in Ohio for 22 years, where the most foreign thing I had encountered was a Taco Bell, it was an entirely new occurrence to spend one week, with business analysts, consultants, managers, and senior managers from 37 different countries across the world.

After an early four hour flight on Sunday morning, I arrived at Chicago O’Hare airport to 90 degree, incredibly humid and sunny weather. (Sometimes I actually miss those Midwest summers). I claimed my luggage, and while waiting for the limo to pick me up, saw a familiar face. Chanda Yarborough, who writes on the Experienced Consultant’s Blog, was waiting for the very same limo ride to St. Charles, where she attended Core Manager School.

One week from today I will roll off of my project, saying “sayonara” to my role, my familiar routine, and my co-workers and friends. I can’t help but to feel nostalgia for the memories I’ve created here. It’s my first roll-off, so I’m soon to enter uncharted territory. I’ve been forewarned that this is a time when I might experience culture shock; a new role, unfamiliar faces, new jargon and methodologies to learn. Not to mention that I’ll be wearing a suit to work every day, which means more prep time in the morning and skyrocketing dry-cleaning bills.

In the scheme of things this transition isn’t one of epic proportions, but it can dictate the shape of my career if I make it. An analyst’s second year is pivotal as it can make or breaks his/her first promotion. Looked at from this perspective, it’s that much more important that I find my place and prove my worth early in my new role. Heh, no pressure.

Did another week go by already? I guess time flies when you’re having fun!

And I am having fun – like Jackie, I am a voracious learner and happy to be in training right now. I’ve already been to Core Analyst School, but my project and my operating group both have training budgets for us to use, as appropriate. Working with my career counselor last year, I identified areas for growth that match my career goals. During formal objective and performance reviews, I spoke to my project’s managers and my team leads, mentioning that I wanted to enhance my knowledge of configuring our software and creating data models. At long last, here I am in three days of Vendor training, in gorgeous Colorado. (Note: It helps time fly when you pick training in a beautiful location.)

What grown adult doesn’t nostalgically look back on college and wish they could have just ONE more week of college? One more week of no-strings-attached, uninhibited, uninterrupted learning. That’s right everyone, after one year of patiently waiting, Sunday I am headed to the Q-Center in St. Charles, Illinois, for the two-week pilot program of Strategy College.

Alright, so, let’s face it. We won’t be attending class in our pajamas, or eating strictly microwavable food, or making pyramids of beer cans in our rooms. But, those are parts of college that I care not to re-live at this point in my life. We will have the chance to network with each other, polish our analytical skills, and learn new processes and methodologies that will help us out on the project site. Each business analyst will select 12 courses of their choice, focusing on areas such as: client relationship management, structured problem solving and business assessment, effective communication, value analysis and insight development, and strategy development. This allows each individual to tailor their curriculum in a way that will best progress their own individual professional development and career goals.

I want to take a moment to reflect on the number of really fantastic people that I’ve worked with over the last year. Over and over again, during my interviews with Accenture, people kept telling me that their favorite part of working for the company was the people. I’ve met folks who have left the company and come back, and they tend to attribute their return to wanting to surround themselves with great people.

A few weeks ago, one of my teammates finished coding one our of system’s enhancements. It was the most complicated [and frequently changing] extension, and he’d spent weeks researching and testing and coding and recoding. Once he’d finished the extension and successfully tested it, he jumped up and gave me a high five, jokingly telling me, “I think I just did something that less than .00001 percent of the world’s population could do.” What's amazing is... he’s probably right.

After an incredibly stressful week, and an even busier and more stressful weekend, I was finally able to relax and vent my frustrations to my friend late Saturday night.

I never thought it would be possible to build a metaphor comparing my current role at Accenture to The Karate Kid, but somehow, my friend managed to pull it off…