Hello There Ladies and Gentlemen

My name is Chris Garvin, and this is my first attempt at a blog. Why start now? One simple reason: when I was deliberating over which MBA program to attend, the LGO blogs provided me with honest, detailed information, straight from the students, about the program (something I did not get from other schools), which really helped solidify this program as my top choice, and now I'd like to return the favor to future applicants.

We learned a lot early this summer about setting goals at the start of a project, so here are mine for this blog:

1. Write at least a couple of times a month about the program
2. Be interesting, honest, and informative (I'd like to give more in-depth information than someone would be able to simply find on the LGO site)
3. Remember to write about the stuff I cared about when I was looking at schools

Those should be easy enough to meet, I hope.

Before wrapping up this first post, I should probably set the stage for the rest of the posts by giving some background about myself. Here's everything you need to know:
Name: Chris Garvin
Hometown: New Paltz, NY
College: Williams College (MA), B.A. Geosciences
Grad school: Cornell University, M.S. Geological Sciences
First car: 1993 Toyota Celica
Favorite shape: Trapezoid
Interests/Hobbies: Running, cycling, swimming, baseball
LGO Engineering Track: Engineering Systems Division - Energy & Environmental Sustainability Track
Previous work experience: Biotechnology Process Scientist for four years
Biggest surprise of my life: Actually finding someone to marry me
Favorite scent: Three-way tie: freshly cut grass on a baseball field, honeysuckle in late spring, newly fallen leaves in the fall.
Why I am back in school: Have always been interested in coaching/teaching and decided I want to do that in the corporate world as a manager/leader.
Why MIT & LGO: Want to make the jump into clean energy/clean technology/sustainability/all other applicable buzzwords, and MIT and LGO seemed to provide the perfect combination of engineering and management education to get me there (things like the world-renowned MIT Energy Intiative didn't hurt either).

Well, I look forward to making many more posts in the future, and hopefully those will have some actual information about my experiences in the program (which has been fabulous thus far). Until then...