I hurry to the bathroom, sweaty from five hours of class, and fish a suit out of my bag and change. The information session auditorium is packed. There's a woman on stage talking into a microphone.
"People are the core of what we do, and we invest in our people."
Afterward, I head outside and load a plate with finger food. I stuff something warm in my mouth; I haven't eaten all day.
Students swarm the consultants, each waiting for an opening. I down an IPA while I wait.
"Did you want to be a consultant when you were younger?" I ask.
The consultant laughs. "No kid dreams of being a consultant when they grow up. But the work is satisfying in its own way."
I got home around midnight and I'm still on the couch staring at a draft email.
"Thank you for the opportuni—"
I hit delete and shut my laptop.
Two weeks and several information sessions later, I’m at a coffee shop speaking with a principal. There are two empty mugs in front of him.
"So, why did you go from academia and a PhD to where you are now?" I ask.
"Academia wasn't moving fast enough. I wanted a challenge, and I wanted to make an impact, and consulting let me do both."
He tells me he's been there since 8:30 AM. It's almost 3:30 PM now. We talk for 25 minutes because of a cancellation.
When I get home, I send him an email. "Your story was inspiring. I hope to get an opportunity to work for you."
My evenings changed after that. Lunch with the team. Dinner at an upscale restaurant. Then my spouse and I are invited to the downtown office.
I peel off from a conversation with a manager — we'd been talking about archaeological dig sites, the topic of her prior research. I walk over to the principal.
"Yeah, I built this sweet custom rig for data work and now I mostly use it to play Stardew," he says to my spouse.
"Do you play with your partner?" I ask.
"I don't have one."
I take a gulp of Diet Coke and follow it up with a chicken tender.
I spend the next two months solving made up business problems called cases. Mental math, frameworks, answers under two minutes.
It's interview day, and I didn't sleep much.
"Why are you interested in consulting?" asks the interviewer.
"I'm not, really. But I feel connected to the people on the team, and I love problem solving."
The interviewer makes a note and moves on.
The case begins — a supplements company wants to change suppliers.
"Yeah, you wouldn't want to discover they're testing on puppies or something," I say, my neck tensing as the words leave my mouth.
My eyes drop back to the scratch paper. I made an error. I redo the calculation, it still doesn't look right.
Four days later, I get an email from the company. I didn't get the internship.
I flip through my case book; it's almost filled cover to cover. Steel manufacturer acquisition. Wolf population decline. Sports stadium renovation.
I start tearing pages into the recycling bin and then my watch beeps. I toss the whole book in, take my bike off the rack, and head out for class.