Spring Break has officially started for MBA2′s, but MBA1′s are still stuck in the fire of Winter quarter. The difference comes because GSB electives usually don’t have final exams during Finals week, so our time in class concludes when classes end. On the other hand, the first-years have mostly Core classes, which each have an exam during the Finals week, so, while we’re off starting our 2-week Spring Break, they’re cramming like crazy and limping to the finish line where a 1-week break awaits them. Part of me feels a little sorry for the MBA1′s, but, when I think back to being in their shoes last year, I am SO HAPPY to be a few days into my 2 weeks off

I just got back into town from Las Vegas a couple of hours ago after a nice 3-day trip with my GF to celebrate her birthday (HAPPY B-DAY, GRACE…if you’re reading this, that is). We did a pretty low-key trip, but still had a good time. Some of the highlights were having a couple of great days at the blackjack table and coming out of Vegas ahead on my gambling, walking along the Strip and checking out the lay of the land, and seeing the Cirque de Soleil show “Ka” last night. For those of you who might want to see “Ka”, don’t go in expecting to see a play because it is pretty hard to piece together the plot (there is no dialogue). but, if you’re interested in seeing the stuff that Cirque de Soleil is known for (acrobatics, high-wire performances, etc), then you’ll be very pleased with “Ka”. This is the first trip to Vegas where I have done it low-key and it’s actually nice to “get my grown man on” in that city. Surprisingly, it’s still possible to have fun there without acting a complete fool.

Next up, I’ll be flying out to Morocco to meet up with a bunch of my classmates for a week and a half of sightseeing and bonding. You know, I never thought i’d become a world traveler like this, but I am really enjoying acting like I’m a big baller already I’m thinking of bringing my laptop with me so I can give you guys a day-by-day account of what goes down…sort of like I did as I was driving cross country on my way to Stanford. I’ve heard that Morocco is a great place to hang out, so I’m really excited about this trip.

Finally, just when I thought all of the worries about school were over, I’ve got some stuff going back and forth in my head about the kind of courseload I should take next quarter. It should be an easy choice, but there are some really good classes that I’ve been fortunate enough to get into and I’m at a sticking point. The heart of the issue is the number of units I want to take next quarter. For most MBA students, a standard courseload is around 16 units per quarter, but, for folks in the joint degree MBA/MA.Ed program, a heavier load is required because of the Education school requirements to finish in two years with both degrees. Because I came into the joint-degree program late (and because I’ve wanted to learn as much as possible in my time here), I’ve been taking riduculous numbers of units each quarter and, by now, I think I have enough GSB units to be finished with that degree. With that said, I came here to learn as much about business as possible and don’t want to go through my final quarter without taking any Bschool classes. The only units I NEED to take are 10 units worth of Ed school credits and I’ll be finished with both degrees.

To accomplish the Ed-side of what i’ve got left, I’m signed up for two 4-unit Ed classes and one 4-unit course that is cross listed between the GSB and Ed school. In addition to those, I was planning taking two 4-unit GSB courses that I’d gotten enrolled into (Real-Estate Investment and Global Economy, the latter of which would allow me to get the Public Management Program certificate), for a total of 20-units, which would be heavy for a final MBA2-quarter…then I found out that I’d gotten into one of the great entrepreneurship classes (Managing Growing Enterprises with Prof. Ellis — this dude is a heavy hitter in the entrepreneurship game) here off of the waitlist. To take this entrepreneurship class, I’d have to either drop one of the other two GSB classes or get myself ready for a hellish 24-unit quarter. I am not feeling the second option, so it looks like I’ve got to figure out a GSB class to drop and I’m having a much harder time making this decision than I thought I would. Dang, I thought all of the tough academic choices would have been done by now. This definitely isn’t a life or death call, but these sorts of situations become major when your time in B-school is about to come to an end. Sometimes I wish we could do a 3rd year in business school so we wouldn’t have to miss out on the cool courses.