Wow, I’m realizing that I’ve gotten pretty janky about putting new entries up here so far this quarter. I know that once per week is pretty consistent and all, but I really would like to be giving you guys something new to read a lot more often than that. From now on, I’m going to get better at uploading entries, especially since I’ve only got a few more weeks left in B-school and may not have anything interesting to blog about after that.
There is a ton of activity around Stanford this weekend with there being two sets of Admit Weekends going on, the GSB’s and the Stanford University undegrad one. The undergrad admits started arriving on Thursday and I swear they all look like little kids. I guess they technically are kids, but they’ve got me feeling OLD!!! The GSB admits should start arriving on Saturday afternoon and, as usual, there should be a lot of cool things planned for them while they’re here. Strangely, HBS planned their second round Admit Weekend for this weekend, as well, so it’s going to make for some really tough traveling for all of the admits who got into both schools. Either they’ve got to choose one school’s event to attend or they’ve got to try to visit both, which I’ve heard that several folks are planning to do. It’s so strange that it is going down like this, but I guess that’s just the way it’ll be this time around. In addition to the Admit Weekend stuff, the Hispanic Business Student Association will be having their annual Jerry Porras Banquet, which honors a Hispanic GSB alum of note and was a great event last year. Black Business Student Association members usually attend the dinner to show support for HBSA, but, this time around, the banquet will double-up as the BBSA/HBSA sponsored Admit Weekend event for Black and Hispanic admits. Whew, it looks like I’m going to be doing a lot of running around this weekend.
One thing that has been on my mind lately is how friggin’ worried I am about going back into the Real World. There is a lot of security in knowing that you don’t have to worry about going into work day-in and day-out. Knowing that your work will be graded on an academic scale rather than a hire-or-fire status takes away a whole lot of stress. And, knowing that I’m surrounded by a collection of classmates that are all checkin’ for me has a way of making me feel relaxed. As I look ahead to June 17, I can’t help but be a little freaked out about what’s waiting for me on the other side. I’m moving to ATL, which I hear is a great city but is one where I’ve never lived before and have very few connections in…plus, I have no clue of what part of the city to live in. I’ve got a great job waiting for me at McK (the company I came to business school to get into), but the expectations there are going to be so high that I wonder whether I’ll meet them or fall flat. Speaking of expectations, coming out as a Stanford GSB, people are going to assume that I’ve got a certain level of intellect, so I anticipate feeling a lot of pressure to “wow” people with everything I say. I’ve always worked my butt off to make some big moves and position myself to take care of my family and, now that I’m about to be doing it up big, I’m praying that I can actually accomplish that lifelong goal. And, oh lawd, don’t let me get started on the student loan payments…they’re supposed to start up six months after graduation and I’ll have that monthly payment hanging over me until I’m close to 40. Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel is a good feeling, but it can also be terrifying! I am SO jealous of all the people visiting the GSB for Admit Weekend because I’d give anything to be starting this B-school thing all over again…
One last thing before I go…as some of you may know, President George W. Bush visited Stanford’s campus this afternoon and the whole visit turned out to be a huge production. Security had the area around Hoover Tower and Memorial Auditorium blocked off from public access and there were a ton of protesters gathered in front of the barracades chanting all kinds of anti-Bush slogans. After class, my curiosity got the best of me and I had to check out the protests. There had to have been close to 100 protest signs raised in the area where I stood pointing out upwards of 20 different beefs that folks had with the president…the people definitely weren’t checkin’ for The Bush. Seeing all that made me wonder how Bush got re-elected in the first place if so many people are against him now, but that’s not something for me to speculate on…people will be arguing back and forth about that for many years to come.
There is a ton of activity around Stanford this weekend with there being two sets of Admit Weekends going on, the GSB’s and the Stanford University undegrad one. The undergrad admits started arriving on Thursday and I swear they all look like little kids. I guess they technically are kids, but they’ve got me feeling OLD!!! The GSB admits should start arriving on Saturday afternoon and, as usual, there should be a lot of cool things planned for them while they’re here. Strangely, HBS planned their second round Admit Weekend for this weekend, as well, so it’s going to make for some really tough traveling for all of the admits who got into both schools. Either they’ve got to choose one school’s event to attend or they’ve got to try to visit both, which I’ve heard that several folks are planning to do. It’s so strange that it is going down like this, but I guess that’s just the way it’ll be this time around. In addition to the Admit Weekend stuff, the Hispanic Business Student Association will be having their annual Jerry Porras Banquet, which honors a Hispanic GSB alum of note and was a great event last year. Black Business Student Association members usually attend the dinner to show support for HBSA, but, this time around, the banquet will double-up as the BBSA/HBSA sponsored Admit Weekend event for Black and Hispanic admits. Whew, it looks like I’m going to be doing a lot of running around this weekend.
One thing that has been on my mind lately is how friggin’ worried I am about going back into the Real World. There is a lot of security in knowing that you don’t have to worry about going into work day-in and day-out. Knowing that your work will be graded on an academic scale rather than a hire-or-fire status takes away a whole lot of stress. And, knowing that I’m surrounded by a collection of classmates that are all checkin’ for me has a way of making me feel relaxed. As I look ahead to June 17, I can’t help but be a little freaked out about what’s waiting for me on the other side. I’m moving to ATL, which I hear is a great city but is one where I’ve never lived before and have very few connections in…plus, I have no clue of what part of the city to live in. I’ve got a great job waiting for me at McK (the company I came to business school to get into), but the expectations there are going to be so high that I wonder whether I’ll meet them or fall flat. Speaking of expectations, coming out as a Stanford GSB, people are going to assume that I’ve got a certain level of intellect, so I anticipate feeling a lot of pressure to “wow” people with everything I say. I’ve always worked my butt off to make some big moves and position myself to take care of my family and, now that I’m about to be doing it up big, I’m praying that I can actually accomplish that lifelong goal. And, oh lawd, don’t let me get started on the student loan payments…they’re supposed to start up six months after graduation and I’ll have that monthly payment hanging over me until I’m close to 40. Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel is a good feeling, but it can also be terrifying! I am SO jealous of all the people visiting the GSB for Admit Weekend because I’d give anything to be starting this B-school thing all over again…
One last thing before I go…as some of you may know, President George W. Bush visited Stanford’s campus this afternoon and the whole visit turned out to be a huge production. Security had the area around Hoover Tower and Memorial Auditorium blocked off from public access and there were a ton of protesters gathered in front of the barracades chanting all kinds of anti-Bush slogans. After class, my curiosity got the best of me and I had to check out the protests. There had to have been close to 100 protest signs raised in the area where I stood pointing out upwards of 20 different beefs that folks had with the president…the people definitely weren’t checkin’ for The Bush. Seeing all that made me wonder how Bush got re-elected in the first place if so many people are against him now, but that’s not something for me to speculate on…people will be arguing back and forth about that for many years to come.
