*phew*
For a while, I wasn’t sure I would make the R1 deadline, but I did…with 15 hours to spare! Took a celebratory shot of Jager (gross, I know, but it doesn’t make me sick), gonna veg out and watch some TV, take a break tomorrow, and then submit Haas over the weekend.
I’m over the essay hump. I’ll finally see my friends again…
YAY!!! I was starting to doubt myself.
Now the challenge is to find a slot that fits into my wonky schedule.
I left work around 5 pm today with the intent of heading straight home and working on my Duke essays. They need a lot of work before I submit them tomorrow night. 45-minutes into my commute, I get a call. My uncle is in the ICU and things don’t look good. Frack. I know this feeling too well. I had four family members pass in 2004. I turn back around and head to the hospital…which is just 5 minutes from my office.
10:15pm -I just got home. I spent most of my evening in a car in traffic when I need to be working on essays. My uncle’s prognosis isn’t good. They keep finding more and more things wrong with him. Oh look, my company’s technologies are helping the doctors treat him. I’m frazzled. I need to work on the Duke essays but I’m spent. AAAAAAGH. Gotta press on.
I wish the Haas and Duke due dates were flip flopped. I’m pretty ready to turn in Haas but wish I had another week for Duke. I think I’ll sneak away during the day tomorrow to get some essay work done.
My new boss starts on Thursday.
All week, I’ve had a sharp pain in my back when I inhale. I figured it was just a pinched nerve or a pulled muscle that would go away after a few days. I am slowly learning that as I get older, my body doesn’t quite heal itself on its own anymore. Yesterday, I sought the help of a massage therapist. It helped a little, but the pain was still there when I inhaled. Luckily, I had a physical therapy appointment a bit later in the day. Thankfully, the IT Band has healed well and I’m back up to running 3 miles a few days a week now (much less than the marathon I was supposed to run tomorrow, but better than where I was at a month ago!). But now, my back. I asked my therapist to take a look.
After feeling around for a bit, she said I had a popped rib head. Basically, I had dislocated one of my ribs where it attaches to my spine. Great. She tried popping it back in but it wouldn’t budge, so she gave me two tennis balls taped together so that I could roll around on it and just hope it pops back in sooner rather than later. How does this happen? It can happen in your sleep, from hunching over a desk for too long (probably cause for me?), awkward exertion, coughing spells…
I swear this application process is wrecking my body.
I’m giving myself until 1pm today to finish drafting Duke’s long essay #2.
A friend came into town last night so we went out for dinner. What was supposed to be a quick taco run turned into a few margaritas and a burnt mouth. I got a little too excited and bit into the boy’s freshly fried pescado taco. Hot oil squirted everywhere and scorched the inside of my mouth.
I just noticed that, as a result, I’m talking out of the other corner of my mouth today.
Oh, since several tequila-related fiascos in college, I rarely drink tequila anymore. In fact, the smell makes my body heave. But…strawberry margaritas! Needless to say, the drinks at dinner inhibited any progress on the pesky Duke essays, the bane of my existence. Duke, I love you. I don’t love your essays.
On top of this, we have reached the two weeks out of every year that are the most stressful for me. I have staff coming in from around the world working on a project for me. I have lots of fires to put out throughout the day so when I get home, the last thing I want to do is write an essay.
Sometimes when people come up to me looking for a decision, I can’t help but chuckle (in my head. out loud would not inspire confidence). Half the time, I have no effin’ clue. Luckily, my instincts haven’t failed me yet. But, it is bound to at some point…and that’s why I want an MBA.
I have worked hard since March to get to this MBA goal. Can’t slack now. Must press on for another 10 days.
Oh, and I have to prepare a presentation to 150 people. Does it make me sweat? Two years ago, it would have kept me up all night. Now…*shrug*
Dear Weekend – Thank you. I needed you.
Dear Essays – Please finish yourselves.
Dear AdCom - Please call or email soon. You’re making me doubt myself.
Dear December - Forget November! I just want to see you! Please do my Christmas shopping too.
Dear Upstairs Neighbor (aka Stompy) – I wish you would go to bed at a normal hour. Oh, and your Proactiv package has been sitting downstairs for the last 5 days.
I sent my essays to a friend who has a Master’s in Journalism. He said they were good, much better than my Kellogg essays, but when I opened them…ouch.
Oh well. He knows how much I want to go to bschool so he’s just being hypercritical to make my essays as strong as possible.
My handicap? I can’t detect usage of passive voice…and I get jargony when confronted with space limitations. “Show don’t tell,” is difficult to abide by when you’re restricted to 250 words.
The Duke essays are the bane of my existence. I MUST finish them in time for R1.
Officially, Wharton interview invites start going out today and cease on Nov 15th for R1. To properly set my expectations, I have to remind myself that this is my reach school. Of course, I will be happy if they call me. If they don’t, I gave it my best shot.
I checked the BW Forums (yes evil, but I was disciplined enough to only look at the Wharton thread), GMATClub, and S2S. No interview action on any of those boards. The percentage of Indian nationals on all of these boards seems incredibly high. I wonder if they’re on those boards for the same reason that I am…because nobody I know has gone to business school.
UGH. Back to my Duke essays. I really hate Short Answer #2 vs. Long Essay #2. YOU ARE THE SAME QUESTION! The differences are so subtle. UGH!! 2 weeks til due date and my essays are NOT in a good place. Blech blech blech blech.
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Interesting tidbit: I make more than my parents combined. I can’t believe they raised two kids (and sent them to Catholic schools!) on that. I know how hard they worked. That’s why, when I received my BA, I put it in a fancy frame and gave it to them. That was their only goal. It was why they immigrated here, why they worked odd jobs to put me through school, and why they pushed me to always do my best.
…I have to eat yogurt with a plastic spoon. I think metal spoons make yogurt taste weird.
I think I’ve reached a turning point with Duke short answer #2. I’ve finally found a clear(ish) direction. Wahoo!
Got a decent draft of my Haas essays together and sent it to two reviewers for some early stage commentary. Mostly, I’m having some trouble with the “Who would you have dinner with?” essay. I know who I want to have dinner with, but I’m not able to clearly articulate why.
After some wavering, I’ve decided to apply for the Berkeley MBA/MPH dual-degree. It may seem odd since I’m not applying to any other dual degree programs, but I think it makes sense at Haas:
I’m considering dropping Columbia. It doesn’t seem I have good chances there and it is the weakest health/MBA program out of the lot. I just REALLY fancied the idea of living in NYC with my best friend.
