Second Week Into Second Semester

I have to say that everyone has lied that second semester is easier than first semester. Yes, I'm rested after 5 weeks off. Yes, I'm more into the whole swing of school with homework and classes. Yes, I feel like I know my way around Haas and enjoy my classmates. However, the sheer magnitude of commitments seems to have doubled from first semester.

Ok, it's possible that this is my fault after securing two elected positions in clubs, taking one class that centers around an outside consulting project and another that requires a business plan. But I think all of this would be manageable if I wasn't trying to also continue my career soul searching plan.

We get notifications multiple times a day about great jobs, internships and other side projects that we can work on if we feel that we have the time. All of them sound interesting and I'm back to my original challenge when I came to b-school: learning to say "no" swiftly and decisively. After all of these great opportunities are shared with me, I find myself thinking about potential careers that I had ruled out by the end of last semester and attracted to careers I didn't even know existed. I do feel like I have some focus, but yet, the sheer quantity of possibilities once again becomes a bit overwhelming.

I can't help but think of how difficult this semester will be if I hadn't already made progress learning to say "no" and just buckle down and get work done last semester.

It's Cover Letter Season!

Luckily, we're not quite back into the full swing of the semester yet, but January is still bringing quite a lot of work for me being on break and all. We have already started applying for summer internships. Yup, that's right. We're applying for jobs that start in about 4.5 months already. Besides that, I'm not sure how broad to go in my internship search since I'm not sure how easy or difficult this whole process is going to be.

I hardly feel like I've had enough time to "explore" different career options and am finding myself heading towards an internship that I thought might be interesting prior to starting business school. Is this really the right career for me? Should I try something else? Unfortunately, it feels like I don't really have time to answer these questions as application deadlines are looming. I guess at this point, the best I can do is go with what I think I want. Hopefully, I don't end up kicking myself for not taking more time to figure out what I'd like to do in the future.

At any rate, I get to spend the last week of break making sure that I work on cover letters in addition to all of the other fun and relaxing things I have up my sleeve for the week.

Sunnyside Up's Best of 2009

In hopes of this becoming a tradition, I wanted to share with you my best of 2009 in the same fashion as my Best of 2008 post. Lots of big things happened this year and I can only hope that 2010 brings even more great and new adventures for life. (Note: These are in no particular order, nor are they all of the great things that happened this past year.)

1. Starting my MBA at Haas.
2. The end of the b-school application rollercoaster.
3. Catching up with good friends in the PNW not once, but twice this year.
4. Going to Alaska and experiencing almost 24 hours of light, even though we saw no moose.
5. Feeding a Musk Ox.
6. One of my best friend's getting engaged.
7. My good friend from college's awesome wedding and amazing macadamia nut crusted halibut.
8. Giving in and joining the iPhone craze.
9. Crazy wine bus trips to Napa and hilarious Haas costume parties.
10. Fitting back into my skinny jeans thanks to Dailey Method and walking everywhere.
11. New friends.
12. Becoming a full time student and not having conference calls 24/7.

It is very interesting to look back on 2009 and see that I have been able to get to new and better places based on all of the work that I started many years ago. I guess it's always nice to know that you're not wasting your time with all of these grand ideas. My best of lists are reminding me as well that I'm getting to be more and more of an adult as friends get married, engaged, and people start buying houses and settling into their future lives. I know that it's a very lofty goal for 2010, but it would be nice if I had a bit of a better idea of what I want in the future.

As I look back on 2009, it almost feels like two years with just one date because my pre-Haas life seems so different than my Haas life. As I regress to being a crazy social, studious grad student, everyone else continues around me while I'm off on this separate adventure. I definitely need to be sure that I'm using this time wisely, otherwise it will be just one costly adventure.