AdmitMBA360 Blog formerly Journey to my MBA

Journey to my MBA

Sunday, September 05, 2004

Holiday's and Pacing

It's another Holiday weekend and many of the new people that I've met here at school are out playing and having fun. I envy it. For the last 15 years of my life I've been working in the IT industry and there is ALWAYS one thing IT folk understand. Holiday's tend to be our most worked schedules. That's when we can bring down the Servers and make overhauls. I've learned over the years not to expect much from Holiday's because of this. If I do get away, it's such a pleasure and yet hard to see that it's a time to relax because I'm always on the phone or e-mail trying to help someone resolve an issue or re-allocate my team to adjust for surprises.

This is probably one of my most hated aspects of having grown my career through IT. It's incredibly hard to plan vacations and make plans for Holiday's because of the push to get certain projects done and IT folk are always the ones around late at night. It's normal for me to see my car all alone in the dark parking lot as I walk out of the building to go home.

Since I've been married, my Wife has been the one to instigate many of our excursions. Because of her, we've been all across Europe, on Alaskan Cruises, been to the wine country numerous times and gone to a variety of events. I think God that I have a Wife who helps me to do things that haven't been easy to plan for. I have such a dedicated passion for my work and to do the best that I can do and taking a planned break is not always on my mind.

This weekend, I was invited to go fishing by some students and bungi jumping with another group. It was so natural to thank them and turn them down. In a way, it was like old IT ingrained mentality of thinking that the holiday weekend is a time to get a lot done. I had specific reasons this time though. For example, I know that I have a final in a week and a 1/2 and I see the vacation as a time to really go through my notes ravenously. The test is cumulative so there's a lot to review. My Sister and Mother are flying into town this evening from Seattle so I wanted to spend some time with them. We are going to be seeing my Grandmother in Los Angeles. She's 97 now and although she walks around and is as feisty as ever my Mother wanted to take the time to bring us together to spend some time with her.

Sadly, I don't spend enough time with her. Although, I'm the one who has probably spend 4x as much time with her as my other relatives because I'm in the area. The hard part is that my primary language is English and since I was born in LA, I don't have much of my mother tongue fluency to communicate with her. My Grandmother doesn't know any English. What makes it worse is that she wears a strong hearing aide. So our conversations our rather awkward. I'm trying to speak our mother tongue about as well as a 3 year old and I'm yelling across the table as every 5th word from her is "what?". It's very frustrating. I like taking my wife because she has the ability to speak the language fluently with my Grandmother.

My Grandfather passed away 5 years ago when he was 97. So we all think that she may not be around much longer. The saddest thing I hear from her though is that she's so lonely. To have lived that long, she tells me that every one of her friends have passed on. The only ones still around are the ones who are 20 years younger than she and they weren't that close. And they're not exactly very mobile. She sits alone at home most days reading her Bible and praying. Mostly just lost in thought and thinking of years gone by. We've recently moved her to an elderly care center because she no longer has the energy to keep up the apartment and cook for herself very well. How my grandparents got to be that old and still be so active is a miracle to me.

My Sister and I often talk about whether we'd like to live that long and have concluded that we would, but only if we had signficant friends and family around.

So now, I sit here studying and spend my time trying to get all this information into my head while my Grandmother sit's at home alone. Time is such a valuable thing and yet I'm not doing the things to maintain great friends because of my studies these day's. It's really quite sad in a way. But I know this is temporary as the B-school app process is temporary.

I realy look forward to getting some of my life back. I want to get back and reconnect with friends and family. My Grandmother reminds me of just how important that really is.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home

Journey to my MBA Locations of visitors to this page
Stay up to date with this Blog
Monitor changes to links on the sidebars of this Web Site
Dave's E-Mail

Subscribe with Bloglines Subscribe with My Yahoo! Subscribe with Google Subscribe in NewsGator Online Subscribe in Rojo Subscribe with Pluck RSS reader Subscribe with Bloglines Add to AOL
Get Updates of this Blog via Email:

Powered by Squeet.com
Some Noteworthy Blog Postings
Cornell-Johnson Visit Experience-Dave
MIT-Sloan Visit Experience-Dave
Wharton Visit Experience-Dave
Darden Visit Experience-'04-Dave
Darden Visit/Interview Experience-'06-Dave
Darden Pictures-'06
HBS Visit Experience-'04-Dave
HAAS Visit/Info Session-'04-Dave
Columbia Visit/Info Session-'04-Axechick
Tuck Visit/Info Session-'05-Laser
Tuck Visit/Interview '06-Dave
Tuck Pictures1-'06
Tuck Pictures2-'06
--------------------------------------------------------------
Michigan Info Sess. Experience-Dave
Columba Info Sess. Experience-Dave
Tuck Info Sess. Experience-Dave
World MBA Tour Experience-Dave
Travel Guides-Dave
Columbia Open House I-Droodoggie
Columbia Open House II-Droodoggie
--------------------------------------------------------------
Application Essay Advice-Dave
Application Essay Advice II-Dave
MBA App advice-Consulting/Management-Dave
Good Essay question Prep-Uniqpath
The MBA Journey Begins-Dave
The MBA App Process-MarketWiz
Picking Target Schools-Sghama
Pre-App Tips-Bloghorn8
How to interact w/ B-School Staff-Dave
Managing Your Recommenders-ClearAdmit
Schools I Picked & Why-Anand
Import App Elements-Redwolf056
A Successful Essay(Chicago GSB)-PowerYogi
Why Chicago GSB-Paul Jan
Stanford GSB Dean on Essays
------------------ Application Process ------------------
Advice on Admissions Consultants-Dave
Why get an MBA now?-Dave
Why do I need an MBA?-Dave
Story of Tenacity-Dave
MBA App Advice-Dave
Maximize your MBA Info Sess. Exp.-Dave
Low GPA Stories-Dave
Introspect on being resolute-Dave
Why Attitude Matters-Dave
Wharton's Interview Policy-RedWolf
Dealing with a Low GPA
Tuck's App Review Process
UCLA's App Review Process
Wharton's App Review Process
Every Essay Tells a Story
Your Story is so Interesting
What is a great essay?
Am I too young to apply?
When is the best time to apply?
Applying and not sure where to start?
Is school XXX any good?
The B-School Admit Hate List
Hey Applicant, Lay off the Buggin
Should I interview on or off campus?(See comment)
MBA Tour/Info Session Tip
The Interview
------------------ GMAT ----------------------------------
Low GMAT Success Stories
GMAT Score Needed in Europe
GMAT Score Needed
GMAT Score Needed by Age
GMAT Score Needed by Country
GMAT Score Needed by Race
GMAT Score Needed by Major
Budgeting time for the GMAT
Breaking the 700 Barrier
--------------------------------------------------------------
The B-School Route to Career Change
Pre-MBA Resources
MBA Math Build math and spreadsheet skills
Article
MBA Resources show all
--------- Video Interview's of B-School Deans -------
Video Interviews of B-School Deans
------------ B-School Visit Experiences ----------------
Admin Director Interviews
Visit Reviews
------------ MBA Forums ----------------------------------
Business Week Forum
Wharton Student Forum
PagalGuy.com(India)
Chicago GSB Forum
Yale Forum


----------- B-School Articles and News-----------------
How B-Schools get their name
BusinessWeek(B-School Headlines)
The Economist(News from Schools)
The Financial Times(Business Education)
Wall Street Journal(MBA Center)
----------- Gen MBA Info ---------------------------------
MBAMap.com
MBABuzz MBA Blogs, Forum, App Stat Plotter
MBA Info
GMAC
MBAZone.com
MBA Studylink
MBA Jungle
MBA Game Plan
MBA Official Guide
MBA Depot
Top 10 MBA
Ivy League Admissions.com
MBA Podcaster
MBA Jargon
MBA School Directory
Admission411
MBA 4 Success
Military MBA


------------ MBA Program Summary for Applicants---
Accepted.com
BusinessWeek.com
ClearAdmit School Guides
MBAMap.com
TopMBA.com
TheMBATour.com
WSJ School Snapshots
WSJ Who's Recruiting Where?
MBAPrepAdvantage School Profiles
------------ MBA Foreign Related -----------------------
Canadian MBA
Infozee "Foreign MBA"
------------ MBA Conf/Foundations --------------------
Top MBA
The MBA Tour
The MBA Diversity Alliance
Forte Foundation
Catalyst Women
Knowledge@Wharton Podcast
Association of MBAs
------------ Resume Help ---------------------------------
Wetfleet.com
Resumeedge.com
Resumedeli
Darden Resume's
MBA Game Plan Resume Help


------------ Essay Help ------------------------------------
American Dream Project.org - (Dave's Pick)
Essayedge.com (Samples) (Getting Started)
MBA Essay Strategy(download)
MBA Game Plan Essay Help
Some Classic Advice from Wharton Boards
Clear Edit Automated writing editor
MBA Studio


------------- Interview Insight --------------------------
B-School Interview Braindump-Accepted
B-School Interview Braindump-Clearadmit
------------- Ethnocentric Assoc. ----------------------
P.R.I.N.A.
yKAN
LEAD Program for minorities
------------- Post-MBA ------------------------------------
MBA Concepts
------------- MBA Articles---------------------------------
If you want your application to B-School to stand out;first do your homework properly, and then apply early
Admissions Tip:HBS Essay #2
Writing good essays from an ADCOM perspective
Top 5 MBA programs Article
The Full-Time Advantage
Overcoming Procrastination
Why B-School is good for our Economy

MBA Ranks show all
Ranks by Industry Sector Show
--------------------------------------------------------------
Forbes ranking measures the graduates' return on investment
Economist ranking reports how students and alumni rated their MBA experience
BusinessWeek surveys students and corporate recruiters and measures intellectual capital
Wall Street Journal is a corporate recruiter based poll (21 criteria)
U.S. News & World Report evals student selectivity and placement data and gathers the perceptions of deans and program directors to develop the ranking
Financial Times poll measures career progression of alumni, program diversity and a school's track record in producing new ideas in management
--------------------------------------------------------------
BusinessWeek '06 Rank
BusinessWeek '06 Slideshow
Financial Times '08 (PDF) (Interactive)
US News&World Report 2009
Economist 2008 Rankings
------Wall Street Journal Rankings--------------------
WSJ 2006(US)
WSJ 2006(International)
WSJ 2006(Academic Discipline)
WSJ 2006(Women)
WSJ 2006(Ethics)
WSJ 2006(Minorities)
WSJ 2006(Industry)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Forbes Rankings 05' Results - 07' Results
MBAINFO.com Rankings
Beyond Grey Pinstripes 2009
DTU Research per School
B-School Research Rankings
--------------------------------------------------------------
Financial Times E-MBA Rankings '06 PDF
BusinessWeek E-MBA Rankings '05
Money's top 100 MBA Employers '06
US News Category Ranks '06
Financial Times Category Ranks
--------------------------------------------------------------
Asia B-School Rank 2000
Australian 2005 Financial Review
German B-School Rank
Computerworld top techno MBA Survey
Consus Group B-School Rankings
Entrepreneur.com top 100 Entrepreneurial Colleges
Find MBA Rankings
International Education Commission's Top 10
Marr/Kirkwood Comparison Rankings
Official MBA Guide:MBA Program Ranking and Screening

GMAT Resources show all
GMAC-Register for GMAT
---------- GMAT Articles ----------------------------------
GMAT 700+ Stories(download)
Why Prepare?
About the GMAT
How someone got a 760 score
How someone got a 790 score
Mark Rice GMAT Advice
Low GMAT Success Stories

---------- GMAT Forums ----------------------------------
Beat the GMAT
GMAT Club Forum
Scoretop.com-Forum and Files!
TestMagic Forum


---------- GMAT Companies ------------------------------
Bell Curves
GMATTutor.com
GMAX Online(Online GMAT Course)
Kaplan
ManhattanReview
Manhattan GMAT
Perfect GMAT
Princeton Review
Syvum.com
Test Prep New York
Test Prep Review(Online Course)
Veritas GMAT Prep
790GMAT GMAT Guru(SF based)


---------- GMAT Self Study Guides ----------------------
Corrections to Official Guide 11th
Advanced GMAT Math Study Guide
Deltacourse
GMAT Study Strategy
Micro Edu GMAT Prep Material
Probability Review(download)
4GMAT - Math Books (India)


---------- GMAT Resource/Reference -----------------
GMAT Scratchpad
Dr Math
Dr Math-Pascal Triangle
GMAT Official Guide Question Info
HyperGrammar
Krysstal.com
Manhattan GMAT Study Guides (Dave's Pick)
Math.com (Math Skills Review)
MathGoodies.com
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
Texas A&M-College Algebra
The Math Page (For Basic Math Skills)
101 Basic Radical & Exponent Review


---------- GMAT Tests ------------------------------------
PowerPrep GMAT CAT (Dave's Pick)
Ascent Education
Arco
Axxent
800 Score (Dave's Pick)
English Test
GMATBuster
GMAT Cram.com
GMATExams.com
GMAT Practice Tests
Gorilla Test Prep
Manhattan GMAT Tests (Dave's Pick)
R&B Consulting Prep Software
Realtestquestions.com
ScoreTop Online Verbal-Quant Tests
TestMasters
TestPrep New York
Upstart Raising GMAT Simulator


Financing your MBA show all
Campusprogram.com
FastWeb
Finaid.com
Financial Aid Podcast
Foreign MBA.com
FreschInfo.com
Fundsnet-Search Engine
Gradloans.com
Graduate Fellowship Database
MBA.com-Loan info
MBAInfo-Article
MBAJungle-Article
Sallie Mae-MBA Loans
Studentawards.com
Tuitionpay.com
US Government's E-Scholar
MBA Admission Consultants show all
Accepted.com Forum
AdmissionConsultant.com
Brody Admissions
B-SchoolAdmission.com
Cambridge Essay Service
Clear Admit
EssayEdge.com
Essay Solutions
Expartus
Global Now
ManhattanReview
Maxx Associates
MBAdmission.com
MBA Applicant.com
MBA Apply
The MBA Exchange
MBAGameplan Article
MBAPrepAdvantage
MBA Studio
Stacy Blackman
Veritas Consulting
-------- Brazilian Admin Consultants ------------------
MBA Empresarial
-------- Commentary on Admin Consultants ----------
Why use them?
Comments about some of them
Not all Consultants are good
MBA Life show all
Chicago GSB Online Newspaper
Chicago GSB Magazine
Columbia B-School Wkly Online NewsPaper
Columbia Spectator Daily NewsPaper
Cornell Univ. Daily Sun (Main Campus)
Cornell Daily News Service Highlights
Dartmouth Online Newspaper
Tuck Today Online Happenings
Duke News & Community
HAAS Weekly
Harvard B-School Online Newspaper
Harvard Gazette Online Newspaper
Harvard Online Magazine
Kellogg Online Newspaper
News at MIT
Michigan(Ross) Newspaper
Texas McCombs Weekly
Michigan Daily Online Newspaper
Stern Online Newspaper
Stanford Online Newspaper
Stanford B-School Reporter
UCLA Qrtrly Assets Mag
Univ. Virginia Daily Online News
Wharton Online Newspaper
Yale Daily Online Newspaper
Yale Herald Online Newspaper
Blog & Other Resources show all
IQ Test
Efax.com
Bloglines
Computer Interval Clock
T-Mobile Coverage Check
Picasa
Hello.com
YouSendIt.com Send large files
Sendthisfile.com Send large files
Understanding Blog Template Code
SSI Developer - CSS
Changenotes.com-Web Monitor
Fodey.comNewspaperclip generator
MBA Related Books
Search Now:

Site Meter