The view from here

3 weeks to go til the end of term 2! We've just finished the most hellacious week (everytime you think it can't possibly get worse, it does). Thankfully, only two days of class next week, and three glorious days off (during which I will be...doing work. But not anywhere in the vicinity of Fuqua, which is enough of a change for me).

To give you a sense: I was in Philly for a few days last week/end for the totally useless Net Impact conference (conference for MBA Do-Gooders). It was a total letdown, and did not live up to my expectations in any way whatsoever. The only positive was hanging out with my friend O from college for a few days. It cost a shitload of money, so I am still annoyed. So when I got home Sunday at noon, I was already 3 1/2 days behind.

Writing this out will never do the rest of the week justice, but for my own sake I'll try. Monday, Marketing Midterm. Tuesday, we had an industry analysis paper (team project) due for Strategy. This might not be so bad except my team picked INVESTMENT BANKING as our industry (note to self: when faced with a project choice, never, ever, ever say "I don't care, just pick something"). It was also intricately connected to our Management Comm class, where we had to give a 45 minute presentation on said industry today. Add in the bloodbath of a Finance midterm ("here's some sample past finals to make you feel confident. Don't worry, the exam will look NOTHING WHATSOEVER like the samples." Prof didn't actually say that. But it would have upped the credibility quotient quite a bit if he had), plus a few recruiting events, my first Global Consulting Project class, and a total shitshow for the Career Reps (of which I am one) organizing Mock Interview Week with 20 companies for two weeks from now and having every line of communication break down....plus all the REGULAR work for the other classes....and, well, you know. This explains why my apt looks like a hurricane hit, I haven't done dishes in a week, and I wore the same pair of jeans three days in a row. Somebody get me a maid!

I have been sick with bronchitis (3rd time this year, Feb, June and Nov!) since Election Day, and am getting pretty tired of hacking up a lung whenever I try to breathe. I've made it to the gym three times in two and a half weeks (25 min max each time), which means I will probably be wearing sweatpants for all of the job interviews in January that I have yet to secure.

But it snowed! Twice! It didn't stick, but it was cool to watch. It was cooler to watch the classmates from India who had never seen snow before. Now it is just freaking cold.

For Thanksgiving I am heading to Cape Hatteras, for the first time in 10 years. I can't wait. It only takes four hours to drive to my parents' in VA but 5 hours to drive to the OBX in the same state...go figure. I have a ton of job cover letters due on Dec 1, so that's what I'll be doing over "break." But classes end Dec 12 and finals are DONE Dec 17 so the end is in sight!!!!!!!!!

And congratulations to RyRy on Baby Girl Looney! If you are reading this already you are even crazier than I thought! And I think giving birth means you probably had a harder week than I did.

Maybe Durham isn't so unlike SF after all

This is what I saw when I drove to school yesterday morning:

It was pouring rain. He stood there for six hours. And please note: THE DONKEY IS REAL.

Proud to be one of the 13,746 North Carolinians who helped put Obama 0.4% over the top!

1/8 done!

I finished my last final for term 1 today (Statistics. It was sort of a bloodbath, which none of us were expecting. Ironically, I feel the best about Accounting, which was yesterday. But as long as I pass, that's all I care about. P = MBA!).

Now we have a week "break" and next Thursday classes begin again. Finance, Strategy, Marketing and Management Comm. (oh, how I love thee, Management Comm...one class where I can feel good about myself!).

But really, this post is to say: The Durham Post Office sucks, and my branch is no longer open til 7 pm. Thus, one off the list of things I love about living in Cackalacky.

And also, my local public library is closing its branch on November 1 until June 2010 ("for renovations")! This does not help me whatsoever! However, they promise a Bookmobile, which I could be sort of into.

The best thing about "break" -- I ran for 45 entire minutes! I unpacked some boxes! I realized my refrigerator contains only Diet Coke and eggs! Tomorrow at the crack ass o' dawn, I'm flying to NY to schmooze with some companies. Fortunately, I found one suit that still fits.

Irony

Yesterday morning Cynthia called me, and told me that her dear old doggie Aslan died on Friday. He was 10 1/2. I met him on the first day she brought him home in 1998, and lived with him for three 1/2 years when C and I were roommates in Colorado. He was much, much more than a doggie and got us both through some of the darkest days of our lives.

The irony? Aslan had leukemia. No cure for humans, and certainly no cure for doggies.

Gonna miss you, big buddy.

Concerned Blogger Friends (all 4 of you)

I am still here. But, how to explain the past six weeks, which made up Term 1? (or really, the past three weeks, since my failed Econ midterm? And lest you think I am exaggerating, let me note...I really did fail! It was only (haha, "only") 35% of my grade...so hopefully I can still pass if I do well on the final. Sadly it is not cumulative - sadly, since I finally understand the first part. Deadweight loss, anyone? Consumer surplus? Thankfully, however, I am not moving this weekend, so I can actually study appropriately. I think. I don't have any more episodes of Gossip Girl to watch, anyway.

Here is what I did today. Multiply times 21 and you will understand (maybe) why I am not blogging. And this was a Friday, which is fun. I am running an average of 1:30 (TOTAL) a week, and sleeping appx 5-6 hrs a night. If I go to bed before midnight that is now considered "early."

Finals are Mon-Weds (three finals, three hour exams), and Thurs morning, ass-early, I fly to NYC for a week of schmoozing as I try to get a summer internship. Which, yes, we are already working on.

Example, today:
630 am - awake, email, shower, pack mule for day (I need a mule to carry all my books/assignments)
730 am - leave house
745 am - arrive school, pick up pre-assignment packs for term 2 (all 1" thick, awesome. To be done on "break")
8-9 am - career cabinet meeting (I am rep for my section to career center); miss team meeting for this meeting
9-10 am - section cabinet meeting
10-1020 am - still section cabinet meeting, since section rep does not know how to run a freaking meeting. He is 27, what do you expect. Highly agitated.
1030-1245 - management communication, last class
1245-145 - lunch on nonprofit consulting w/ '08 grad
130-345 - microeconomics, last class. Fall asleep, but so does most of section. But I sit in front row, where it is more noticeable. Take turns hitting my neighbor to wake one another up.
345-415 - section meeting. Leave immediately after my part so I can make it to my "commitment" at 4 pm.
415-444 - run. I skip weekly Job Search Meeting so I can be sure to run at least once, and this is run w/ running club
500-530 - shower and dress, again
530-630 - highly entertaining and super interesting speech by Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan. Packed.
630-830 - volunteer for Taste of the Triangle, a fundraiser for MBA Games (special olympics) and part of Fuqua Friday. Serve food to classmates. Eat passable burrito and drink water, diet coke and beer while volunteering
830-930 - end of term FuquaVision (sketch comedy).
1000 - half of Fuqua goes out, the other half goes home. I went home. It is freezing cold and pouring rain.
1015 - eat 17 cookies.
1030 - feel ill.

Tomorrow and Sunday will be....all study, all day. Econ, Stats and Accounting.... whoa.

Julie, Diana, and Min: have an awesome run at Nike. I will be thinking of you all and I wish (wish wish wish!) I were there. Though at this point I'd likely run a 5 hour half, so it's probably just as well.

Dear Dean,

Whose name I can't even remember right now,

I would like to be a yoga instructor instead.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

PS - May I please have my money back? It will cost you more in tutoring hours for me to stay than to simply return it to me.

PPS - To the idiots who build cheap student housing: I hope you all rot.

Campout, survived

Duke has this lovely tradition for grad students called "Campout." It's the ONLY way to get season tickets for basketball. Campout means you sit outside in a parking lot for 36 hours, drinking beer, eating crappy food, playing games, not studying, and waiting for the awful sound of the air raid siren. When the siren rings, you must run to a check-in tent, and show your checker your id, all within 10 minutes. If you don't make it (either don't hear it, or don't make it in 10 minutes), you're out. If you do make it through, you're entered into the lottery for basketball tickets, and have a 40% chance of winning.

Seems not too bad, right?

Think again.

These shenanigans are run by other grad students - who automatically get tickets - which means they like to inflict all kinds of pain on the 2,000 others who are camping out. We had over 28 checks in 36 hours, with the majority of them between midnight and 4 a.m. both nights (sometimes multiples per hour!). This ensured no one really got any sleep. We had an RV, and thankfully the weather has turned, so it wasn't too oppresive. But after 36 hours with about 6 combined hours of sleep - this on top of a not-so-good sleep schedule last week - and I was completely wrecked. As was everyone else.

The upside: 5 people in my group of 9 got tickets, so we'll share them for the season. Coach K came to talk to us for an hour on Saturday night, which was really pretty cool. He showed us a video from the summer Olympics, and talked about how awesome it will be to win a gold medal AND a national championship within a year. Duke is going all the way! He is also a complete cheeseball, and hearts Beyonce, but hell, he's Coach K so he can pretty much do whatever he wants and we'd think it was great. The t-shirts for the weekend even had a line that said "Land of the free and home of the K." Oh yeah.

Meanwhile, I am still not sure how I will catch up, since the Fuqua express waits for no one. But I'm better off than my section-mates who spent 36 hours playing beer pong, and were still hungover yesterday!