coming to the end.

me: i think i have been so sick recently because i've been stressed out and it has compromised my immune system.
boss: why are you so stressed? you have a job and your grades don't matter.

here's the truth that everyone tells you: the hardest part of business school is getting into business school. this is, by all intents and purposes, true. once you have paid your deposit and agreed to attend your ivy league institution that bars you from disclosing your grades to any employer until you have signed a full time offer, it doesn't really matter whether you come to class, hand in assignments or get straight LPs (my school's equivalent of Ds).

but here's the truth that no one tells you: even though it doesn't matter, you are likely so type a that not handing in an assignment hurts your soul. and all those clubs and leadership positions you committed to (whether for personal or professional reasons) require most of the extra time you have left over after classes, assignments, review sessions and group meetings.

having juggled planning a wedding during my first year and working two days a week my second year, i missed out on that part of school they call "fun" and "a vacation from full time work." in short, business school was no picnic for me. i'm glad i did it, because now i have a great job and i feel smarter and more empowered, but the stress it incurred definitely took several years off my life. come to think of it, it took over years of my life.

my road to columbia started in 2010, when i decided to take the gmats. thinking back now, i can't believe how long ago that was. four years is a long time but these four years have been a lifetime. i started officially studying in august and took the test on december 5. three and a half months later i got ginger. a few months after that i met shawn. i remember in our first meeting telling him i was planning to apply to business school in a few months. fast forward to september 2011 and i realized the due date for early decision at columbia business school was just a few weeks away. oops! thankfully someone cool and collected in my life (shawn obvs) helped me edit my essays and get them in on time. i submitted everything on the day applications were due. four weeks later, i was in.

last week was my last day of class, ever. to celebrate, shawn and i went back to the place where we celebrated the night i was accepted into columbia. it seemed appropriate. and sitting before me was a guy who could have cut and run the moment i told him i had been accepted. he could have decided it was all too difficult and would ruin our relationship. he could have been insecure and certain i would meet someone else. instead, he suggested we move in together.

look at us now.

i can't wrap up this phase in my life without feeling immense gratitude for shawn and everything he has done for me. i couldn't have done it without you, babe!

dog shaming

another thanksgiving has passed and i have again taken some time to think on all the things that i'm thankful for in 2012. besides shawn and ginger, my family and all my dear friends near and far, i am truly thankful to have the opportunity to attend a top business school (no matter what businessweek says). i have learned so much, met so many super smart, driven and amazing people and have had so many doors open for me that i can't even do the experience justice with words. when people ask me how school is going, i complain that i don't sleep or don't get to see my dog and my boyfriend has forgotten what i look like. i mention the classes are hard and the finals are harder. and recruiting...don't even get me started. but what falls between the cracks is what gets me out of bed after so few hours of precious sleep: the thrill of learning and being challenged every day and ending up somewhere even better than where i was before, making smarter career and business decisions and having an impact on the world.

after all that serious talk, here's a picture of ginger just for fun:

dog shaming! i love it.

guess what, now that i've regained my urge to blog, i have a 5-week winter break coming up! expect more updates from me soon.

resetting required unplugging

for the past few weeks that i've been out of work, i've been on a self-imposed social media exile. sort of. i mean, i still check facebook regularly, but i've all but abandoned some of the other sites i used to live on, like twitter and pinterest. and my facebook updates have slowed, too -- even pictures of ginger! to make up for that, here's a picture of her just cuz:

ah, okay, now i feel better. anyway, the point of these past few weeks was to reset myself from worker bee to full time student. it took me at least three weeks to be able to sleep in past 7:30 am. and then this week, i realized i had let my social media accounts flounder. maybe it was because i was suddenly getting more than 6 or 7 hours of sleep.

i didn't do it consciously, but there it is.

so now i'm feeling more well rested and ready to start classes in just a few days. how do i approach my social media feeds now that i'm a student? what will i post on my twitter feed? what do my followers want to read from me? will i even have time to take photos of ginger??

it's time to say goodbye

A dog's view of my desk at b5

my last report on my life told you i had been accepted into business school. nine months (and one company acquisition) later, i have made the plunge of cutting ties from my full time job and i'm ready to become a full time student after seven years in the work world.

today is my last day at b5media.

what's ahead of me? a few weeks of traveling, a couple weeks of getting my life sorted and business attire wardrobe filled out and then orientation and school, school, school until may 2014.

although i've had many months to ponder this change, i am still trying to wrap my head around the decisions i've made and what's to come. as i prepare to leave my desk for the last time, i have a vague feeling of "what have i gotten myself into?!?!"

one thing i know for sure. i won't miss this job. but i will miss all the people i work with. i will miss them with all my heart! i'm just grateful to have made a handful (it's a small company) of new friends who i can carry on with me to my next endeavor. the friends i've made at jobs past are some of my best friends in nyc, and their impact on my life has been immeasurable.

it's been fun b5. onwards and upwards.