:Nintendo Widow

I saw this and thought it was time for some good old-fashioned blog-filler. Here goes:

Sarah’s 2007

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?

Choose a job for the experience, not the money.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I quit making new year’s resolutions years ago.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My granddaddy died in February.

5. What countries did you visit?

Canada, China, and South Korea

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?

More confidence, and more money.

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

10/18 - The day I gave a speech in front of 300 of my peers.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Being proud of myself and not constantly worrying about what others thought.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Being a less-than-stellar employee because I didn’t like my job.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No

11. What was the best thing you bought?

I think it’s the best thing I didn’t buy. I learned to resist my strongest urges.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Mom, for continuing to try new things - like a musical vacation this month!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Certain role-models in the business community

14. Where did most of your money go?

shoes and fancy cheese and wine

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Going home to Texas in September

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?

“Lucky Lucky” by Vandebilt

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
 a) happier or sadder? 
b) thinner or fatter? 
c) richer or poorer?

Happier, same weight, richer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Partied

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Beat myself up

20. How did you spend Christmas?

Traveling all over Texas visiting family

21. Did you fall in love in 2007?

I stayed in love.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Heroes

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

I dislike a certain flakey person but no hate

24. What was the best book you read?

Speed Tribes

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

None - same old favorites

26. What did you want and get?

More wonderfully warm and caring friends

27. What did you want and not get?

Nothing. I was very very fortunate.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

I didn’t watch very many movies. I absolutely loved “Brick.”

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

Danny and I did dinner and a movie. The night before, I partied with my best friends. I turned 30!

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

If I had asked for help when I needed it. Being tough does not pay off.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?

80’s

32. What kept you sane?

Danny and the cats

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

David Anders

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

The way my friends planned their careers and lives around getting an H1-B visa.

35. Who did you miss?

My mom. I don’t get to see her enough.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

Lauren

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.

Be yourself. Seriously, your friends will still love you when you’re at your wits end.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
“I’m so lucky lucky.” - Vandebilt

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I’ve been offline for a few reasons.

1. I’m lazy and I forget to post updates.
2. I’ve been an interviewing machine.
3. I’ve been enjoying myself IMMENSELY.

Last night, I got together with ten of my classmates from Korea for a Korean bbq dinner. We spent three hours eating, talking and drinking. Afterwards, a dozen of us went out for karaoke. I had a ridiculous amount of fun; so much fun it should be sinful. I think we need to make this a mandatory quarterly event.

I do have a bit of stuff to do but I find myself reassuring 1st year students everyday. I tell them that it will get better, they will pass, and things next year are much more relaxed. Today, I even got a hug for my reassuring words. If only I’d known (and believed) these things last year, I would have been a much much happier MBA.

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Over the last three weeks, I’ve been busy organizing MBA club events, interviewing for post-grad jobs, taking midterms, and volunteering. Although this sounds like a lot, I’m much less stressed than I was this time last year.

To start off, my 30th birthday two weeks ago was really fun. We had a TG the night before and I got to enjoy the last remaining hours of my 20s with many good friends. On Saturday night, Danny and I opted for a dinner and a movie. We saw Michael Clayton, ate at ZTejas (one of my favorite Texas-style restaurants) and just chilled.

Regarding school, my scholarship speech on the 18th went well. I was completely exhausted by the end of the day because I had the speech, a project interview, a job interview, a club happy hour and a mentor reception. After that day, I was ready to never put on my suit again! The interview was a bust but I wasn’t too upset. I was surprised that I was asked to interview in the first place. The interviewers were nice, but it almost seemed like they were qualifying leads rather than interviewing actual candidates. I might interview for a different job at the same company, but that interview was just….strange.

After that day, things have gradually picked up in intensity. My part-time research project is coming to a close. I’ve had two more interviews and I have two more 2nd round interviews scheduled for next week. I completed a midterm last Tuesday, let two club lunchtime events, and then rushed off to volunteer at this year’s annual sushi and sake festival. The festival was very fun, I got to meet lots of local business leaders and I got to fill my belly with wonderful sushi for free! How can a starving student turn that down?

This week will be hectic but I’m not too stressed. It will end with the annual MBA Women in Business club fall retreat. WiB rents a gorgeous cabin on Puget Sound for two days. We relax, drink, eat, go shopping, eat some more and basically just relax in a beautiful setting. I’ve been looking forward to it for six months. Also, by then my interviews and research project will be over. I’ll just need to relax and enjoy the company of my fellow female classmates.

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Today I attended the naming ceremony for the Michael G. Foster School of Business. This name will be on my diploma when I graduate in June.

Right now I’m in the library with some very wet feet and a cup of hot tea. It is raining so hard today. It rains almost everyday but it’s usually not this bad. Maybe we’re in line to beat our rainiest month ever (November 06).

The last few weeks have been fun and busy. I drove a van full of people to Woodinville on 10/6 for the annual wine tasting tour. I didn’t get to taste any wine but that’s okay. I was still recovering from the MBA party the night before. It was fun but I was so glad to get home that night and just relax.

Last weekend Danny and I went to Beaverton to hang out with friends. Although there isn’t a ton to do in Beaverton we were fine. It’s a very nice place and we usually end up just hanging out at our friends’ place. I got a lot of work done and still had time to watch Blades of Glory.kk

Tomorrow is going to be tough but very cool. I’m the MBA speaker at this year’s annual scholarship breakfast. I love public speaking but I’ve never spoken in front of 400 people before. At least I’m somewhat prepared. I’m very honored that they asked me to do it. After the speech, I’m heading to Amazon where I’m interviewing one of my classmate’s friends for a research project. Then, I have a 45 minute job interview on campus, a meeting with my career counselor, class from 3:30-5:30, a BizComm club welcome happy hour and then a business school mentor reception on campus. The next morning I’m driving to Bellevue at 6:15 to take notes for a monthly executive round table discussion.

Then I turn 30! Whoohoo!

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After not hearing anything for a year, I got an email from my old GMAT study buddy Tony. Tony is completing his second year at Wharton after working for Goldman Sachs in Tokyo all summer. I’m so excited to hear from him! It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long since we were taking timed GMAT quizzes in the summer of 2005. I’m so glad I never have to go through that again. We still have a lot to do between now and graduation, but I feel like the fun has just started. Fun, as in, no more core classes! My current classes are tough, but at least I can choose whether or not I want to take them. The only required class remaining is ethics.

Now onto that “easy” job search and I’ll be done!

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It has been a hectic week. Here’s the breakdown.

- Attended 22.5 hours of Direct Marketing class last week.
- Spent Saturday night and all day Sunday working on team presentation for Direct Marketing.
- Gave a ten minute presentation to 115 incoming first year students.
- Spent 45 minutes presenting case on Monday night. Survived.
- Slept for 10 hours last night. Delicious.
- Talked up my team’s Korea/Japan study tour at the certificate fair during lunch today.
- Took ten first-years to the Queen Anne neighborhood as part of the Challenge for Charity auction item procurement quest thingie.
- Came home, ate Mexican food, and am now getting back to Direct Marketing case analysis.

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I’m back in school as of 5pm last Monday night. There are forty of us in the condensed Direct Marketing class that takes place over two and a half weeks before the regular quarter starts. Is it interesting? Yes. Is it tough, hell yes. Is it worth it to cram a four quarter class into nine sessions? Maybe…. So far, it’s been fun if not exhausting. We had eight hours of class today and we return for a mild six on Friday. I have 45 minute team presentation due on Monday morning so this weekend will be brutal but it’s okay. I made no plans since I knew that this assignment would probably kick my ass.

Despite the late nights and early mornings it is good to be back with my friends. The class is split between full-time 08 students and evening 08 and 09 students. In other words, it’s a different dynamic but it’s good. I also get to see some of my evening friends who went on the study tour to China.

In other news, I’m working on a part-time, contract basis for a local company. I’m doing independent research for a short-term research project. It is very exciting stuff and I plan to dedicate much more time to it after this weekend. I’m also debating about whether or not I should attend a national MBA job fair in October. There are some great companies there but I’m torn. I don’t fit in to the finance or marketing job description and I’ve been rebuffed at other job fairs. I’m not giving up but the conference is out of state and I’d have to stay there for three days. The point is that I need to prioritize and act quickly.

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I’ve been in Texas for a week now and it. is. awesome. If you asked me three years ago if I thought TX was awesome I would have told you hell no. But it is. Oh but it is. I had a full day of painful food ingestion and a ridiculous amount of exercise. Fortunately, I performed those in reverse order. I went to the most wonderful Thundercloud on Guadalupe for lunch, got my eyebrows done by a very nice Iranian woman located on the Drag and then bought some shorts for 2.88 at Academy on Brodie Lane. After that, my sister-in-law invited me to do her 6 mile walk down Slaughter Lane before dinner. I survived the walk although I will be in severe pain tomorrow. We then went out for a late supper at Polvo’s on South First Street. I drank lots of cheap margaritas and enjoyed their incredible fajita beef tacos.

Tomorrow, I’m going to my hometown to help my mom get ready for her Labor Day party. This will involve lots of cooking, drinking and shopping. I’m such a girl but this sounds like lots of fun. However, my mom invited some of my high school classmates and I’m not really sure what to think of that. We’ll see what happens.

By the way, when I went walking today, the temperature was 89 outside and I though “Wow, this is cool for August!”

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Danny, Daniel and I made it back to Texas late last night. My internship ended a week ago and since then I’ve been hanging out with my brother in Seattle. We did a ton of stuff including a two-day trip to Vancouver. The point is, I’m free! Ha ha, free until my condensed direct marketing class starts on 9/10. No more 9-5, no more commute, just vacation.

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I only have three more days left before my 3 week vacation begins. Whoohoo! My internship ends on Friday and my brother arrives on Saturday evening. One of my friends is having a 30th birthday pub crawl on Saturday night so I think we’ll meet her and her husband at that sometime around 8pm. In other words, the weekend is shaping up. I’m really excited about my brother’s visit and that he’ll get to meet most of my (drunken) friends.

Strange: I have no less than four internship exit interviews this week. I’m really glad that they want to know what I thought of my time but seriously? What’s the deal? I’ve met a lot of cool people during my time at work so I appreciate their effort. I’m just wondering if it’s part of their job requirements or if it’s something else. I guess I’ll find out soon.

Pub Club this week should be awesome. It’s a going-away gathering for everyone going abroad this fall. We’re having it at one of my favorite bars: a Japanese izakaya downtown. Everything is fried and tasty. How can I not like it?

I’m excited for my friends but so sad! Some of my very best friends will be gone for four months. If I had time off, I’d go visit them in Spain, Shanghai and Hong Kong. It will be weird not having them around but seriously? I’ll be fine. We’ll still have two more quarters together before it’s time to get real jobs and start paying back loans.

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