This week in photos...

Well a little longer than a week given my delinquency with mid-terms and all. But here are some photos from the Su's visit. I got a photo with Travis but don't have photos with Thomas or Derek. They were all cuties though and I was excited I got to see them!




























GO SOX! So World Series fever definitely took over the town - I watched games 1, 3, and 4 with classmates (I know, I know - I'm obviously not a real fan but I just moved here). Last night we watched the game on campus and then moved to John Harvard's for the last 2 innings so we could join in the excitement. Afterwards, the school band was outside and everyone was hanging out together.





























This past weekend I also went on a retreat with my section. Most of my class went so it was pretty fun. Here's a photo from our hike - we basically hiked up a ski slope to the top - it was a bit tiring actually (especially since it was in the rain too).

A break in the storm...

Thanks for your encouragement! I've made it through 2 exams and turning in my resume so the big stuff is done. One more tomorrow, but it's a group exam, and I found out it doesn't count towards my grade so I don't have to worry about another exam until 2 weeks. :)

This weekend was a time of stress though. I wasn't as productive as I would have liked to be on Saturday which was compounded by the fact that I broke my printer and locked myself out of my dorm in the afternoon. It was a bit frustrating since I was really trying to crack down in the afternoon on my studies. I broke the printer trying to print the practice exams and then in a rush to the library, I left my key in the room. The printer ended up being a larger inconvenience since I have to print out my work for class each day and needed it to edit and turn in my resume. All of the printers the school had seemed to be down when I needed them making it difficult to be efficient.

It's weird because I felt like I had a lot of test anxiety unnecessarily. I used to stress about tests but not this much. Maybe it's because I'm back to being a student again and forgot how to manage test stress. The upside was that Marina and family came to Boston for their fall break and I got to hang out with them for a bit. It was relaxing to see them and really enjoyable to catch up although internally I could tell I was stressing out. I was trying to have perspective on how rarely I see Marina so that I could enjoy it more, but still fell victim to the stress. Marina - sorry I didn't make better use of my time so that I could hang out with you more!

So all in all - what's the point of my post? I need to chill out and recognize how important things really are. But sometimes, it can be so hard to do...

Stress

Mid-terms are next week, and our resumes are due as well. I can tell I'm starting to get stressed as

1. I feel really hungry, which means: I eat a lot more + I'm not working out because I'm busy = I'm probably going to gain weight :(
2. My hair is turning gray. My hair does this weird thing where if I'm stressed, the ends turn gray and it grows up to my scalp. Just now, I found 3 gray hairs like so which prompted this post.
3. I'm eating a lot of cookies (this should really be a subpoint to #1)

I think the lesson is I just need to not stress out.

The Middle East

So one thing that has been plaguing my time here has been trying to get on a trek (ie a trip) for the winter break. With about 3 weeks off, there are a lot of opportunities to travel with classmates - some are more educational and some are more like a vacation with people who are from the area to help show you around. I've signed up on many polls expressing my interest and have repeatedly failed to get one of the lucky lottery spots. Since the treks have been filling up, my last hope was an immersion. Immersions are slightly different since they include a larger educational component - you read cases ahead of time about the area; professors take you on the trip; and you visit businesses in the area. The Middle East Immersion was the one that interested me the most, but I didn't think I was going to be lucky enough to get a spot. To my surprise, I got a nice little email a few days ago saying that I secured a spot in the lottery. Yay!!! Now, I get to go to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Luxor, and Cairo. I'm super excited. The only downside is I'll be spending less time in Austin over the break, but I think this is a once in a lifetime type of trip that I can't pass up. I have so little knowledge about this area, so I'm really looking forward to learning more!

Time Away

This weekend I went on a retreat with Intervaristy Christian Fellowship for the Boston Area Graduate Schools. HBS had the largest group showing with 34 people attending; it was a great opportunity to meet some other classmates and get to know people better. It was also extremely relaxing because I didn't do any schoolwork the whole time! It was the perfect time for a retreat since we had another 3-day weekend because of Columbus Day. Since they make us work for our long weekends, this past week really kicked my butt with extra projects and meetings. I was exhausted by the time Friday came around and so thankful for a break.

Highlights of the retreat included a gorgeous, warm Saturday afternoon. It was in the high 80's - crazy right? - and we had a speed kickball tourney between the different grad schools. The whole tourney was hysterical because the stereotypical business school student competitive nature came out. Not that we were mean or poor sports, but we definitely wanted to win. I don't know if the other schools took it as seriously but we definitely huddled up and identified the weak links as well as the star players on the other team so that we knew where to kick. I have to admit, I didn't do much to help our team since I didn't play much, but I was at least 1-0 at bat (or bowl?). Normally I feel a little bad about being competitive when everyone else is just there to have fun, but I was definitely amused at how everyone else was just as into it. Alas, we proved that competitive spirit does make a difference since we won the tourney - apparently, HBS has been the reigning champs at this retreat for the last 5 years.

Overall, the retreat was extremely relaxing and a good break away from the madness of school. They built in a lot of 'quiet time' time for us so it me gave a chance to sit and reflect on the last month or so. It's so easy to get wrapped up in crazy school mode that you forget what you want to get out of the school experience versus just trying to keep up with everyone else.