Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Haas info session and a belated weekend recap

Last night, I attended a Haas information session here in San Diego. I thought the representatives from the admissions office did a great job of communicating a lot of information in a fair amount of time, despite warning us that their presentation might be a little rusty since it was their first road trip of the season. It was entertaining and gave me a feel for the Haas culture. Since I've already decided to apply and I got a lot of information about Haas from a friend, it was nice to just kick back and enjoy the show rather than furiously take notes and try to think of a bunch of questions on the fly. I found the panel of current and former students to be really interesting. One of the panelists just graduated and is working for a golf equipment company here in SD County. I was able to pull him aside later and get the scoop on a sports business seminar he initiated with the help of a fellow student and what it was like networking to get his internship and job. I also got answers to my more tactical application questions from the adcom folks, and I ran into a friend from undergrad (same one I saw at the Wharton info session awhile back) so we were able to catch up and compare notes on this whole application process.

I booked plane tickets for my visits to Berkeley and Northwestern/Chicago, so I'm working on schedules for my days on campus. I'm really looking forward to seeing the schools, meeting students, checking out some classes, interviewing, etc. I've made contact with people in each program's sports business/entertainment/media clubs so I'm hoping I'll have some folks in my area of focus lined up for lunch or just a meet & greet. It is going to be a BUSY month of October, but I seem to do my best work when I'm busy. I'm trying to schedule my Anderson interview and it is a pain in the rear. They just released another group of interview slots, but they all conflict with my schedule. ARGGHHH! I wish they'd get their San Diego/La Jolla info sessions scheduled soon so I can see about a local interview. Other than that, I'm just plugging away at my essays and data forms, waiting for my transcripts to be delivered, and making sure my recos have all the information they need. I updated my resume with feedback from a couple friends, my mom, and a co-worker. I have to say...I am damn proud of my resume. I may not have started my own company or commanded billion dollar Wall Street deals, but considering I'm four year post undergrad and I've been with the same company that whole time, I have a foundation of solid, significant experiences to build on in business school. This is obviously a high self-confidence week. Tune in next week when the self-doubt will surely resurface ;)

It was a great weekend for me, football-wise. My Wazzu Cougs beat Arizona in a barnburner, the Seahawks destroyed the 49ers, and my fantasy football team won. The guy I beat in our fantasy league is quite embarrassed that he lost to a girl, but this chick knows her football and is a force to be reckoned with. Next weekend will be a sad one since both my teams have BYEs, but that will be to the benefit of my application essays.

I put in some time at the beach on Saturday, then I hit Lake Elsinore for some wakeboarding Sunday morning with my usual crew, plus two of my friends who wanted to learn. One of my favorite things about wakeboarding is teaching other people. I remember that feeling of pure joy the first time I popped out of the water (followed shortly thereafter by "Oh $#%@! What do I do now?!" to faceplant). I love passing on that feeling to other people and I get the biggest rush from the look on their face when they finally do it. I have become very efficient at coaching people and it usually only takes them a couple tries to get it. The guys I ride with now refer to me as "coach." I know how good it feels to progress to the next level with my riding, and it makes me feel even better to help other people do it, too. Anyway, both girls got up and got some decent rides. At the end of the day you could tell that they had caught the wakeboarding "stoke" (to use a REALLY overused "extreme" sports word, but it is the best way to describe that feeling of excitement and desire to conquer a new challenge). You could not wipe the grins off their faces.

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