on cloud 2010

wow. it has all been worth it. All of it, the moment I saw the “510″ number on my phone. I’m IN!

GO BEARS!

love and hate relationships

I both love and hate how much of my life is based on unknown, changeable plans. Yes, I bought into this when I stepped on the consulting bandwagon years ago. But I don’t think “change” is something you can ever get used to – I for one, still struggle with the ‘normalcy’ of constantly not knowing where I’ll be or what I’ll be doing this time next month. And recently, it’s not by month, but by week. And this is happening on several fronts:

Work

Since I’ve come home from my international engagement 4 weeks ago, I’ve been sitting around (or ‘on the beach’ in Consulting terminology), waiting for an official start date on my next project, which keeps being delayed with the expectation that the contract will be signed “in a few days.” Because this project involves extensive travel to Seattle and South Africa, I’ve decided to postpone moving myself back home to New York until the project is over. And thus passed an entire month, upon which I look back and think about just how much I could have done with the time had I not been waiting by the hour to hop on a plane the next day.

With all this delay, I’ve seriously considered going to another project and beginning my move. Just as I am about to put my foot down on this decision, I received notice that YES the contract has been signed! What does this mean? That within 1-2 days, I should pack up my bags to spend the next entire month hopping between continents. But hey, this is no one’s fault – it was completely within my power to say no, to find another project. I actively chose this kind of lifestyle, really. And with this lifestyle, I also bought into being okay with having an extremely ‘flexible’ personal life, and having friends no longer expect me to show up to anything. But with these sacrifices, I’ve been able to travel around the world, work hand-in-hand with key players to make positive impacts, and most importantly, gain a personal perspective of today’s global landscape. And with this perspective, I’m able to confidently test, evaluate, and reformulate my own values. And this is the source of my love-hate relationship.

School

As if things aren’t confusing enough, I bring it upon myself to add a new dimension of stress by applying to schools this year. What I hate about the application process is more or less expected: months of studying for an exam that tests neither my management ability nor my career interests. Entire weekends spent with eyes glued to my laptop, writing and rewriting pages of application essays. If my job as a consultant had left any inkling of personal time, the applications took it away.

What I love about this whole process is less apparent, but valuable. In the months spent drafting pages of essays, I’ve been ‘forced’ by the application process to do a detailed and thorough evaluation of who I am, in every aspect, from every angle.

• What inspires me?
• What kind of leader am I?
• What are my professional strengths?
• How can I use these strengths in the future?
• How have I grown in my career thus far?
• How have I grown as a person as a result of my career thus far?
• What is my sense of ‘community’?
• Does the role I play in my community reflect who I am?
• How can I positively impact those that are important to me?
• What are my values?
• How do my values relate to what I want to do in the future?

All of this. and so much more. Which makes it obvious as to why this application process is a complete headache, and yet, a valuable experience.

And now, as I pack my bags for a weekend interview on the West Coast, while waiting in anticipation for official news from the East Coast, I think about the ‘crazy’ lifestyle I’ve gotten myself into, and the irreversible amount that I’ve grown as a result.

I spent several hours at the bookstore reading Stephen Colbert’s I am America (and So Can You), finding myself bursting into uncontrollable laughter, and undoubtedly embarrassing myself to no end in the process.

I can’t help it. The book is hilarious. If you watch/like/heard of his show, you have to check out his book. If you have no idea who Stephen Colbert is, you still have to check out the book. You don’t even have to read the pages in order, it’s that good. Better yet, if you want to read as little as possible, just flip to the middle of the book and try to get through the survey.

Excerpt:

How would you describe your body shape?

a) Apple
b) Pear
c) Starfruit
d) Human

from 07 to 08

Every year at about this time, I like to plop myself at a cafe and reflect on the year that’s about to come to a close. This year is no different, as I’ve definitely gone through quite a bit in 2007. However, it’s a bit nerve-wrecking trying to plan for 2008, as I’m currently waiting for several key decisions that will determine pretty much everything I do in the coming year. So my 2008 plans will temporarily assume that everything happens according to plan :)

2007 in Retrospect: Last year, I have…

• Spent 7 months living and working in a developing country, learning more about myself than anything else.
• Gotten my Scuba diving Open Water certification.
• Traveled to Bangladesh, Nepal, and Thailand.
• Fully experienced the infamous South-Asian summer monsoons.
• Began to develop a more ‘international’ view of the world – specifically, I’ve started to see how much influence the US does not have over the rest of the world.
• Finally gotten to catch up with some old friends I haven’t seen in years.
• Watched my stocks roller-coaster and have temporarily lost faith/interest in the domestic financial markets.
• Forgotten how to drive.
• Completely lost my alcohol tolerance, but continue to love wine, passionately.
• Gotten my act together and taken the GMAT that I have been “getting ready to take” for the past 2 years.
• Decided last minute to throw together two grad school applications, both of which were submitted hours before final deadlines.

2008 in Anticipation: This year, I will…

• Take advantage of my next project with the Gates Foundation to learn even more about international development.
• Sneak in a quick tour of Africa while I’m on the project.
• [Hopefully] be making a huge, drawn-out decision between spending the next two years in New York or San Francisco.
• Begin applying for loans and preparing myself for years of debt.
• Relearn all the French that I’ve lost over the past few years.
• Pick up piano again.
• Build up a consistent running routine.
• Lose my chub of a stomach, once and for all!
• Quit my consulting job and do some more traveling.
• Go back to SE Asia for my Advanced OW diving certification.
• Convince myself to to save up some money amongst all of this.

If all goes well, 2008 should be an amazing year :)