Congrats!!!

I'm so proud of Law McGraw! He got a job offer from the firm and will be fully employed at the end of school next year in San Francisco! Now all I need to do is find a way to fanagle my way in to Haas or Stanford. Let's all pray that things go swimmingly for me.

Will the Stress Ever Go Away?

Well, I took the GMAT and got a good score. Sadly, though, the score wasn't as good as I was hoping. It's also about 10 or 20 points below the average score of my top choice school. I know, I know. I'm in the range of accepted scores, but seeing as how I'm slightly below the average for various other categories, it might be beneficial for me to retake the test. So I signed up for it again. Three weeks from now, I'll be donning the headphones and retaking the test. But I'm not as stressed this time, since I somewhat know what to expect. Hopefully, the abated stress will help me focus better during the test.

Of course, retaking the test means that time will be taken away from my actual applications. But seeing as how Round 1 deadlines for my top choice schools are at the end of Oct, I'll have a solid month and a half to work on the applications. That should be enough time for me to wow them with my personal essays. In addition, Law McGraw volunteered to read over my essays, and since he's a phenomenal writer, I'm thinking that will work out very well.

Aside from all the b-school hell that I'm enduring, I need to find a new place to live. Lillian's moving back to Northbrook, which means that I'm left to fend for myself. Oh how I hate looking for apartments. I wish that I just didn't have to move anymore. My parents said that I could move in temporarily with them, but the idea of that is just not very hot to me. Sure, I'd be saving loads on rent, but I can't imagine what life would be like with them again. Besides, I wouldn't have anything to do after work and Law McGraw would be significantly far away. So if anyone knows anyone who needs a roommate or is willing to house me in the city, I would greatly appreciate it. Otherwise, you may find me in a cardboard box somewhere on Belmont.

I Will Overcome You...

...and let the stress begin to ebb.

I've been extremely stressed out for the past couple of weeks due to the upcoming GMATs. It's gotten to the point where I've been extremely tense and have lashed out at people who don't deserve it at all. Mainly my parents and my brother. I don't remember being stressed out for the SATs or the ACTs. I know that a lot of it comes from the fact that I've been putting so much pressure on myself to do well on this test.

Today, I finally realized that I had completely lost focus of what I was doing. Sure, who doesn't want to go to HBS or Kellogg? Those are once-in-a-lifetime chances. But it doesn't mean that life ends just because I don't get in to one of those schools. Over the past couple of days, I've received numerous emails and phone calls from people wishing me luck. I realized that I have a great group of friends who are supporting me and wishing the best for me. And I can't seem to thank all of you enough. Especially a certain Harvard Econ grad student who wrote me quite the lengthy catch-up-on-the-past-6-months-of-my-life email.

I reread the graduation speech that Steve Jobs gave at the Stanford Commencement. I realized that as long as I have passion and faith, I'll do just fine in this crazy journey. It doesn't matter where that b-school diploma is from. I just need to keep that passion burning in my heart and have faith that everything will work out.

Panic Attacks

5 days left until the GMATs. Please pray that I will do well on them. Until then, I will retreat into my cave and try to calm the stress that brews in me every 5 minutes.