I'm in love...

...with the Haas School of Business.

I just came home from an informational session about the Berkeley Haas School of Business, and I'm honestly in love. Hearing current students and the alums talk about their experiences there made me realize just how much I want to be there next year. I had the opportunity to speak with a current MBA/MPH student and he honestly made me want to cry thinking about how happy I would be if I was accepted. The program is exactly what I want out of an MBA and it's situated in the greatest area in the world for healthcare. Seriously, this Victor guy that I was talking to has essentially the same career path as me. Engineer by trade, but aspiring healthcare consultant by desire. He's landed a job as a healthcare strategy consultant at BCG and he knows that it's because he has an MBA/MPH. I'm him, but just several years younger and so much prettier.

I feel like I've never wanted anything more than this. Not even when I wanted that undergrad acceptance to Stanford. Here's hoping that a higher, divine being also has plans for me at Haas next year.

Go 'Cats!

This weekend marks the 6th Northwestern Homecoming football game that I've attended. And for the first time in 4 years, NU is ranked again. Woo Hoo!!!! Not only will I be cheering on the Wildcats to victory against the Wolverines, I will be doing it in the company of Nancy and Caleb. More yippeees! (Law McGraw will be there too, but I rarely ever get to see the Brennemans.)

I mentioned to my roommate yesterday morning that I was going to NU Homecoming on Saturday. She immediately thought that I was talking about my high school, since she went to a college where there was no football team. That got me thinking to what kind of college experience I would have had had I gone to a college where sports wasn't a big thing, like say...University of Chicago. Now, I'm not saying that my life revolves around college sports or that I can even name any college athletes, but there's just something about the camraderie that you feel when your entire school gathers at a stadium to cheer on fellow students. Well, that and early Saturday morning tailgates. What kind of school spirit do schools without sports teams have? I don't know, and I'm glad that I'll never have to know.

I do know that I have a football game to look forward to on Saturday and a possible bowl game in the winter. And this makes me happy. :)

Until then, I have to put the finishing touches on my application essays.

Tick...Tick...Tick...

...I think my biological clock is ticking. Does anyone know how to make it stop?

Here I am on the cusp of submitting applications for one of the biggest decisions of my life. Business school will take up 2 years of my life, and after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars and forsaking 2 years of salary, I know that I'll be headed back to the corporate world when I have my degree in hand. We all know that Type A B-schoolers like me are concerned with ROI.

So where do kids fit into this whole equation? (Being an engineer, it should be obvious to all of you that I like equations. In fact, I think that I'm going to start planning my days with algorithms.)

But seriously, I've recently found myself ooohing and aaaahing over kids everywhere. A couple of weeks ago, before the wintry blast of Chicago hit, I was sitting in Millenium Park with Law McGraw when a little girl came over and sat with us. She was the cutest thing ever. (I think that her father may have been hitting on this woman that was sitting near us, but we never actually confirmed what was going on.) This little girl sat with us for a couple of minutes, bounded away, and then returned with a stuffed Gonzo doll. She was so content to just sit with two strangers. Then, we saw another little boy in a button down shirt and khakis. He was so preppy, but so cute at the same time. I seriously started wondering and imagining what my future kids would be like and how much fun it would be to take them to the park on a Sunday afternoon. Now with Halloween looming around the corner, I've started to think about the potential costumes that I'm going to be making for them.

But when is all of this going to actually happen? Am I actually going to be able to put my professional life on hold to have bundles of joy? I guess that I can honestly say that I don't know right now. And maybe I won't know until I'm confronted with that situation.

Am I Good Enough?

I'm starting to fall into the home stretch for my first round of applications. I'm shooting for the first three deadlines of Nov. 1, Nov. 3, and Nov. 4. I'm in good shape for Nov. 1 and 4, but for the application due on the 3rd, I still have two entire essays that I haven't written yet. And the sharp pains in my chest don't seem to be going away. There's going to be a lot of midnight oil burned for the next two weeks of my life. When will life return to normal?