Earthquakeee

Sitting in Econ class Tuesday, Professor Newmark was talking about Americans’ love affair with big cars (examples of supply and demand) when Nelson started shaking. The projector screen was swinging back and forth, everyone was looking around wondering what was going on.

. . . E a r t h q u a k e . . .

Yes, an earthquake on the East Coast with a magnitude of 5.8 was confirmed at 1:50pm. It was about 150 miles NE of Raleigh. The brunt of the quake was in Mineral Springs, VA but major cities like Richmond and DC also felt the effects. It was pretty mild here, but still a big deal on the East Coast.

So we get through the earthquake, and 3 days later - - -Hurricane Irene- - - decides to pay us a visit.

Raleigh was pretty lucky. It was a long day of rain and it was pretty windy at times, but it cleared up by late afternoon. I've seen plenty of tree branches down and a few trees here and there, but no flooding and minimul power outages. Other areas East and even North suffered a lot more with the flooding and power outages. Still awaiting news on the fate of the Outer Banks..

MBA Interview!

Written February 27, 2011

Wednesday afternoon, my Dad and I drove down to Raleigh for my MBA Interview and the NCSU/UNC basketball game!

In my opinion, one went better then the other and since we lost...its pretty obvious which went better. I walked into Nelson and felt like I was in a time warp. I hadn't been in that building for 4.5 years and it had definitely changed! 

I met with the Assistant Admissions Director, Jen Arthur for about 30 minutes. I was pretty nervous on the drive down there...didn't know what questions she would ask, if I would answer the "right" way or even ask the right kinds of questions.

But it really was just a conversation about my working experience and why I want to go back and pursue an MBA. Pretty easy questions for me to answer. There was 1 that threw me for a loop, but hopefully I recovered quickly!

It was great to sit down and talk with her because I learned a lot more about the program and was able to ask some specific questions I had about the program.

Picking a school is a pretty important decision, so I'm glad I was able to make the trip down there and talk to her in person rather than on the phone.

After the interview, I walked around campus for a little bit then went to dinner with my dad and on to the game. Obviously I wished the outcome was different, but overall it was a pretty good day!

**Grad School**Grad School**Grad School**

Written February 4, 2011

 

Pretty much the main thing on my mind these days.

I try to distract myself with other things (photography, working out, work, happy hours and anything else I can do to keep busy), but really all I can think about is whether I’ll get asked back for interviews, whether my GMAT score is good enough, if I’ll be ACCEPTED!

Not to mention the fact that most people at work are not aware that I am planning on going back for my MBA, and most likely will not be doing a part-time program in Richmond.

And then there are my parents and extended families’ opinions on pretty much everything.

Is going back to school the best thing for me?

After I graduate, will I make enough $$$ to pay off the loans quickly?

Is an MBA really going to put me in a position to get my “dream” job?

Should I go back full-time or work full time and go back part-time?

And the list continues…

So it’s somewhat of an internal fight with myself everyday because I really do want to go back and get my MBA (and I’d rather do FT), but the small doubts are still there in the back of my mind. Best case scenario for me is I am accepted to every school and offered a graduate assistantship.

The GA position will not only help with the funding part of the MBA, but I think will also allow me to develop a better relationship with professors and the career services department. Working with undergrad students in their specific concentrations will only help me to better understand the subjects and with my working experience, I will be able to actually apply the things I learned in undergrad. I will be able to give the undergrads real scenarios from a perspective other than a professor because let’s face it, its easier to relate to your peers then professors at times. From my recruiting background, I also think the opportunity to work with the career services department would be beneficial for both undergrad and graduate students. I could help with resume/interviewing tips because I’ve been on the other side of the process and know certain things to look for and things to make each candidate stand out.

So when looking at schools, this was a big focus of mine. The best GA program I found for me personally is the one offered at NC State. The Jenkins MBA program will “hire” a certain number of full time students to work up to 18 hrs/week in different areas such as career services/admissions, classroom assistance, research and IT support. It includes tuition, a stipend and health insurance.

What I love even more is the Social Media GA.

Pretty much my idea of a perfect GA position.

In this role, the GA will help to market the Jenkins MBA program through different social media tools (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr etc).

First-I’m already pretty big in the social media world being on Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr already.

Second-Marketing is the area that I want to concentrate in and in addition to receiving a top-tier education, I will be able to gain valuable experience in the marketing field. I plan on pursing an internship between my 1^st and 2^nd year, but to gain the experience WHILE IN SCHOOL is priceless, not to mention I wouldn’t think of this position as “work.” I know I would spend a lot of time working with the different social media tools, but to me its fun. And when something is fun to me, I work harder, longer and am MUCH more dedicated.

So the first step is being accepted in the NCSU MBA program…

NCSU MBA

Written January 14, 2011

Right now, the main thing I’m focused on outside of work is applying to grad schools. I want to go back to school for a MBA, and it definitely has been a long process. When I started looking at schools, I really had no idea where I wanted to go. During my undergrad, I remember hearing things about the NCSU MBA program, but it was so new (started in 2002) that they hadn’t really taken off yet. In just 8 short years, the program has jumped to a #66 ranking (Us New and World Report)…which in my mind is extremely impressive in that short of a time period.

NCSU prepared me extremely well for my jobs after I graduated undergrad. Just thinking how my best friend Claire and I would spend every day (sometimes ALL day) in Nelson makes me miss college so much. The workload was heavy, but it was an amazing experience that I would not give up for the world. So I started thinking….if I loved undergrad at State that much…wouldn’t grad school be even better?? I started researching the Jenkins program and was pretty excited about what I found.

The opportunities are endless with this program. I want to focus on Marketing, and the focus and flexibility of this concentration are perfect for me. The main focus is on Value Identification, Value Creation and Value Delivery, and then I would pick certain electives that focus in on the type of company I am interested in. The marketing concentration allows students to work on REAL projects and work together to find REAL solutions that will prepare me for a job after graduation.

So now, my application is finished and I get to wait for a decision from the Admissions board…

Back to NCSU..

Back to Raleigh.

 Back to NC State.

 Back to Nelson Hall.

I was sitting in my classes today and fell right back into student mode. Same building, same classrooms, different material and different people. My road to grad school started about a year ago with the GMAT. Not exactly my favorite test I’ve ever taken, but hey I achieved my goal of getting into school.

The next step was deciding on a school, the application process and interviews. The following are blogs from the past year and how I ended up back at NC State!