The Home Stretch

It is hard to believe that I am two weeks away from completing my first quarter of graduate school. Barely three months ago, I joined 350 other Anderson students at orientation, eager to learn everyone's names and perhaps even make a few friends. Excited to be a student again, I was also anxious to learn again. And dare I say it, I hoped to challenge myself and grow not just academically and professionally, but personally, as well.

Well, my first quarter at Anderson did not disappoint. With only one more week of classes and a week of final exams remaining, I realize that I have already accomplished my goals. I have certainly been challenged academically. It is amazing how difficult a math class based on reading four different financial tables and computing simple addition and subtraction can be. (Accounting) And for a topic that has always frightened me (Finance) I am surprised that it is really just a lot of vocabulary, multiplication, and division, three of my best skills. (I know I didn't do very well on the midterm, but I plan on acing the final -- it's all coming together now!) As for economics and statistics, two classes I took during undergrad, I am in total disbelief by how much of the material I do not remember. I studied both subjects over ten years ago -- studying them again is nothing like riding a bike.

These past three months I have also been professionally challenged, as I explored career opportunities in healthcare and international development, plus internships in strategy and marketing. Non-profit? Big pharma? Biotech? I'll admit that I have also had mini-meltdowns along the way... Why am I getting an MBA? My MPH application is due next week, is it worth it? Should I get a PhD? The opportunities are endless and amazing, if not overwhelming. I re-evaluate my goals almost daily; however, I'm sticking to my original plan to pursue the MPH in addition to the MBA. My application is due this week (yet another To Do item) which gives me an extra year of school. As such, I can use this summer's internship to explore something new. We'll see how it goes...

Before, after, and in between the time I have dedicated to learning and furthering my career, I have definitely spent time growing as a person. I've joined too many extracurricular clubs and I've drank way too much alcohol for a woman my age. But along the way, I have met some amazing people these past three months. Brilliant people, funny people, inspiring people. And I am so excited to continue getting to know them throughout the next couple of years.

So today, as I move on from Thanksgiving and settle into my the home stretch of the 2011 academic year, I acknowledge how grateful I am for this first quarter at UCLA Anderson. I'm grateful I had the courage to apply and to enroll. I'm grateful for my scholarship. (SO GRATEFUL!) I'm grateful for all that I have learned in the classroom, career center, courtyard, library, and of course, at bars.  I'm grateful for Jeremy, because he has been so incredibly supportive this entire time. And yes, I'm grateful that this quarter is almost over, but more importantly, I'm grateful that graduate school has really only just begun...

Go Bruins!

Thanksgiving Feast 2011

We've been married for almost a year and a half, but now that my family has finally visited US for a holiday, it feels a bit more official.

Given that my entire extended family lives less than an hour from one another in the Philadelphia area, every major holiday is celebrated in the Philadelphia area. So when I moved to Washington DC after college, it was always a given that I would return to Philadelphia for the holidays. Visiting me in DC was never discussed. Why would the family drive 3 hours to stuff four people into my shoebox apartment when they could drive one hour to cram 20 people into someone else's shoebox basement?

See, I never quite understood the logic, either. I just chalked it up to tradition. Every year, we went to my mother's parents house for Thanksgiving. Every year, we went to my father's parents house for Christmas Eve. Every year, my mother welcomed the family for Christmas Day. And every year, we would head back to her parents' house for New Year's Day. As my grandparents passed away and aged, we swapped their homes for the homes of my aunts and uncles. And in the past 14 years since I went away to college, my parents started alternating Thanksgiving between my mother's family and my father's family. They're really stirring the pot these days!

Once I moved to San Francisco, I stopped making the trip all the time. Not because the airfare was too expensive, or because I didn't want to see everyone, but because I had developed another family of my own in the city with whom I enjoyed spending the holidays. One year, Amanda and I baked a 20+ pound turkey and then carried it three blocks to our friend's house for a huge feast with 30 people sitting around picnic tables in the backyard. We drank and ate and played Guitar hero until 2AM. 

Another year, Amanda and I spent Christmas Eve snowboarding in Tahoe. When we finally quit the mountain, we celebrated with cheap beers and a dinner of M&Ms while playing Poker with our friend Steve. We were so drunk we didn't realize that we were playing with Pinocle cards until both Amanda and Steve went all in thinking they each had four Aces. That was a crazy game of Poker. 

Since Jeremy and I began dating, we have spent years traveling to see all of our families for the holidays. (Exhausting) And we have also welcomed our friends in San Francisco into our home for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. However this year, my parents, along with my brother, packed their bags and boarded a plane to Los Angeles to spend Thanksgiving in our new home in Santa Monica. Yes, it is still a shoebox apartment; so unfortunately, they couldn't sleep here. But they stayed at a hotel a few blocks away, I gave them a key, and they were able to come and go as they pleased for five nights. 

Jeremy still had to go to work, and I still had to go to school, so my mother and brother did some LA sightseeing while my father tried something new and went golfing. (Right...) We convened for dinner each night, and on Thanksgiving, Jeremy and I prepared an amazing feast. Granted, it is a well-known fact in our family that Jeremy and I are fantastic in the kitchen, but the satisfaction I get from serving a truly delicious meal for my parents is almost unmatched. 

We prepared everything from scratch using organic ingredients...

First Course: Roasted Garlic and Sun-dried Tomato Hummus, Honey Thyme Brie Cheese, Assorted Crackers

Second Course: Black Bean Pumpkin Soup

Third Course: Cider-glazed Turkey with Lager Gravy, Fennel Sausage and Jalapeno Stuffin’ Muffins, Creme Fraiche and Chive Mashed Potatoes, Whipped Chipotle Sweet Potatoes, Brussels Sprout Hash with Caramelized Shallots, Green Beans with Mushrooms and Balsamic, Creamed Corn Pudding, Cranberry-Fig-Pinot Noir Chutney, Zucchini Cornbread

Dessert Course: Pumpkin Pie with Spiced Walnut Streusel, Lattice Apple Pie, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

It was amazing! And although cooking so much was exhausting, I hope we can host our family and friends for Thanksgiving next year, as well. We plan to have a larger living space next year, so if anyone wants to visit us in LA, please come!

Rainy LA Day

It doesn't rain that often in Los Angeles. However when it does rain, I must admit, it's a helpful boost to productivity.

As Jeremy mentioned in his last post, the past few months have been quite a whirlwind. A few weeks after moving into our apartment in Santa Monica, I started classes at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Yes, the first two weeks of orientation were a bit like summer camp. Expensive summer camp. In addition to lots of ice breakers and events to help us all get to know one another, we took a course in "Leadership Foundations" that included plenty of readings, cases, and even a final exam. Over nine years have passed since I took a final exam, but I did alright.

After two weeks of orientation, we got right into classes. At 8AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I take Financial Accounting. So far, I've not only learned that Assets = Liabilities + Equity; I've also learned that upon starting my own business, I will immediately hire an accountant. At 9:45AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I take Data and Decisions, which is essentially a statistics course. I hate this class, not only because I already took it back at UVA, but also because I was better at it back then. At 12:45PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays, after a lunch hour that is often filled with group meetings or interesting speakers, I take Managerial Economics. Yes, this is another class I technically took already at UVA, but I honestly think it is being taught on an entirely different level. For the most part, economics makes sense, but it can still be quite challenging. I think I'll also keep an economist on retainer if I ever start my own company.

On Mondays and Wednesdays, I have a lighter load of classes. With the mornings free, I actually get some time to run, which is amazing. Then I head to school for my first class at 12:45 PM, Financial Markets. Most days, I really have no idea what is being discussed in class. I'm taking the course with a crew of people who have already worked on Wall Street; they probably should have tested out of the course entirely. So while I struggle to remember the difference between a bond and a stock (I exaggerate...) they are talking about imbedded options and short selling. It's a little frustrating having to listen to many of them try to advance the level of the class, but I'm actually doing fine so far. The homework consists of problem set after problem set, and who is better prepared for a lot of problem sets than an undergraduate engineering major? Exactly!

My coursework is rounded out with a class in Management Communications, which to date, is more or less a class about public speaking. Clearly, it is one of my favorite classes. We watch a lot of Ted Talks and do a lot of impromptu speaking in front of our classmates. We're video-taped and then we're forced to watch ourselves speak, which is humbling to say the least.

Pretty much every day at school includes an opportunity to drink alcohol. I mean network. In addition to events sponsored by the Wine Club or the Microbrew Club, there is Lit Club every Wednesday night and Anderson Afternoons every Thursday at 4:45 PM. Challenge for Charity hosts fundraisers that include Beer Pong tournaments and Bowl-a-thons. My section is even having a fundraiser that will feature our economics professor DJ-ing. And these events are just during the week! The weekends involve bar hopping, tailgating at football games, and group dinners. I must admit, I should have gone back to business school when I was a young 27 year old. My 31.5 year old body doesn't rebound between a 1AM beer and an 8AM class like it used to!

Which brings me back to today's rainy day in LA. I have three exams this week. Finance. Accounting. Communications. It's helpful that it's raining, because I have a lot of studying to do. And it's hard not to want to spend my day at the beach! So wish me luck on all these tests. The curve is nothing like it was back in my engineering days...

The SoCal Adventure Begins

It's been hard to find the time to post, but I decided to give it a try. Nicole is clearly the blog expert, so I'll keep this entry to a simple recap of our lives over the last three months.

Settling In

We completed the move into our new apartment in Santa Monica in early August. I'll save you the painful details (painful mostly to me and my sense of thrift), but we packed a 24' truck full of our furniture and made the haul down to southern California. We quickly realized that our seemingly large one bedroom apartment was going to be overcrowded with all of our furniture and gear. After utilizing our extensive storage and getting creative with the couches, our apartment now bears the adjective "comfy".

I forgot to mention that before we moved our stuff down, we went to town on the apartment. We painted the walls in most rooms, acquired some new furniture, stained existing furniture (eventually) to match, fixed a dishwasher, and had our carpets cleaned.

I think I speak for both of us when I say that we love our home here - it could be bigger and we could have a dog, but that will have to wait for our next phase.

Visitor

Nicole's mother, Mary, graced us with a visit in late August and we had a blast! Some highlights include two star sightings (Ed O'Neil and Paris Hilton), an open-air, sunny bus tour of Hollywood and the westside, and an intoxicating trip to Santa Ynez wine country. Thank you for visiting, Mary!

Weddings

Jam packed into our post-Africa / pre-MBA schedule was three weddings. We drove up to the Bay Area for a quick weekend to attend an amazing wedding of our great friends Colby and Kathy. Beautiful setting and good people. Number two was for my good college friend Carlos and his bride, Lisa. All of my old college pals were there with their adorable children in tow. I had a great time and am really happy for Los and Lisa. Finally, we headed up to Tahoe for Nicole's close friend Amanda and her husband, Noah's. The wedding was beautiful and included a room with four beds and all-you-can-karaoke. Good times!

MBA School Commences

During this hectic time, Nicole dove head first into school. Well, first she went to summer camp, followed by boot camp. She spent a weekend whitewater rafting with some new colleagues in northern California. She'll have to update you on the trip, but it sounded awesome. Soon after returning, she went through what probably more closely resembles a leadership summer camp. She climbed the trust tree, played children's games, got hoarse with her serious spirit, and partied. She also met some amazing classmates.

After the fun intro, she got slammed with work - finance, accounting, econ, statistics. It's supposed to be the hardest quarter, and she's taking it pretty seriously. She's already had midterms in all classes and is doing great. I'm very impressed at her work ethic and the direction that she's steering.

Work Commences

Generating zero income since May was starting to take a serious toll on us, so I was very eager to find steady work that pays the bills. After somewhat felt like a desperately long time, I landed a job with Amgen. Pros: the work is familiar and I was able to jump right in and apply my skills, it pays well, and the hours are very flexible. Cons: the commute is horrible (for me it's horrible - but for people in the area, it's normal) - I drive about one hour each way, more or less depending on traffic. Although we are off to a slow start, I'm confident that it's going to be a great experience, and will keep us afloat until we go on our next adventure.

What's Next

Jeremy: I decided to run the LA Marathon again - so I've been running and running. I'm dreaming of a 3:33, but I don't think I can maintain for an 8 min/mi pace for more than a few miles. We'll see how the training pays off. Aside from that, I'm getting pretty good at helping with the chores!

Nic: Nicole has a busy fall. She'll be taking her 2nd midterms, and then right into finals. Although she claims that she is going to step up her studies even more, I'm optimistic that I'll get to see a lot of her. She's done an amazing job of balancing school and family.

The End