UCLA Graduation: 8 Clap!

I can't tell you how many hours I have sat in the rocking chair with Parker in his bedroom. Nor can I tell you how many hours I have sat in that rocking chair, holding Parker, not to mention my laptop while reading, studying, or typing a paper. 

Honestly, this is how I used to do quite a lot of my homework:

Global Marketing Case? (February 2013)

And I bet that Jeremy cannot tell you how many Saturdays and Sundays he would take Parker on a walk to the playground so that I could finish an assignment. The boys would return after what I'm sure felt like forever for Jeremy -- because getting a toddler to walk 4 blocks to the playground and cross the street 5 times really can take FOREVER -- but I would have barely made a dent into whatever case I was trying to analyze. "Can you leave again?" I'd ask, knowing Parker would likely not take a nap for a while. 

There were times I didn't know how I would get all of my work done. There were times I didn't think school would ever end. Or that Parker would ever sleep. And there were also times when I couldn't believe that as a new mother barely getting any sleep, I was more prepared for class than 28 year olds taking two years off from work for a glorified summer camp, also known as business school. 

Well today was finally commencement. A Masters of Business Administration. A Masters of Public Health. That idea I had back in 2010 to follow-through on my dream of graduate school? It was a great one. It didn't play out exactly as I had *initially* planned, but catching Parker as he dove into my arms I walked into the ceremony today was the best moment of my graduate school experience. 

Thanks, Jeremy, for helping make today happen. And thanks, Parker, for taking this entire experience to the next level. Where to, next?

UCLA Anderson Graduation

The Case of the Missing Backpack

Not to be outdone in Boltano misadventures, I just received the following text from Jeremy:

So last week, I forgot to put on shoes before heading out to work. And today, Jeremy forgot to bring his work backpack -- which holds his work laptop -- to work. Two important things one needs when heading to work are definitely one's shoes and one's laptop. And yet, Jeremy and I manage to forget both of these items.

I would blame parenthood for these oversights, but it's not like these escapades are new to us. The word "misadventure" has appeared on this very blog 34 times since 2009.

One of my favorite management philosophies is to "train your strengths." I'm really starting to think that misadventuring is our greatest strength, the one special thing in the world that no one can do quite like Jeremy and I can do it. Is misadventuring our "competitive advantage"?

I feel a business plan brewing. Thinking on these things...

The Case of the Missing Shoes

Next Friday, I will graduate from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and Fielding School of Public Health and receive both my Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Public Health. I'm incredibly proud of how hard I have worked and how well I have done in graduate school the past three years, while also working for a start-up med tech company, having a baby, and being a wife to my wonderful husband. I landed my dream job in market access for the world's largest biotechnology company.

Before my days at UCLA, I earned a Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia. I then applied that degree to different jobs in software development and biopharmaceutical clinical trials for ten years. 

I rarely go a day without listening to NPR, and I'm a voracious reader of The Economist. (Not to mention Goodnight Moon and Goodnight Gorilla, given that my baby boy, now 19 months old, adores these books.) In conclusion, I think it's reasonable to consider myself well educated, well read, well informed... Dare I say it, I'm rather intelligent!

So why did I show up at work this morning without wearing shoes?