The MBA Project: Day One
First Day of School! First Day of School! <--Picture a little bitty clownfish saying that. That's how my morning went. :-) Well it went like that and, "Crap, I have to get cat food before class. Is this yogurt parfait going to last me through a morning? Should I have bought a portfolio folder to take notes in instead of this $1.00 3 ring binder? Thank you, hair, for cooperating this morning. I really hope traffic on the 15 isn't as awful as usual."
And it was all fine. The cat food was purchased and I made it to orientation on time. In fact, I was a few minutes early. I was lucky this morning, and in more ways than one. See, it's faster for me to take the major freeway that runs more inland than it is for me to go the one that hugs the coast. Said freeway is usually a nightmare in a couple of spots, but overall it's usually a shorter and easier ride. However, it is the only freeway that has a toll HOV lane, and as I approached an entrance, I thought to myself, "Hey, I have plenty of loose change. Why don't I just hop on the FasTrak?"
What I did not realize is that said HOV lane does not collect tolls at booths, but at wireless transmitters mounted to the vehicles who use it. Carpools, however, are free. I was neither of those, sooooo....
SO GUESS WHO WENT LIKE 15 MILES RIDING DIRTY ON THE 15 THIS MORNING!
Unless there is a camera somewhere that caught the Grey Goose and me speeding along, I dodged a bullet there.
Don't worry--I literally just went online and registered to get a FasTrak transmitter, like, eight and a half minutes ago.
This also gave me pause to re-consider my relocation strategy while I'm doing this program. Instead of making a concession on the roommate thing, I may make a concession on living off of the 15 freeway instead of trying to get closer to the 5. We'll see.
Anyway, I made it to orientation on time and in one piece. Honestly, to try to recount the day would be taxing on both you, the reader, and me, the person who already has a 30 page article to read tonight for class at 9 am tomorrow. Let me just suffice it to say that I am absolutely, completely, 198% reaffirmed in my decision to pursue an MBA. I've met some really interesting and diverse people in my cohort of 38, the faculty, and the MBA team. We've got two students from Mexico who are earning the dual degree with the Tecnológico de Monterrey, one guy from Iran, one from Saudi Arabia, one from Spain, and one who I think is from Switzerland (he didn't specifically say where he was from--only that he earned his undergrad in Zurich), and a healthy mix of native San Diegans (who exist in larger numbers than I once thought), other transplants like myself, and a ton of people who are transitioning out of military service--mostly the Navy.
In the afternoon we even started our first class in Strategic Thinking, and wouldn't you know it--the professor is German! He never outright said it, but after about three sentences out of his mouth I thought, "Ahhhh, I know that accent well..." and he did briefly say that he studied/worked mostly in Germany before earning his PhD in the UK. Anyway, I just thought that was amusing. Maybe I'll surprise him one day this week and answer something in German. Maybe.
Anyway, it was a lot of information to absorb in one day, and as I previously stated, I already have a reading assignment. I ran some reports from home after I stopped by the campus bookstore to pick up my Financial Accounting materials, drove the 45 mile trek home and ate a late dinner, so I'm getting a rather late start on that. However, it must be done.
Ah, welcome to grad school.
And now I shall leave you on this this lovely photo of the garden terrace behind one of the buildings on campus. You can see Sea World from here. For real.
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| Purple is my Power Color. Rahr! |
What I did not realize is that said HOV lane does not collect tolls at booths, but at wireless transmitters mounted to the vehicles who use it. Carpools, however, are free. I was neither of those, sooooo....
SO GUESS WHO WENT LIKE 15 MILES RIDING DIRTY ON THE 15 THIS MORNING!
Unless there is a camera somewhere that caught the Grey Goose and me speeding along, I dodged a bullet there.
Don't worry--I literally just went online and registered to get a FasTrak transmitter, like, eight and a half minutes ago.
This also gave me pause to re-consider my relocation strategy while I'm doing this program. Instead of making a concession on the roommate thing, I may make a concession on living off of the 15 freeway instead of trying to get closer to the 5. We'll see.
Anyway, I made it to orientation on time and in one piece. Honestly, to try to recount the day would be taxing on both you, the reader, and me, the person who already has a 30 page article to read tonight for class at 9 am tomorrow. Let me just suffice it to say that I am absolutely, completely, 198% reaffirmed in my decision to pursue an MBA. I've met some really interesting and diverse people in my cohort of 38, the faculty, and the MBA team. We've got two students from Mexico who are earning the dual degree with the Tecnológico de Monterrey, one guy from Iran, one from Saudi Arabia, one from Spain, and one who I think is from Switzerland (he didn't specifically say where he was from--only that he earned his undergrad in Zurich), and a healthy mix of native San Diegans (who exist in larger numbers than I once thought), other transplants like myself, and a ton of people who are transitioning out of military service--mostly the Navy.
In the afternoon we even started our first class in Strategic Thinking, and wouldn't you know it--the professor is German! He never outright said it, but after about three sentences out of his mouth I thought, "Ahhhh, I know that accent well..." and he did briefly say that he studied/worked mostly in Germany before earning his PhD in the UK. Anyway, I just thought that was amusing. Maybe I'll surprise him one day this week and answer something in German. Maybe.
Anyway, it was a lot of information to absorb in one day, and as I previously stated, I already have a reading assignment. I ran some reports from home after I stopped by the campus bookstore to pick up my Financial Accounting materials, drove the 45 mile trek home and ate a late dinner, so I'm getting a rather late start on that. However, it must be done.
Ah, welcome to grad school.
And now I shall leave you on this this lovely photo of the garden terrace behind one of the buildings on campus. You can see Sea World from here. For real.
 |
| USD doesn't get ranked #1 for the Most Beautiful Campus for nothing, y'all. |
