Arrived in Boston

I can't believe that a month has passed since I last blogged. I've taken two of the three exams but since I had such a short time before school starts,I've postponed the last one and would take in about a month's time.

I've moved to my apartment in Boston and have been trying to set up house. I already had a list of things that I wanted to check off but I needed my stuff which I had shipped via UPS to kick start everything off. But UPS disappointed me and I eventually received my items two days later than expected (this was after repeated calls on my part). One of my items got really damaged (mind you it wasn't a fragile item) and one of my boxes got missing. I know I'm going to be wary of using UPS again.

I'm trying to sort out, pay for and sign up for everything I need before school starts. Unfortunately, I haven't been hanging out my new classmates yet because I have been fatigued from reading and taking the 8hr exams and just want to recover my strength before classes start. I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities to hook up with them.

Time to go and pick up my school ID.

Career survey results

So I got this email from the Career Development Office about completing the Career Leader survey that would let you know what career paths you should consider looking at. After completing it, to my surprise, my current industry didn't even make the shortlist! I totally agree with all the career paths listed but to exclude that one job function was a big letdown for me. Does that mean that I have wasted all these years? And I do hope to use the industry knowledge post MBA but in a different job function. I've put that down in my to-do list in OneNote as a point for discussion when I attend the Career Leader session during pre-term. I'm really digging my tablet pc!

I've decided to postpone my exams for a few weeks. I can't seem to get the summer vacation out of my body! When next will I have this kind of work-free holiday? All I really just want to do is sleep, shop, watch movies, lazy around, visit places and try out some new recipes. I could always lose any weight gain when I get to school, right?

Okay okay!

I have been trying to enjoy my time off in addition to sorting out some family commitment but I have also had a secret assignment that I have been taking care of. All my friends and family have been encouraging me to do some professional exams and my excuse has always been that I can't afford it yada yada. Anyway, last month my other half (Prince) decides to pay for the exams. Men, I was busted! Now, these exams are not cheap by any standard and I could have used the money for some nice pre-school shopping. Okay, so I come with the excuse that the time is too short and I can't do 3 exams before school starts. But Prince was quick to remind me that on average that I hardly ever study for an exam for more than a month and I do that still reading novels everyday and watching movies. And this is actually true. My classmates and colleagues always marvel about it. But I do that to relieve stress. So now I have a lot of reading to do and goodbye to the beaches and watching the sunset. I'm so sad about that. And I don't like studying for exams. The first one is next week and I still have a lot to read. I've thought about postponing it but that would eat into the one week that I managed to squeeze out to rest before school starts and I need that holiday! Wish me luck.

On the MBA front, I've received the first term bill from MIT. Just seeing how much I have to pay gives me chills. I started asking myself : "Why am I doing this MBA?" That's why your essays have to ring true and be a result of deep soul searching. I'm sure there will be many more times when I have to remind myself of what I wrote in the essays and what my dreams and goals are.

I'm still going to post the pictures of my new laptop as soon as I find my camera. I hope I haven't packed it in the boxes I'm shipping via UPS.

I need to move.......

I have 5 days before I have to move out of my apartment and I haven't even started packing yet. I have been trying to sell off my furniture and some items still remain. Hopefully they'll be gone by then. Maybe I'm relaxed cos in my mind's eye, I already know what is going into which box and what I am giving away. I'm moving into a friend's house and will keep my stuff there till school starts.

I ordered a Timbuk2 laptop messenger bag yesterday. I already have a black laptop bag and I just wanted one that was a bit casual so I chose the colors I wanted by building my own bag. Here is a sample. Even though I know that I'm going to get a free backpack from school, I generally don't like carrying a backpack unless its necessary.

Ok. Time to start packing.

All and sundry

I've realised that I am just as busy as I was while I was working. The only good thing is that I don't have to worry about deliverables anymore.Now, if I am tired, I don't have to complete the task. I can kick back on the sofa and let tomorrow deal with it.

I have signed a lease on an apartment in Boston and I got the move-in date I wanted which is a week before school starts. I can use that time to do some shopping for my apartment and meet new classmates. I also have the option of taking scuba diving lessons but I haven't decided on it yet.My finances for school have also been sorted out.

I decided to buy the IBM 12.1'' Thinkpad X61t and have ordered it. Even though Lenovo has been having some order delays, at least I'll get it before schoool starts. I was able to use the Father's day sale with the 10% discount from AMEX so that saved me some money.

Right now, I've just started boxing my things and deciding on what I would keep, sell or give away. I also have some family commitments that would occupy me till the end of July so busy months ahead.

My current headache is sorting out my immunization requirements for Massachusetts. My immunization record is all over the place and even though I have been able to retrieve some, I have no idea what happened to the rest. I have till middle of July to have it ready and I'm really not keen on getting those shots if I don't find the record.

Phew! Time to chill out some more on my couch!

Moments of introspection

So much seems to be going through my mind as I wind down on the last days of work. The reality that I would be unemployed soon is now dawning on me. Many changes would have to occur:
1)Cut down on the amount of financial support that I provide to members of my extended family. I enjoy giving money whenever there is a need and I'm currently not looking forward to feeling frustrated when I can't do this. Luckily, family members are aware that I am going to bschool and have been supportive.
2)Cut down on my spending budget for clothes. Maybe I need to quickly purchase the necessary items now that I can still afford them.
3)Put aside enough money for maintaining my novel reading habits. Can't even compromise this for bschool.
4) Disengage myself temporarily from some of my volunteer responsibilities. Since I would be relocating, virtual support wouldn't really do much.
5)Learn to be a student again. I don't have any plans other than to throw myself into it. I have absolutely no plans to read any materials during the summer. I have enough movies, tv shows, novels and hangouts to take care of. No need to further clutter my busy schedule.

OK. Back to pursuing my housing options.

Financial headache

Started filling financial aid forms. Since I already have an F1 visa, I needed to transfer my I-20 to MIT. So I made a trip during lunch break to my ex-ISO office to start the process. Luckily, I could just walk-in. If I had to make an appointment, I would have had some issues. I had only 1 week from the day I paid my deposit to submit my financial certification form. This seems strange considering that I paid my deposit 3 weeks before the deadline and exactly one day after Admit weekend. I think the admissions office should extend the deadline date for the form for R2 admits.
Faxed all the required forms & documents to the school after picking the transfer form. Phew! At least that it over for now. Check!

Paid

Finally paid my deposit for enrollment. At this point there is no going back. Even though I have always looked forward to enrolling, paying the money just makes it real (and a chunky amount at that!) that I have committed to spending about $150,000 for the next two years. That's why it is important to be sure that it is a school you really want to attend. No point in giving up that amount and being resentful/unhappy about it.

Now, I have a long checklist of things to be done in preparing for school. Housing in on the top of my list. I wasn't really impressed by the housing I saw and the one I really liked is a bit more expensive and would require a house mate. Its been a while since I lived with someone so don't really know how I feel about it. I am also concerned about proximity to the school since I'm unused to the Boston weather. Anyway lets see how that goes.

Finally........

It is over. The application period has come to an end for me. Its such a big relief and I am glad that I got in into one of my choice schools. I want to thank all those who sent a congratulatory message. I am really happy because the schools I applied to were really schools that I was interested in attending. It funny because I had issues with one of my recommendations for MIT and I wasn't sure that my interview went well because I was really tired that afternoon. But I ended up having a fun discussion about interests that I discovered that I shared with the interviewer. Its really true that all things work together for good.

I remember when I started applying, some friends felt I was setting my sights too high. Those who really knew me were not surprised. My philosophy has always been to try whatever I felt I could achieve even if others didn't think it was possible.In my own case it's based on my faith in God. After all, I get to live with my decisions and I can only live this life once. It was important to me to apply to schools that I felt a fit with even if they were highly ranked because it was so much easier to sell myself to the school. I took a risk by not applying to any safe schools but it forced me to put more effort into my applications. This works for me but may not necessarily work for any one else.

Some people wonder why MIT? Isn't it supposed to be an engineering oriented school and you are not even an engineer or a science geek? I'll write later on why I chose MIT.

So now the fun part starts. I get to go to the Admit weekend later this month. I let you guys know how it goes.