Finals are upon me!

My apologies for being MIA in the blogosphere ... the insanity of finals has firmly taken its hold on my life from now until May 10th at midnight when my final take-home final shall be submitted. Or else.

I have TONS of ideas of fun things I'd like to write about and share with you. I even made a list! That's what I do when the workload is overwhelming ... make lists of all of the things I have to do and all of the things I want to do. A little forward-thinking motivation never hurts, in my opinion.

So, upon completion of said finals, you will be graced with the presence of multiple blog entries from me. Perhaps even multiple blog entries in one day! Until then, here's a little sampling of what's left until I am the proud owner of 1/2 of an MBA:

• Finish creating budget package for hypothetical organic youth farming program
• Study (ALOT!) for Cost Accounting Final
• Finish group presentation for Operations Management and present to classmates
• Study for & complete take-home final for Operations Management
• Complete final case analysis/assignment for Corporate Fraud

Whoa! Better get to work ...

Three Cups of Tea

I just finished reading "Three Cups of Tea" written by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, and it was truly one of the best books I've read in a while. The book basically details Mortenson's quest to build schools to educate girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He is a mountaineer who nearly dies on an attempt to summit K2 and subsequently has a change of heart about what he wants to make important in his life from then on. He becomes what I consider to be one of our greatest social entrepreneurs as he works to fulfill his mission to bring peace through education.

Some of the pieces of his story that I found most remarkable were:

• the determination he showed to complete his goals and keep his promises despite MANY obstacles
• the relationships he formed with his "second family" of Pakistanis thousands of miles from his home
• the way that he integrated himself into a completely foreign culture and came to love it
• his efforts to share his personal story and knowledge of Muslim people post-9/11 in an attempt to diffuse the hatred that was seeping into Americans' culture for this "enemy"

We discussed the book in a book club gathering last night (accompanied by a delicious Pakistani meal!), and one of the questions/comments that arose was a general admiration for Mortenson's complete faith in his mission and his choice to give up most material possessions in order to achieve this mission. I think it's a very real tension that is becoming more apparent as we face the deterioration of our economy and a serious reduction in opportunities for people to "get rich" in the ways that have worked for the past 15 years or so. What is the price of doing humanitarian work? Does the benefit outweigh the cost? Is there a happy medium? Where does idealism meet reality in our financially-based society?

I have some thoughts on this trade-off, which I'll share in a subsequent post because it's a topic that I'm pretty interested in and passionate about ... and I could ramble on, making this the longest post ever! But, for now, read the book! I hope you will love it and be inspired.

School/Work/Fun BaLanCE

I had the opportunity to attend a lunch for accepted students last week at the Heller School, and one of the most commonly asked questions in my group was whether it was possible to keep a part-time job while going to school full-time and vice versa. There are people of all work/school balance levels in my program, and they all manage to do it somehow.

My opinion on the matter is that it is possible, but it's certainly a situation that forces you to prioritize and often times make trade-offs. I had two small part-time jobs during the fall semester - tutoring and coordinating community service spring break trips - and found it to be manageable most of the time. I've now pretty much completed my community service trip work and am on the verge of having no part-time jobs! This is probably a good thing, given the amount of work I expect the summer semester to hold.

That said, I believe that it would be possible to hold a more substantial part-time job and still get a good educational experience. Though, if I had a significant part-time commitment, I can see where some trade-offs would need to be made. I'd definitely be spending less time with Net Impact and networking activities and perhaps not doing these things at all. And though my blogging on here is slightly infrequent now, I imagine I might not find the time to do it at all with more outside work commitments. I know that I'd have to cut down on social time as well. I usually spend one day each weekend doing something fun and not school-related. These activities would most likely be supplanted with some of the homework that I didn't have time to do during the week because I was working.

I find that I need this balance of fun and meeting inspirational people alongside my coursework to give me energy and to find meaning in my school work. Nothing's impossible when it comes to balancing school with work and fun, but each person's formula for achieving this balance is probably different. Seek your balance!