Ésta es la vida.

Music: Kellie Pickler- I Wonder
Mood: Tired

You know that feeling when you just want to crawl into a corner and escape from the world to have alone time to not be doing anything and not having any worries at all. I want that. Since school's started, it's been non-stop, almost 24-7. The GYM is the part of my schedule I look forward to the most simply because it provides me an outlet to get away from all the pressures of school, orgs, and what-have-you. There's no feeling of contentment in life like jogging on the elevated track with not a worry in the world. Just for those 30 minutes or an hour. Just me and my music. The highlight of my day.

This weekend was the kickoff of a great year of Business Council! From doughnuts at 7am to formal orientation, meeting the new members and getting closer to the returning members is exhilarating. I'm totally glad I got elected onto BC last year and am excited about what is in store for this year. I'd say my favorite programs put on by BC are Case Comp, VIP series, and MES! I don't know what it is about me, but I find gratification from planning events to completion and seeing the impact it makes on others. Being that proxy that enriches the business education of my fellow business students is extremely satisfying. I think that's why my career search is such a challenging one. I really just want to do so many different things in life that it's hard to find one career that encompasses all my passions and desires.

Speaking of careers, career is in full swing this week. This evening was the Company Night sponsored by HBSA, which allows students to network with recruiters the day before the McCombs Career Fair. Then tomorrow is the Career Expo at RecSports. I hope to go to the career fair for about 2 hours, just to look around and tough bases with the recruiters of my target companies. Other than that, I'm not really to excited about recruiting. It seems like last year this time, I had more time to go to company events and do the whole recruiting process. This year, it seems so rushed. We're already in the 3rd week of school, and it seems like forever. But in any case, for tomorrow, I'll have my suit on, my resumes in my padfolio, and a go-getter's attitude. I'm really not sure what I'm looking for right now. I'm extremely interested in consulting, but I'm also interested in academia. So Wednesday will be filled with class and the career expo. Then our first BC meeting is tomorrow at 7pm where Dean Gao will be giving his State of McCombs Address. I'm so excited about tomorrow's mtg because applications for the case competition committee open, and I cannot wait to get people on the committee to help make this year's case comp a huge success!

Then on Thursday, I've got a mock interview at 10am and then the McCombs Diversity Dialogue Dinner at 6pm. I love the D3 (Diversity Dialogue Dinner) because it gives you the chance to interact with recruiters while at the same time enjoying a free 5-course meal! So this week will be extremely busy. I cannot believe it is already almost Wednesday. It's like I blink and half the week is gone. I've got a PHL test next Friday and my French Revolution essay over Rousseau is due next Friday as well. I'm trying to stay on top of the ball and get some studying and essay writing in before the weekend. For the weekend will be BC filled.... informal retreat is from Saturday morning till Sunday afternoon. So that's basically my entire weekend. Shurg. I'll manage, I'm sure.

Oh I was watching The Office Season I the other day, and the episode about healthcare policy cracked me up! Haha. Dwight is sooo annoying. I'd hate working with someone like that. Sheez. The Office is soo good, but watching it irks me sometimes because I totally feel for the employees at Dunder Mifflin!










The Office is a great way to get away too. hahah. For now, I ought to get back to reading about Rousseau and the French Revolution. Y necessito practicar mi español porque tengo una pueba mañana. With that, I'll leave you with a funny postsecret:

We Remember

Music: Daft Punk- Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Mood: In Remembrance

Six years ago today, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing. The year was 2001. I was in 8th grade. I remember walking into the classroom of my first period English class with Ms. Rice, and the TV was on with live footage of the North Tower of the World Trade Center in flames. I had no idea what was going on. At first, I thought it was an accident, that some airplane had lost control and accidentally hit the tower, but then we saw a second plane fly straight into the South Tower, and at that point, I knew this was no accident. As the first period bell rang to dismiss us to second period, we froze in horror as we witnessed the towers collapse. No one could believe what had happened. For the rest of the day, parents had begun to show up at school to take their kids out of class. In fact, if I remember correctly, the school was only about 60% full. Because school officials ordered all TVs turned off, we were left in the dark about flight 93 and other possible attacks. There were rumors that the White House, the Washington Monument, and even Camp David were attacked by the terrorists. Today, we reflect on the past six years. We reflect on where we were that fateful day, and we remember all those who lost their lives and all those who were affected.

Today was a peculiar day. Campus seemed less crowded than normal. It was a bit overcast, but other than that, it was pretty normal. I love my Tuesdays and Thursdays because I only have one class on Tuesdays and two classes on Thursdays. But, Accounting class seemed to have taken forever to sit through, though it was interesting material. Assets, liabilities, equity, credits, debits! Yippee! No really, most people I spoke to last year were like "Accounting.. you'll hate it!" But I really don't have a problem in it (yet...). I actually like doing it. So maybe it's a hate it or love it subject. Adding up the assets and making sure its equal to liabilities + equity is fun, especially when you get to the end and it adds up correctly! Haha. Additionally, it's interesting to see how much money is passed around in businesses. Think about it. When I buy a new pair of, say.... sunglasses, I get the plastic frames, the lenses, and the brand image of the sunglasses. In return for the transaction, the company gets cash from me. However, you've got to think about the suppliers of the plastic, the suppliers of the lenses, the distribution costs, the production costs, the building to produce the sunglasses, hiring workers to manufacture the glasses, the marketing department to convince consumers to buy your brand, the accountants to balance the books, the designers to make appealing sunglasses.. and so much more. It's fascinating how that pans out to support a business. OK.. i'll quit being so nerdy now.


So Undergraduate Business Council elections were today. And boy am I glad they are over. I've gotten so many facebook solicitations for people telling me to vote for them. And walking through the business school, candidates following me, trying to shove brownies, dum-dums, and other goodies in my hands to solicit votes. I remember doing this last year to get votes, and I can't remember being that annoying. Well, best of luck to all those who ran. I got elected on to UBC as a freshman representative last year, and I'm so glad I'm part of such a great organization! This year, I'm also hoping to do Texas Blazers, which stands for service, spirit, and leadership. I know quite a few people on Blazers, and based on their experiences, Blazers seems like a great organizations to be a part of.

With that, I've got to get ready for a consulting company's info session at 5:30. Tonight's hwk includes:

• Read for Mgn't
• Read for French Revolution- Rousseau and Origins of the FR
  
• Do Spanish hwk
• Read Plato bk. 7

Here's a secret from the website PostSecret I thought was good.

Where does the time go?

Music: Keith Urban- Your Everything
Mood: Busy

Craigslist is an amazing website. You can find pretty much whatever you want on it. My friends and I were looking for a futon and got one for $60. So this week, besides searching for things to buy on craigslist, I spent a lot of time being busy with recruiting and school work. I went to a consulting firm's info session on Thursday. I spoke with one of the company recruiters who was a BHP/Plan II alumni, and he really made me more interested in the consulting industry and encouraged me to apply for an internship. However, he said that sophomore interns are very rare in consulting. Next week is filled with company info sessions and prep-workshops by the BBA Career Services, so I'll be extremely busy with that. I also have to work on cover letters for various companies.

In addition to being a BBA Blogger, I work as a BHP Student Recruiter, where I communicate with prospective students and answer any questions they might have about the program or college life in general. I also give presentations about BHP to high schoolers who visit the campus every Monday and Friday. This Friday was my first presentation, and it was really exciting. I remember it was only two years ago I was in their shoes, weighing out my college choices and debating what I wanted to major in. I'm really exciting about being a student recruiter! I even will get my own business cards! (and I've got a photoshoot on Monday morning so my picture will be on the BHP website)

So besides school and work, I've been working on the Fall Case Competition. I'm chairing the competition, and I've been communicating with the numerous corporate sponsors to arrange company judges and other competition details. The Case Competition is on November 3rd, and applications will be due the previous Friday. I encourage everyone to participate!

With that, I'm think I'm done for tonight. I haven't gotten any work done this weekend, and I've got a long to-do list sitting on my sticky-notes on my iGoogle homepage. I suppose that's what Sundays are for. Tomorrow will be filled with reading for management, philosophy, and french revolution and also doing accounting problems! Yipee! But it has been a great weekend! We beat TCU (which I was kind of nervous about at the beginning, but the second quarter was great!). 

I leave you with a video that always cracks me up!

Godzillatron

Music: Michael Buble- Everything
Mood: Collegiate

So thank goodness for three-day weekends...

The football game on Saturday was interesting. We didn't exactly do a great job, but we won. (unlike Michigan.. OUCH.) We dropped to 7 in the AP and USA Today polls. We play TCU this Saturday, and I just got my tickets today (after waiting a ridiculous 1.5 hours in the LASP draw... I've NEVER waiting in line for LASP tickets... crazy). But yes, Saturday's game was fun. The highlight of the game was when my friends and I ended up on the Godzillatron. In the middle of the 3rd quarter, there we were, the four of us, cheering our heads off, making fools of ourselves on the Jumbotron for 84,000 other fans to see. Haha. It was definitely crazy!

Bot now that the weekend is over, it's back to classes, studying, and working. I thought I was ready for the year to begin.. now it seems that everything I do seems to monopolize my time. This semester, I'm taking 19 hours (3 of which are the internship credit hours). I'm also taking ACC 331H, MAN 353H, SPAN 312K, PHL 610QA, HIS 353, and BA 151H. I'd say this is mymost challenging semester this far.

ACC 311H- I'm totally excited about my first accounting course, especially after my internship. I gained so much hands on training this summer and learned the basics of accounting from an industry perspective; now I'm ready for textbook accounting!

MAN 336H- This class seems interesting. I took the Myers-Briggs test and the Big Five test this weekend. This spring, I scored ENFJ- (Extroverted- 67, Intuitive- 12, Feeling- 25, Judging- 78) and this weekend, I scored ESFJ (Extroverted- 56, Sensing- 1, Feeling 25, Judging- 1). It seems that I've changed to sensing by one point and a bit more spontaneous (as noted by the decline in the judging points). I'm not sure what exactly this means, so maybe I'll find out in class on Wednesday.

SPAN 312K- I was considering studying abroad in Singapore, but after I took 2nd semester Spanish last year for Plan II requirements, I'm considering studying in either Spain or another Spanish-speaking country.

PHL 610QA- This is the philosophy class required for my Plan II degree. Right now we're reading Plato's The Republic, and Socrates is annoying me right now because he has to challenge everything that everyone says. There's going to be so much reading involved with this class!

HIS 353- This is an upper-division history course on the French Revolution and Napoleon. I'm taking this class because Plan II requires an early and late history course. I took Western Civilization (early) last, last summer, and I decided I wanted a more interesting history class than just Western Civ (late). The French Revolution is interesting to me, but again, this class is going to require so much reading. We're reading Rousseau's Social Contract in addition to other historical commentaries about the French Revolution.

BA 151H- This class is, I'm assuming, like BA 101 for sophomores. We are required to sign up for the mock interviews on September 20th. I've already signed up, and I'm ready to go!

So yep, that's my schedule for the semester. I'll be working a lot(I mean A LOT! 5 books over the French Revolution, 5 Books for Philosophy, Accounting, and management and a foreign language on top of that). I'm not even sure if I'll get to see the daylight. But oh well, I'm really interested in ALL of the classes I'm taking and really want to learn about everything, so no complaints there. It's just a matter of managing my school work in addition to my extra-curriculars and jobs.

Earlier today, I spent some needed time on the McCombs Online Recruiting website, searching for jobs and interviews I qualified for. There are several I'm really interested in and sound appealing, so I dropped my resume off. One of the companies requires a cover letter, and I haven't written a cover letter since who knows how long. So I've got to do that. Without BA 101 forcing you to write your cover letters, update your resumes, and contact companies, it's more of an effort to do recruiting. But hey, we all need jobs right? So yep, time to whip out my BA 101 course packet or do some browsing on the BBA Career Services website to find out how to write a great cover letter. However, I'd say we're lucky compared to other business schools becase we not only have the resources at hand, but we also have companies comming to the university to get face-time with the students.

In addition to having to manage recruiting and trying to get another internship for this summer, I'm also working as a BHP Student Recruiter. I had my training today, and I'm supposed to make the presentation to the students on Friday. I'm excited about my role as a student recruiter because I'll get to interact with high school seniors and help them through their application process. I know I had some worries about my application when I applied, so being able to help others will be rewarding. Also, I'll get to know more about the business school than I ever thought possible!

Well, that's it for now, I suppose. Oh, my friend and I are trying to buy a futon for the dorm room. We've looked on Craigslist and what not. If you or someone you know has a futon that they want to get rid of or sell, please let me know.

Also, Brandon Backe is BACK and pitching tonight against the Brewers!!!! After being out for a year due to elbow sugurey, it'll be a treat to see him pitch, So I'm sure I'll be watching the Astros game tonight alongside Plato and Rousseau. (If you don't know, I'm a HUGE Astros fan, though I'm not a fan of their current performance. I think it'd be so much fun if I could somehow do a summer finance internship with the Astros. How amazing would that be? I just don't know where to start. Hmm never mind, scratch that, I just checked Astros.com job opportunities, and they do offer internships but without pay. After interning this summer, getting paid and housing provided, I don't think I could accept an internship without pay. Oh well, I'm sure I'll find something that interests me.) [sorry... this blog keeps going on random tangents and what not]

But yes, happy tuesday to everyone and here's to a short, four day week! Hook 'em!

Hello to All

Music: Citizen Cope- Let the Drummer Kick
Mood: Ready

Hi Everyone!!!

My name is Eric Hui, and I'm a Business Honors Program (BHP) and Plan II Honors major from Missouri City, Texas. This is my second year here at UT, and I'm ecstatic to be blogging about my business experience for all ya'll interested readers.

First off, I LOVE UT, and don't regret turning down any of the other schools or getting rejected from the other schools I applied to. The business school is simply amazing and offers so many opportunities for those who take advantage of them. For example, just today, I attended a Case Interview Workshop sponsored by the BBA Career Services where Marc Cosentino, author of Case in Point, gave tips for case interviews and different techniques. Not only did I get a copy of his book, I gained valuable knowledge that will help me in case interviews. Going to such a large, public institution with a great business school is amazing. Not only do top companies recruit McCombs students, we also have amazing sports! Today, I got my football tickets for this Saturday's football game against Arkansas State, and I'm so excited for Texas Football again.

So a little about myself, for all my first time readers who will hopefully turn into loyal, devout subscribers of my blog. I interned this summer for an auto company, where I gained so much first-hand exposure to the corporate world and also gained a better understanding of the fields of both finance and accounting. I haven't yet declared my specified major within business, but I'm thinking finance or accounting, and I would love to minor in either another business field or maybe even get a minor in Spanish. I still really don't know what I want to do career-wise. But I suppose I've got three, maybe four more years to figure that out. The thing is, I just love to do everything and experience life, so it's hard for me to find one thing that I really love doing. I've considered so many different options-- stock broker, investment banker, lawyer, dentist (imagine that... Eric, D.D.S.) consultant, and right now, I'm really interested in going into academia and becoming a professor. I'd love to do research and write papers! But we'll see. Hopefully I can gain some experience doing some type of business research or being a TA. (On top of already being involved in various student organizations and holding jobs... told ya, there's just so much going on here at UT. I suppose I thrive on being constantly busy, and I need that little bit of stress to keep me going!)

Anyways, this summer, besides interning (which definitely kept me busy) I went to Pittsburgh for my brother's commencement, and then after my internship, I traveled to New York just to see some Broadway shows and soak in The City. Overall, I had a great summer. However, I'd have to say that I'm ready for school to start and classes to begin.

As nerdy as it sounds, I'm ready for classes in the B-school, events in the Hall of Honors, and pamphlet-ing in the Plaza by the Family statue. I'm ready for long nights in the Reliant Reading Room, group meetings in the Atrium, and professor office hours. I'm ready for career week, recruiting, meeting companies, and suiting up again (though I practically wore b-casual all summer). I'm ready for Texas. I'm ready for my sophomore year. I'm ready.

I wish everyone a great school year! I love meeting new people! Say hello and introduce yourselves to me if you see me around in the b-school.

Move In!

I moved in today, and I'm pretty much settled in, ready to begin my 2nd year at UT! School doesn't start until Wednesday so I've got the few days to adjust to living in a dorm room again, get accustomed to campus, and catch up with friends. I've got my textbooks for all of my classes, and I'm excited to get started! Can't wait to blog about my BBA experience this year!

(more to come soon...)