Oh Hong Kong, How I Crave Thee

Music: White Houses- Vanessa Carlton
Mood: Studying Intensely

So for my iGoogle page, my backdrop is the skyline of Hong Kong!!! I can't believe Google made the HK skyline a theme!!! =) Look how pretty it is!


I found out that two Asian Studies classes I plan to take in Hong Kong will count for my Plan II upper division humanities credit. Thus, I had to meet with Brent in the BHP office to finalize/tweak my four-year plan. I won't have a semester with 12 hours. Ever semester here at UT will be at least 15 hours. =( That's sad, but I'd say its worth it to study abroad. I cannot wait! I'm going to fill out my study abroad application over break and also get the syllabuses from the professors in Hong Kong for the classes I plan to take, so I can make sure I get the right credits. Then, I also want to find scholarships to study abroad. I know there are many scholarship for people who go to the Asian countries... hopefully I can snag some to help alleviate the costs of studying abroad. Oh, and I am taking 15 hours abroad, too. Which is a lot for being abroad, so I'm hoping I'm not caught up inside studying all the time. I definitely want to be able to explore the city and also travel around Asia.

Anyways, I took my accounting final today. Hopefully I did well! I know I messed up one thing but that shouldn't be worth that much. I just finished studying for Spanish so I'm probably going to call it a night and start up on History tomorrow. Then I have my Spanish exam at 7pm. I haven't even started on my Philosophy exam yet and that's worth 40% of my grade! Gah, finals stink, but at least I'm almost done. I can almost taste the end. But alas, it's not over yet until the last exam, so until then, I must study some more.

I've discovered a great place to study... the Life Sciences Building on the 2nd floor of the main building is extremely quite and has high ceilings (which is a plus), and it sort of looks like Hogwarts inside too. It opens from 8 am to 12am. In fact, I'm about to get kicked out, but that's a good thing because then it'll force me to go back to my room and call it a night!

Oh, and one thing that's making studying unbearable is the weather. I just don't want to get out of bed because it's so warm in my bed and so cold outside. If I were at home, I would just want to snuggle in a blanket, near a heater, sit on my couch, and watch a movie. Speaking of movie, I kind of want to see PS. I Love You, though it seems very chick-flicky. =)

With that, I think this is my last post before break. I'll definitely update during break some with photos and let ya'll know how winter school goes. Horray for almost being done!!!

Almost Free

Music: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas- Sarah McLachlan
Mood: Stomach Ache

I've got four finals keeping me from my Winter break. It stinks. Tomorrow, I have my the listening part of my spanish final worth 25%. Then I've got an Accounting test on Wednesday (which I HAVE to make an A to get an A in the class). Then, I've got my Spanish test on Thursday (which I have to make an A to get an A in the class as well). And finally, on Friday, I have my French Revolution class (which I'm not too worried about but haven't really started studying yet), and also my philosophy class (which I think I've give up in just because I'm so sick of it. I can get an A but it'll be a stretch).

Oh yesterday, I received a care package from the chemical company in Houston wishing me luck on my finals. It had candy, a coffee mug, and a starbucks gift card! And the interesting thing is that I turned their offer down, but they still sent me a package. That was really flattering, and it totally made my day! =)

Today, I was super ambitious at the gym. I ran on the treadmill, but I felt like reading my French Revolution book about the Napoleonic Wars and so I sat on the bike machine for like 25 minutes reading. It was pretty amazing! Just thought ya'll should know.

Also, if ya'll don't know about pandora (www.pandora.com) it's a site that plays music based on music you like. For example, I typed in a christmas song (say, all i want for christmas if you), and it plays music similar to it. For finals, I love studying while listening to Christmas music. I just gets me in the mood and excited about the holidays! I know I've got to concentrate on studying on my finals, and I cannot think too much about the break yet, or else I'll give up. So I probably won't blog between now and my last finals on Friday, but I'll definitely let you know how things go! Wish me luck.

My stomach hurts right now though. =( One more weekkkkk till freedom! Then I'm going home on Saturday and then start community college winter school for GOV 312L. That class meets 9 to 12 every day except for X-mas and New Years, but at least it gets credit out of the way. I met with my BHP adviser to talk about study abroad, and we got it to officially fit so I'm excited. For Plan II, I need 6 hours of art history, music history, or upperdivision literature/humanities. At HKUST, they have two classes called Chinese Literature in English Translation and then Chinese Film, and apparently both classes will count for my Plan II requirement, so I'm super excited about those classes, in addition to my Business classes.

Anyway, I'm off to bed!

Dressing Business Professional / Casual

Music: You Look Good in My Shirt- Keith Urban

Mood: Sunday Evening Lull

OK, so I have to get this out of my system before I go crazy. Judging at the debate tournament was fun, but I'm so glad I only did it for four years. It is certain helpful and a lot of work, and it stinks that all that work comes down to simple rounds. But anyways, I'm writing today to complain about how poorly debaters (from my observations, LD debaters) dress.

The dress for debate is typically business professional and sometimes business casual. If you saw a large number of awkward people gathered around the UTC both Friday and Saturday, those were the debaters. And my goodness were there so many dress violations I just wanted to pull my hair out. If I were a recruiter, I would have just left.

So this is what I noticed and can comment on:

• A casual shirt from Hollister, American Eagle, Aeropostal or any other brand with a logo on the left side IS NOT a dress shirt. Do NOT wear it with a tie. EVER.
• For guys, if you wear a suit jacket and there are three buttons, it's sometimes, always, never. And if you have a two button jacket, it's always, never. NEVER EVER, EVER BUTTON the bottom button. EVER. It looks soooo horrible.
• If you're going to wear a tie, tie your tie correctly so we don't see the tail end sticking out from behind the larger end
• A dress is not business professional. DO NOT WEAR A DRESS, especially if it looks like a dance or ballet dress
  
• If you're going to wear a sweater vest over a dress shirt, iron the shirt first. Don't wrinkle it all up. And if you wear a sweater vest over the shirt, then don't roll up the sleeves up to your elbows. Only 3/4ths of the way. if you're going to roll up any sleeves, roll it up only 3/4ths of the way
• No tennis shoes with dress pants or a suit... Please. Especially guys. Girls, I can understand wearing flats and switching to heels, but guys, come on.
  
• No white socks with black shoes
• Make sure your belt matches your shoes; whatever color you decide, keep it consistent
• if you're going to wear a tie with your shirt, don't wear it slightly done if you're not done with your event. only loosen up your tie when you're ready to relax
• Name-tags should worn on the right side as you shake hands with your right hand (sometimes, i even forget this)
• Comb or fix your hair so it doesn't look like you just woke up or walked through a storm

Well, that's all I can think of right now. Let me know if you have any to add or can comment on any of these business professional violations.

A Mild Week

Music: Learn to Fly- Foo Fighters
Mood: Ready for Break

So apparently I write novels on this blog, but nonetheless, it helps me get away from school for a bit. Luckily (or unluckily) for ya'll today, the post will be relatively short.

This week was pretty mild. Not much going on except the same old, same old. Everything is going all right. I just need to prove myself on several final exams to earn my A. In management, we presented the findings of our consulting project to our class and got a good grade on that. The final proposal is due on Monday. In Spanish, I had both an in-class essay and quiz on Friday. It was intense, but hopefully I did well. I need to do well to get an A in Spanish. For Accounting, I'm actually staying ahead of things and understanding the material. In French Revolution, an American History professor can to speak and helped us compare and contrast the American Revolution to the French Revolution and uncover why the French Revolution was more violent. That was pretty amazing! And I got my history paper back today, and I did well! I was pretty proud of that paper, given that I wrote it from 2 to 6am on Sunday. I still have yet to get my management paper and philosophy paper back.

So other than that, this week was pretty low key. This weekend, I'm serving as a debate judge at the UT Longhorn. Yesterday, I judged four rounds of debate, and today, I've got about 10 rounds to judge. I did Lincoln-Douglas Debate (LD Debate) in high school, and UT debate asked me to judge this year. I'm getting paid to judge, so the money is okay. Right now, I'm supposed to be in a round, but they had an excess number of judges so they didn't need me. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a lot of homework done because when I'm not judging between rounds, I can read up on French Revolution or do some management review too.

Well, that's all for now. I promised I'd keep my post short. Now that I'm done with recruiting and accepted a summer internship in Dallas, I can take a breather and focus on grades.

Thanksgiving Break

Music: Live Like You Were Dyin’- Tm McGraw
Mood: Content

I absolutely LOVE Thanksgiving break!!! =)

I’d that this is one of the best Thanksgiving breaks I’ve had in a long time. My brother came down from his job in Seattle and I came down from Austin, so it was nice to have the whole family together. I left school on Tuesday evening and now I’m on my way back. I’m actually on the road right now, stuck in traffic. I think everyone on I-10 right now is on their way to Austin.

Anyways, so I haven’t really blogged in a while now. Last week was the worst week in college ever. I didn’t do to well on my accounting or Spanish test so I really have to work hard and study hard to do well on the final in those classes. I’m pretty worried about my grades. And then, I had three papers due on Monday. Philosophy, Management, and French Revolution. I pulled my first overnighter for college. It was pretty rough. I stayed up till 6AM Sunday night/Monday morning writing my papers. I wrote my philosophy paper on Wednesday night and just had to edit it on Sunday. Then on Friday, I celebrated my birthday with my friends and then on Saturday, I celebrated my friend’s birthday at Kyoto Sushi, and then we went to Driskill Hotel and Café to get dessert. The desserts there looked pretty, but I’d say that if you’re really craving a good dessert, don’t go to Driskill. The sherbet was good but the thing I got wasn’t too good. But other than that, last weekend was pretty good. Then after a night out downtown, I went to finish my management paper. Sunday, I spent the entire day editing and making adjustments to my management and philosophy paper. I spent the afternoon in the FAC reading up and outlining my French Revolution paper. Thank goodness I had been talking with my professor about what I wanted to write about, as she provided me with a lot of guidance as to where to take my paper and what to elaborate on. So after dinner last Sunday, I had a meeting with my management group to discuss our presentation and our group paper. Then I finally got settled down to work on my paper around 11 or 12 at the Union. The Wendy’s at the Union has free coffee after 5pm with any purchase. So I grabbed a yogurt and a free coffee and went to that new area around the Starbucks and worked. Around 3pm, I got kicked out of the union because it was closing, so I gathered my stuff and relocated to the Joynes Reading Room in the Quad. That’s one big complaint about UT. There’s no 24 hour study area that’s open to most students. I’m lucky that Joynes is open but when I move off campus, I wonder where I’d study because I cannot work in my room. So I worked until 6 and went straight to bed. I work up at 8:30 to edit my paper and run off to class by 9:30. It was the most intense studying/working I’d done in a long time, but thank goodness it’s over now. Hopefully I did well on my papers! We’ll see maybe this week.

Oh and before I talk about my great Thanksgiving, I’m happy to say that I know what I’ll be doing this summer. It was such a hard decision, and I am fortunate that I was able to have four different internships to choose from. I made a spreadsheet of all the pros and cons of each offer, and talked to my parents, my brother, my friends, and even a FCC career services counselor to help me evaluate my offer. In the end, I will be working at the hedge fund capital management company in Dallas this summer! I was debating between audit and this finance internship, and I ultimately choose to work for the hedge fund company because I wanted exposure to finance and trading. This internship doesn’t provide housing, but it is in Dallas and the pay is supposed to be enough to cover a sublease. I’m thinking of getting a sublease with some business council friends who will be working in Dallas. I’ll be working in operations with the hedge fund company so it won’t be exactly doing the trades but rather it will be working on finalizing the trade, tracing the wires and following up with the investment banks. I’m also excited that I’ll be in Texas because that means I can drive to Houston or Austin to visit friends, and I also don’t have to pay state income tax. The only thing is that the social aspect of this internship will be more homey. In Detroit, I made amazing bonds with some of the coolest people across the nation. In fact, we’re planning a get-together ski trip in Michigan this winter break. So I’m excited. But nonetheless, my internship this summer should be fun. At least I won’t have to worry about recruiting any more. I can focus more on my grades and extracurricular activities. Next semester, I want to get more involved in research with a professor. I really want to get co-published with a professor or gain experience doing research and writing. So we’ll see.

But yes, this thanksgiving was amazing. It was so nice to see my family again. It was my first time back since August, and while I don’t really miss Sugar Land / Missouri City, it was nice to be in the suburb and be back in my own room. I actually got a decent amount of work done as well. I wrote my 10 page paper for the BA 353 class (the internship class that’s pass/fail), and I also worked on my management group paper, read and got caught up for management. Now when I get back (if we ever get out of this traffic) is work on my accounting and then work on Spanish. But Thanksgiving, we had the traditional thanksgiving food (yummmmm!) with our family friends, like we normally do. Then I went Black Friday shopping with my brother starting at 5am. Gah. It was early, but nonetheless, it is tradition. We got some tech items and some clothes. I also got new shoes from Macy’s. They were having a pretty good sale, coupled with the $10 off $25 purchase coupon, I got a good deal on black dress shoes. Too bad they didn’t have my size for the brown shoes I wanted but oh well. Bostonian dress shoes are amazingly comfortable, and I recommend them to any guy who needs comfortable dress shoes.

GAH! I am still stuck in traffic, we left about a hour ago, and I’m still in traffic. The sign says 23 miles till Columbus. Bleh, we’ve got a long ways to go. I think there’s an accident. But oh well. Oh I didn’t even see an accident. Now we’re going pretty fast. Gah, what the heck.

Well, hopefully this week is less stressful and more relaxing. I really want to go to the Trail of Lights at Zilker park. Maybe the steady stream of updates will come again this week. I hope everyone had a great break!

I went sky divin',
I went rocky mountain climbin',
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull name Fumanchu.
And I loved deeper,
And I spoke sweeter,
And I gave forgiveness I've been denying,
And he said someday I hope you get the chance,
To live like you were dyin'.
Live Like You Were Dyin'- Tim McGraw

"And finally see what it means to be living"

Music: Fast Car- Tracy Chapman
Mood: Apathetic

You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere

Anyplace is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe we'll make something
But me myself I got nothing to prove

You got a fast car
And I got a plan to get us out of here
I been working at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money
We won't have to drive too far
Just 'cross the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
And finally see what it means to be living
~Fast Car- Tracy Chapman

This weekend has been strange. This week has been the most stressful week in college so far. I've gone through mood swings as if I were of middle-school age. I don't know what it is. Just so much going on. I'm really worried about my grades. I did poorly on my accounting test, Spanish quiz, and Spanish test. Tomorrow, my management, philosophy, and history papers are due. I've finished my rough draft of my PHL and MAN test. I stayed up till 4am last night doing my management paper, and now I've got to churn out a history paper. I'm just really worried about my grades. I don't know why. But thankfully, I've got amazing friends who have been there to talk to me and help me de-stress.

On Thursday, we had the BHP Austin Prospective Students dinner. Here we treated prospective BHP students from Austin area high schools to dinner and answered any questions they had about BHP. I absolutely love BHP and UT, however, every time I speak with the seniors, I feel so uncertain about my future. I find myself constantly reevaluating my career path and what I want to do with my life. It's just so uncertain, and I cannot stand it. The thing is, I've recruited heavily for a summer internship and now I have to decide which internship to take. Here's what I'm deciding between:

• Audit Services with an automotive company in Detroit, MI where I interned this past summer
• Management Audit with an entertainment company in California
• Corporate finance rotational internship with a chemical company in Houston
• Operations internship with a prominent hedge fund company in Dallas

I am extremely fortunate to have so many different offers to choose from, and I know that regardless of which offer I choose, I can't go wrong. I have to decide which one to pick by this Monday, as the automotive company has already given me about a month to decide, so they want to hear from me by Monday. Having to decide my internship for the summer in addition to all the pressures from school have caused me to lose my mind. I just don't know what I want to do with my life. It's such a frustrating internal debate. I can totally see myself as a professor, but at the same time, I'd love to experience industry some more. I just feel that I don't belong in corporate America. I mean, I have three papers due on Monday. If I can write so much and survive, I feel I can succeed in business academia. I love writing, but on my own schedule. This sounds nerdy, but it's very exciting for me to write research papers, and as a professor, I can actually make a living writing papers and being nerdy. o.O Next semester, I think my goal will to be pick up a research assistant position with a business professor. The thing is, I just don't know what major to be. I mean, I'm very interested in Finance and numbers, but at the same time, I've very interested in marketing and management research. I think I'll end up majoring in Finance, and if I go into Ph.d in business, I'd pursue marketing or something like that. We'll see. It's just such a different career path then I ever imagined. I think it's difficult for me to let go of what I've been dreaming of since I was little. I've always imagined myself as a CEO or corporate executive in some large business. Now, having this idea of being a professor is totally deifying that dream, and it is difficult to let go of that. So I'm just not sure what I want to do. I know I can gain experience in industry through internships, and realize that I still don't like the corporate world.

Oh well, at least this week is almost done. I'm going home on Tuesday evening! Thanksgiving is totally my favorite holiday of the year, even better than Christmas. I just LOVE Thanksgiving food and then Black Friday. There's just something about it that makes Thanksgiving better than Christmas. The food, the family, the shopping. To me, Thanksgiving is such a more genuine holiday than Christmas. People get so stressed out about Christmas and corporations have ingrained in our minds a consumerism attitude about Christmas that I think we forget the true meaning of the holiday season, and that is family. Thanksgiving, on the other hand, is so genuine. Just food and the family, and giving thanks. What more could you ask for? Maybe a second or third helping of green-bean casserole? and then more pumpkin pie? =) Yumm. This thanksgiving, however, will be spent studying like crazy. I need to write my BA 353 essay about my summer internship, I also need to study accounting to bring my grade up, read management to catch up with the reading, study Spanish to bring my grade up, and read more on the french revolution. =( I think I've said this so far, but one of my favorite classes (if I'd have to pick one) is the French Revolution class because it's caused me to think in ways about history that I've never thought about. And then I get to express myself in an essay. Albeit it is a lot of work, it's sooo rewarding and I love it. Oh boy, I'm such a nerd.. just a nerd with really bad grades right now.

Okay, Robespierre and the Terror are calling my name again. My GPA and my future face the guillotine if I don't finish this paper and write it well.

I know things will get better
You'll find work and I'll get promoted
We'll move out of the shelter
Buy a big house and live in the suburbs
~Fast Car- Tracy Chapman

Times like these make me hate college.

Ok, so I know that most people's week's leading up to Thanksgiving are rough, but I think I just need to vent.

I'm SICK of college. Seriously, SICK OF it.

Here's my schedule, if anyone cares.

Monday- Spanish Presentation

Tuesday- Accounting Test

Wednesday- Spanish Quiz

Thursday- My 19th Birthday

Friday- Spanish Test

Monday- Management Paper Due

History Paper Due

Philosophy Paper Due

Just thinking about what I have to do is pretty depressing. =(

D-Town

Music: This Is How A Heart Breaks- Rob Thomas
Mood: Apathetic

I spent my afternoon in the 1st floor of the UTC in the McCombs Media Services Lab. I had to convert all the DV tapes from the case competition to wmv so that we could put them online. What I expected to take only an hour at the most turned into 2.5 hours of waiting. I first had to import the DV files into the computer, then in turn, convert the file to wmv so that Media Services could put online. So, here they are, for your viewing pleasures, the finals rounds of the Fall 2007 Case Competition. Case closed.
1st place- Black Ink Consulting

2nd place- Delta Consulting Group

3rd Place- T&G Solutions

Non-Placing Finalists:

Paradigm Solutions

Team Maverick

I also went to the gym today. I'm still preparing for the 10k on Thanksgiving Day. I haven't signed up yet because I'm not sure if I'll be able to do 6.22 miles.. but I really want to! I just did 1/2 miles on the treadmill and then got sick of the treadmill, so I went on the indoor track, and did a mile sprint, and called it a workout. Nonetheless, I really need to prepare and build endurance. My goals is to do the 6.22 in under an hour.. Which I think is totally doable.. but we'll see.

And today, I finally got my flight information for my office visit at the Hedge Fund company. I really hope this goes well, as this is my target company, and I would love to spend my summer working in Hedge Funds. To give you an idea of my schedule tomorrow. My flight leaves for Dallas at 8AM, meaning I'm catching the 6:44 AM airport flyer bus to the airport... which means I'll wake up around 6. =( Then after a string of 4 interviews and lunch, I'm catching a 4pm flight back to Austin that'll have me on the ground by 5. Then I'm going to catch the airport flyer back to campus and then make it out to the UT volleyball game against A&M! Tomorrow will be a busy day.. I'm just glad I don't have to do any work for classes tomorrow (this means no Philosophy, no French Revolution, and no Spanish... all my liberal arts classes.. hahah!) Oh well! I'll tell ya'll how things go later.

Oh, and today, I met with a study abroad adviser. We ruled out Spain because only a few business classes are offered in English. Thus, I'm pretty set on going to Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. All I need to decide now is what I want to major in. If I do the iMPA program, the adviser recommended that I postpone my study abroad because of a needed MPA class. However, if I do finance, things could work out. So I'm not sure. So I need to get the syllabuses of the different courses offered at HKUST and then make sure they'll transfer over to UT credit by getting approval from the various departments. I'm probably going to take FIN 357 and OM 353 (i think thats the course number) and then 2 humanities classes to fulfill my Plan II requirements for Art or Music or Dance History.

Well, I need to get to bed if I want to wake up at 6am tomorrow.. I've got my boarding passes printed as well as information about hedge funds and the company to read up on so I'm more familiar with the industry and the company. G'night Austin, Good Morning Dallas!

and because everyone loves Disney! Here's a happy picture:

A Calm Week, maybe?

Music: Young- Kenny Chesney
Mood: Tired

So after case competition, I just slept until the 5k the next day. On Sunday, I ran in the Susan Komen Race for the Cure 5K. My time was 28 minutes, which I'm okay with. I would eventually want to get a 25 or even a 24 minute 5k. That means shaving off about a minute or so per mile. But nonetheless, running in the 5k was a moving experience. I was my first race, and I really enjoyed it. Running amongst cancer survivors and others who were running in the memory of loved ones who have fallen victim to breast cancer was moving. My fund raising goal was $100, and I was actually able to make it. My parents donated $50 and a coworker from Detroit also donated $50, so I was extremely happy about that! =) Now, I'm training for the Houston Turkey Trot 10k on Thanksgiving Day. The Turkey Trop 10k goes to help senior citizens though the Sheltering Arms Senior Services charity. I still have to sign up for this, but I think I'm up for the challenge. 10K is 6.22 miles. I'm hoping to do it under an hour.

In other news, school is going well. I have a lot of homework to catch up on because I didn't have this weekend to do homework. I have over 200 pages to read in French Revolution. I have a paper over the Terror of the French Revolution due on November 19th. I also have a philosophy paper due on November the 19th as well. I have to read so much for that paper as well. I'm writing on revelation and how God communicates with his followers. We've read two texts about Christianity. Today, I just finished read The Bhagavad Gita, and next I need to read about Confucius. In Management, my group is still working on our consulting project. Our group executive summary is due 11/12 and then our presentation will be the week following Thanksgiving. Oh, and I also have a management reflection paper due on 11/19 as well. So though my birthday is Nov 15 (Thursday), I won't be able to relax and celebrate too much because I basically have 3 papers due the Monday after my birthday. =( I also have a lot of stuff to do in spanish as well, a cultural presentation, a quiz, and a test too. Ekk. Haha. Well, enough ranting about what I have to do, I bet everyone has so much to do leading up to the Thanksgiving break.

Oh good news as well. The Chemical company I interviewed with in Houston last Tuesday extended me an offer for an internship this summer. Their company internship program as a rotational program. I'm still waiting on offers from other companies before I make a decision. I hope to have my offers on my table and be able to make all my decision by November 15th. The company I interned with this summer extended me an offer in Audit for this coming summer. They gave me till November 15th to accept or decline the offer, so I've passed this offer deadline to the other companies I've interviewed with, so I hope to have my summer plans finalized by November 15th. =) I had a phone interview with an entertainment in California for a position in Audit. For some reason, the company also had me interview for a position in corporate tax, even though I'd be more interested in audit. They told me that usually, it takes about 4 to 5 weeks to hear back from them, but they said they'd rush my interview review so I could have a decision from them by Nov. 15th. Oh, and so on Thursday, I followed up with the hedge fund company I'm really interested in interview with in Dallas. I got a response from the HR contact, and based on my situation, she was able to set up an office visit for me. Thus, on Friday, I'm flying up to Dallas to do second round interviews. Ekk. I'm excited but I know I'll be worn and tired! Gah.

Oh, and tomorrow is the Fast-A-Thon! I'm super duper excited about this. I've pledged to fast for hunger from 5:30 am to 5:30 pm with the Muslim Students' Association. For every pledge they get to fast, money will be donated to the Austin Food Bank. My friends and I are getting up and going to Kerbey Lane at 4:45 to eat and enjoy ourselves. Then we're going to start fasting at 5:30 and then break fast at 5:30 in gregory gym. =) I also got a flu shot today. It was pretty traumatic... I absolutely hate needles and sharp objects... scissors, blades, knives, etc... ekk. talking (I mean typing about it freaks me out), but so I waited in line and then went into the booth at Gregory Gym. There, they had about 15 tables each with a nurse with tons of needles, bandages, and sterilization pads. I walked in and it hit me like a ton of bricks.. Inside, I really started to freak out and could feel that I was about to hyperventilate, but I stopped, took a deep breath, and got my shot, and then got out of there as fast as I could. It was pretty traumatic.. haha.

Oh well, that's pretty much all that's going on. It's now pretty late.... and I'm going to wake up at 4:45am to start fasting, eat, and then go back to bed.

Final Countdown

Music: The Final Countdown- Europe
Mood: Relaxing.. just a little bit

So I'm sitting here in finals, enjoying the third of five finalists presentations. I'm slowly losing steam, but I'm alive. So after lunch, the company representatives gave presentations, the finalists were announced, and then the non-advancing finalists received feedback. At 1:30, the first finalist began their presentation. I'm so excited that this competition is coming to a close. I'm running on fumes right now, but I think competitors, company judges, professors, and the students have enjoyed the day, and in the end, it was all worth it.

Just two more presentations, judges deliberations, and then we'll announce the winners. Then I'm hitting the sack!

Case Competition

Music: Left and Leaving- The Weakerthans
Mood: CASE! EEK!

So, here's a live update about case. Currently, it's 10:45am. I went to bed at 1:30 AM this morning and was up by 5:30 Am at the B-school getting ready for case competition. Nonetheless, I am sleep deprived and ready for this day to end. Everything ran pretty smoothly, however, the only goof we had was that HEB did not include coffee cups with coffee, so people were having to drink coffee out of plastic cups. Which is pretty unprofessional. However, we were able to scrounge up some coffee cups from Wendy's and the remainder from CVS. Also, we were going to video tape all the rounds instead of just finals, but I made a goof and didn't get enough video tape to record 35 x 4 teams for each room. Thus, we're only taping the finals rounds.

But other than that, everything is going well. Rounds are running and things are going smoothly. Jason's deli is supposed to come in about 7 minutes now, so I'll probably have to go tend to that in a second. I'm excited about case being over. I think from here on out, things should be going on smoothly (cross my fingers)! And after case is done around 5pm, I'm going to take a nap, get some dinner, then sleep! Then the next day.. i'll wake up to run a 5k.. THEN finally, after that, I think I'm going to crash... but too bad I have 200+ pages of French Revolution, philisophy, spanish, and tons of other crap.

OK, after running random errands, I'm back. Jason's just got here, so we're about to start lunch. See ya'll! Updates to come after this day is over!

Case-love!

Make it STOP

Music 1: One Day I'll Fly Away- Moulin Rouge
Music 2:What's Left of Me- Nick Lachey
Music 3: A New Day Has Come- Celine Dion
Mood: Spent

See a trend in the music? Sappy songs that let me know that there's still hope in the future, and that I'll survive, some how.

I want a break. I want a day, a whole day, 24 hours straight, of not having to check email, answer phone calls, study, make to-do lists, recruit, work on case competition. I'd even been willing to compromise on just a half-day. Mother Nature, please inflict us with a hard snow storm tomorrow... Please? =( I'm begging you.

I'm sleeping so little and preoccupied with so many things that even when I'm sleeping, I dream I'm making to-do lists of things I need to get done. It is pretty depressing. Right now, I feel like I'm a prisoner in my own life. Everything thing I do, I enjoy doing, but I feel like I'm just up to my neck in commitments. I mean, I'm doing a good job of juggling everything, except sleep. Which is starting to take it's toll on me. I'm just sick of this. It's making me moody and irritable. I just want to do nothing. And even on the weekends, though I get to go out some and relax a bit, it's just NOT ENOUGH. Make it stop. Just let me be like Hiro from Heroes so I can just stop time and relax for just a bit. Ugh. Or slap me silly and wake me up from this dream that is my life. I don't understand. Some days, it's seems like all is well. Then other days, I feel like I'm just ready to drop everything, give up, and just crash on my bed. But in the end, I know I'll survive. It's just hard. =(

Oh, and PS. my office visit was all right. I literally flew in, caught a cab to the offices, did 5 interviews with different managers and directors (including an informal interview during lunch), then caught a cab back to Hobby, and flew back to Austin. Hence, it was exhausting. It wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. Oh well. I really felt like a business traveler... catching the flights, going around in cabs, wearing a suit, eating with the "clients," etc. It was certainly a good experience. But that's enough for me to just call it a week. I'm ready for the weekend.. IE. Sunday (after case). Good night.. off to go dream about things I need to do.. and dream about actually getting them done... =O

Business Trip!

Music: Postal Service- Clark Gable
Mood: Flying

So this past weekend was pretty amazing! Not only did I get to hang out with friends and relax a bit, I was also able to get a lot of homework done in preparation for my interview in Houston on Tuesday. I'll talk more about that later. But this weekend was great! Halloween weekend is always fun! It's always nice to see what creative costumes people come up with. I saw the usual pirate and princesses, but I also ran into Bjork and Spinelli (from Recess)! I also spent much of my weekend preparing for the case competition.

I had to finalize the rooms, the teams, and the seeding of the teams. I'm happy to say that originally, I was only preparing for 16 teams of 4, however, due to a large number of applications, I increased the total number of teams to 20. To my knowledge, no McCombs case competitions have ever had 20 teams competing. To accommodate for the 20 teams, I had to do a last minute room reservation, change my breakfast order, and also change my order for Jason's Deli. Then, on Sunday afternoon, I received the case from the case authors (also UT alumni). From then, I had to prepare for Kick-off by making CDs with the case and case guidelines, and then I made 20 hard copies of the case to distribute to the teams for case. This definitely was a lot of work but it is all rewarding. All the countless hours I have put into the case competition have been worth it because of the gratification I get from putting on a great competition that will allow other students to learn and accomplish a lot. The case competition is this Saturday, November 3rd starting at 8:30 AM. The finals round of the case competition starts at 1:15PM and is open to anyone who is interested in viewing a case competition.

So yes, today was Kick-off. It was really exciting to see all the teams in one room. Handing out the cases was rewarding because it signified the start of the competition. This week, my committee and I still have to confirm with the judges their participation, make the resume books, make name tags, finalize food arrangements, and confirm room reservations. Also, something new were doing this year is video taping all the prelim and final rounds of all the teams and providing the video tapes to the teams so they can view their presentation and improve for their next competition. Ok, i think that's enough talk about case competition!

So yea, my "business trip!" Tomorrow, I catch an 8:45 flight to Houston to visit the downtown offices of a company I'm really interested in interning with this summer. After a round of interviews and lunch and more interviews, I'll head by to Austin on at 4 PM flight. It'll be rough, but I'm extremely excited. It sounds pretty lame, if not cheesy, but this will be the first time I'm flying because of business. I'll be wearing a suit and everything on the plane and pretend to blend in with all the other business travelers. Haha. I'm pretty stoked. This is my first office visit, so yea. We'll so how tomorrow goes. Anywho, I probably should get to bed. I have to wake up tomorrow to get to the airport in time! Wish me luck on my first "business trip!" =)

Oh, and did ya'll know that Frank Warren from Post Secret is coming to UT on Nov. 1st. And Sherron Watkins, the Enron whistle blower is coming to speak on Nov. 5th. So I'm excited about both visits! =) yaya!

To me, I'm not sure if this person really does have a great life. How do you define happiness? I certainly don't view happiness by material wealth. Obviously, money does open doors to help enjoy life, but it isn't the key to happiness.

And as a BHP Student Recruiter, I encourage students to write their own essays, even if their parents demand that they write the essays for their students. Obviously, school really want to see students as they truly are. Be true. It's unfortunate how pressured today's students are by their parents. I'm fortunate that my parents let me do whatever I wanted regarding college applications. My dad helped me keep track of deadlines and edited my apps to make sure I had all the documents, but other than that, my parents took a hand-off approach to my college applications, and I'm glad for that.

I just thought this postcard was cute. So many times, you can see people who obviously have feelings for one another, and you just want to reach and out shake them so they realize it!

Ok, well off to bed! I'll inform ya'll of how my office visit goes! =)

HKUST

Music: The Last Goodnight- Pictures of You (This was a free iTunes song a while ago, and I love it!!!)
Mood: un time management?

So recently since my parents came up this past weekend, I've really been entertaining the idea of studying abroad. I'm aiming to go to Hong Kong next Fall (Fall 2008) and studying at Hong Kong University University of Science and Technology. There is an info session on Thurs, Oct. 25 at 5pm in the B-school. Once I go to that and sign in for going, I can then speak to a business school study abroad adviser. The only thing I'm really worried about is course equivalences with my BHP and Plan II degree. I figure I can take about two or three business classes, hopefully get Honors credit for them (or do some supplementary work to fulfill the Honors credit), and then I'll also take two liberal arts class to fulfill my Plan II humanities credit (specifically art or music history). Hopefully they offer those at HKUST. Other than that, I'm really excited about possibly studying abroad. I obviously need to do more planning than what I've done right now, but I'm pumped about it. I suppose it is because I'm sort of sick of the routine that has become my Sophomore year. I don't know what it is, but I guess I'm easily bored. Things fall into routine way too often for me. For my 12 week internship, by about the 8th or 9th week, I got sick of the routine and was ready to be done with the work, though the overall experience was great. So likewise, we're in about our 9th or 10th week of school, and I'm getting kind of bored again. Gah. So I guess thinking about studying abroad is a nice distraction from the routine.

Also, my grandparents live in Hong Kong, so it'd be nice to be able to see them and maybe have dim sume with them on weekends. I also hope to brush up on my Cantonese. I mean, I can speak Cantonese and get by with ordering food or carrying a simple conversation with someone about school, but for the most part, I'm really rusty. So hopefully being in HKUST, I can practice speaking Cantonese and be able to better communicate with my grandparents. Also, it helps that maybe when I'm over there, they might pay for some bills or pay for lunch. Haha. Wow. Just kidding, I'm a bad grandchild. Haha. But anyway, going to Hong Kong would be AMAZING! I'll update ya'll about that after I settle everything out.

Ok, so right now. I'm totally not doing homework I should be doing. I feel soo unproductive. Today, I did some management, studied for my Spanish quiz (gosh, the word sucrusal is soo hard to memorize and so is pedir prestado), and I also did my target resume for BA 151. But GAH, I still need to BEGIN to study for my French Revolution test on Friday. We were reviewing in class on Monday in the UTC, but there was another bomb threat so we evacuated. This is the second time my French class has been canceled. It's so frustrating. I don't understand why people do such stupid and senseless things. It's a waste of time, effort, and energy. Just go take your test and quit making bomb threats. So yes, I still need to study for my French Revolution test. I mean, it's not difficult, I just need to sit down and DO IT. Sheezz. It's only 12:30, what am I complaining about. I've got plenty of time. I don't have class until 9:30.. So whatever.

Oh, and tomorrow, signups start at 9 for Bain and BCG Meet-and-Brief sessions next-next Tuesday, so hopefully I'll be able to get a signup timeslot. Oh, and taking about tomorrow, Wednesdays are my horrible days. I'll basically go from 9:30 til 9pm living at the B-school. This is my life, as a business/plan ii student. I'll have a break for lunch, for the gym, and for dinner, but other than that nothing. But I guess staying busy keeps me going. Though it is routine, I'm still chugging along getting things done and doing well in class.. haha. "doing well"

Also today, I got tickets for the Frank Warren visit. The founder of Post Secret is coming to UT on Thursday, Nov. 1st at 7pm. I can't wait for this event. I'm not sure what to expect. I guess these secrets are kind of personal, and everyone gathering together might be scary or different. I mean, I've sent in only one secret before, and I really don't know what happened to it. I mean, it was personal, and I felt sending it would be liberating but it really wasn't. I just sent it and that was it. But oh well, I'm still excited about meeting him and hearing what he has to say. Speaking of which, there were some cool postcards in this week's and last week's blog. Here are two that I found inspiring and touching.






Finally, I'd like to do one more shameless plug for the case competition. Signups are due by Friday, 10/16 at 4pm in the Frito Lay, and applications can be found at www.texasbusinesscouncil.com. So sign up if you're interested because the cash and money is nice and the experience is a good way to learn and a great talking point for recruiters.

Well, with that, I need to get to doing my French Revolution studying. And I really wanted to watch Heroes today but nonetheless, my poor time management skills resulted in needing to do homework rather than being able to relax and watch Heroes. Also, I think I'm running in the Susan G. Komen for the Cure 5k. I'm still trying to train to get a good time, so my goal is to do 3 miles each day and try to improve my time each time. The problem is I need to find a good breathing pattern to last 3 miles. I mean, it's not like it's hard or I get tired, it's just I can breathe correctly yet, so we'll see. And if you're interested, visit www.komenaustin.org to sign up or do donate. I haven't yet registered, but I plan to soon.

Ok, seriously I need to FR ahora!

El Día de los Padres

Music: Matt White- Best Days
Mood: Comfortable

Hooray for Parent's Day! I'm a sophomore now. That means this is my second year here at UT, but my parents insist on coming up for Parent's Day. I'm not sure why? It's the same info session about the business school and Plan II-- presentations about the great resources and great professors here at UT. I guess it's just an excuse for them to come up and see me. I haven't seen my parents since school started, and I won't be back home until Thanksgiving. So it is pleasant to know that my parents are taking the weekend to come up and visit me. They are, after all, emptynesters. My brother is off in the "real world" with a "real job" living in a "real apartment" and fending for himself in a big city, and here I am, a college student, it's coming up on the last 3 years they have to support me financially. After that, the tables will turn , and I think I'll feel obligated to pay them back for college, just simply because they supported themselves through college, so I'd feel a responsibility to pay them back. But yes, it is Parent's Day. I spent the entire day with them. We ran errands, getting food and other essentials from Target. Every time my parents come up to Austin, they always get a hotel room with two beds, just for me to spend the night. However, tonight, I chose not to spend the night with them simply because it is only 10:30, and it's too early to call it a night. But, in any case, I love it when my parents come to visit because it means a restock in supplies, a great dinner at an Austin restaurant, and spending time with my parents. My dad is sooo silly and with my mom, they crack me up all the time. Tonight, I took them to Thai Passion, which they loved, of course. Then I took them to the Driskill Hotel just to seen interior and the architecture.

In other news, I'm flying down to Houston on Tuesday the 30th to do an office visit/second round interview with chemical company. I'm really excited about that because I'll get to fly out around 8:30am and then fly back to Austin that same day around 4pm. My first "business trip." It'll be pretty cool. Hopefully that will turn into an internship offer. This company has finance opportunities within the company similar to what I did this past summer in Detroit, but one perk is that this company in Houston has a rotational program, so if I'm extended an offer, I'll get the chance to spend time in two to three different finance functions.

Oh, and on Thursday, I attended the Honors Association Company Dinner and sat with a hedge-fund company in Dallas. I already interviewed with them for a summer internship two weeks ago, but I chose to sit with them again at the dinner so I could make more contacts with representatives at the company. I talked with someone who worked with interns last summer, and he was able to provide me with insight into the role an intern would take on. The person who I interviewed with was also at the dinner, so I was able to speak to her further about my interest in the company. Hopefully, I was able to convey my interest in the company because I would love to be invited for a second round interview at the offices in Dallas.

Realistically, I think the problem is that I don't know what I want to do this this summer. Like I said before, I was already extended an offer to return to the company I interned with this past summer, except this time, it'll be in Audit Services-- which is more accounting based. Obviously, I don't really have anything else to weigh this offer with until I hear from the hedge fund company and the chemical company I'm visiting in Houston. However, I'm still conflicted as to what I should major in.. finance or accounting. And then I'm not sure if I want to pursue a PhD in business. Haha. I feel that every time I write a blog posting, I get confused as to what major should be or what I should do. Ahh. But I guess by early or mid November, I'll pretty much know all my options and then have to decide what I want to do this summer. I also know I'm probably going to be doing MPA, just because I don't really mind accounting, and UT has the number one Accounting program in the nation. But we'll see.

Oh, and also, I knew I was going to study abroad, but now I'm pretty sure that I'm going to go abroad next Fall to Hong Kong. I'm really excited but kind of worried about the classes I'd take while I'm there. I'm not sure how it'll mix with my Business Honors and Plan II classes. Gah. But we'll see, because I'm also trying to work out my housing and living off campus. If anyone is studying abroad in the Spring of next year (Spring 2009), let me know.

That's what's going on with me so far. I feel so scatter-brain as to what I really want to do. Each week seems to go by so quickly, living day to day, scraping by from class to class, organization to organization. But when I take a step back, I'm totally confused as to what I want to be doing with my life in general. Oh well. I'll just enjoy the weekend for now,

Fall is in the Air

Music: Plain White T's- Hey There Delilah

Mood: Shin Splints Stink

So it's Tuesday, and it feels sort of like the week has been going on forever. It's kind of bad when you start loosing track of what day of the week it is. Every week is becoming a blur, and the weekends seem too short. The bane of my existence is to survive the week and make it to the weekend only to repeat the same thing again. It's sort of like an abysmal black hole. School and college life seems like a unsatisfiable monster, that wants more and more and more, regardless of however much I give. I really want a week to just sleep in every day and do NOTHING. But that isn't possible.... until Thanksgiving, and even then, Thanksgiving isn't really a break because you've got Thanksgiving shopping, Thanksgiving dinner preparation, the actual dinner, recovery from dinner, and then Black Friday. But, ah, yes, this weekend was relaxing.. I'm just greedy and want to relax some more.. and the sad thing is that I can't even take it easy during Winter Break because I'll be taking Gov 312L at HCC for four weeks, 9-12. So yes. College is a greed time-sucker who keeps wanting more. Shame on you Mr. College. Haha.

So other than that, things are going as normal. To avoid being scatterbrained, I'll break down my thoughts and then attack them one at a time.

[1] treadmills at gregory
[2] how to fax things
[3] case competition
[4] becoming a professor
[5] the weather and how it makes ppl bundle up
[6] + / - grading system
[7] office visit
[9] bleeding blue
[10] OMG Heroes
[11] Colorado Rockies!?!

ok so here we go, are you ready?

[1] treadmills at gregory- today, i waited 10 minutes for a freaking treadmill at Gregory Gym... at 4 in the afternoon. Ludicrous! There's a 5K Race for the Cure coming up soon, and I'd love to sign up for that. The thing is, I can't seem to go competitively for 3miles straight. Gah. I guess I should have gone up to the indoor track or better yet, since the weather is better, I could go jogging at Clark field in the PM. I guess that's what I miss about the summer. Many of ya'll know I interned in Detroit this summer. The company put me in an apartment in suburb, and everyday after work, I went jogging for about an hour.. It was intense and relaxing.. and the weather was wonderful. When I got back to Texas after my internship, I was like WHOA, it's soo humid and hot, even at 8pm. Now that Fall weather is finally coming through, I think I'll pick up jogging outside again.. So hopefully, I'll be prepared for a 5k. My friends are doing it too... so even if I don't get a good time, I know for sure I'll finish and it'll be for a great cause!

[2] how to fax things- Today, I had to fax a room un-lock form for the Case Competition to insure that the rooms would be unlocked on Saturday, November 3rd (the day of the case). I went to the Undergraduate Programs Office and talked to one of the office workers about faxing this form. She had never sent a fax before and I'd only sent a fax once... on the job this summer. So I think it took us a good 15 to 20 minutes to figure out how to fax a cover letter and the actual form. Now, I'm not sure if it was outdated technology or if it was me who wasn't sure how to use the technology. We kept pushing the button that said, cover letter, and then it needed some ID code, so I was really confused. What I ended up doing was just fax the cover page and then fax the actual form separately. I'm guessing I could have just put the cover letter and then the form, typed in the number, and hit fax.. but that cover letter button tricked us... So moral of the story: Faxes,, though they were really advanced technology back in elementary school, are now pretty obsolete due to email and the age of instant technology. Oh, and if you're interested.. i hit 65 emails today.. only 4 or 5 which were newsletters/mass emails.... and it's only 7:40... boy how i miss freshman year where I only got like 8 emails, 5 of which were newsletters, etc. ohwell, I guess email is "making us more efficient."

[3] case competition- SIGN UP! Applications are online right now at www.texasbusinesscouncil.com and are due 10/26. Info sessions are 10/22 and 10/23 at 5pm in GSB 2.122


[4] becoming a professor- on Monday, I met with Professor McAllister. She's a Marketing professor and spoke at the HBA meeting last Tuesday. I talked with her about my interest in becoming a professor and how to get a PhD in Business. We discussed the pressures of getting published and what the career path is like for a professor. I'm definitely glad she took the time to talk to me, because I really had NO idea what it was like to be a professor. I feel that in the business school, there is so much emphasis on getting a job after graduation, or going on to law or med school.. but what about masters or PhD in business. Prof. McAllister told me that first, i need to find out what I really want to do. She advised me to get involved with research during my undergraduate career. Many of the PhD coordinators here at UT have seminars or talks where PhD students and professors give talks about their research. She recommended that I sit in on these discussions and find out what field of business I'm interested and try working as a research assistant. Then from that, typically, after undergraduate, students interested in becoming professors either go on to masters programs or straight into PhD programs, where they have to be published one or two business journals. From there, you'd go to a university where you'd go on the tenure track. During the roughly 6 year tenure track, you have to be published about 6 or 7 times, which can include what you've done during your PhD program. So in short, I'm still interested in becoming a professor, but I'm not sure what area I'd be interested in. Prof. McAllister said that if I can get published as an undergraduate in one of the major business journals, I could go straight into a PhD program. So this sounds interested, but I just have to expose myself to academia business if I really want to get a PhD in business and become a professor. It's kind of tricky, just because I really don't know what I want to do with my BBA. I know I'm pretty good at many things, so this is tricky. But I did email the various PhD Coordinators for the different majors, and I intend on attending some of the seminiars to get a feel for the different business research papers people are working on, and perhaps I could become a research assistant. We'll see.. oh, and here's the link to see what publications professors have written- http://acsprod.mccombs.utexas.edu/publications/pub_search.aspx

[5] the weather and how it makes ppl bundle up- the weather is simply amazing! some times, i wish we could have class outside. last year, in my plan 2 world lit class, we always had class outside when the weather was nice. then again, there were only 18 people in the class. this year, my smallest class is spanish, with about 30 students, but i doubt we'd have class outside in spanish. anyways, i love how the weather makes people bundle up, even though it's not cold. people from the north would probably laugh at us crazy texans. I saw this girl today wearing a scarf and a leather jacket today.. and it was like 75 degrees? granted, I was a little chilly myself.. but still. it's nice weather. why hide from it?

[6] + / - grading system- personally, i'm against + / - grading because i think it'll make students more picky about grades and make professor's teaching responsibilities more difficult, as there will be a finer line between the 85 and the 87s or what have you. Apparently, + / - grading is inevitable, as the UT administration has approved it. However, there is a Plus/Minus Grading Forum being hosted by the Senate of College Councils this Thursday, October 18, 2007 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm in the Jester Auditorium. Go the forum if you're interested. I'm not sure what I'll think if +/- is implemented. Actually, my GPA might go down, because a 90 or 91 would be considered an A- and thus a 3.67. =(

[7] office visit- so I've arranged my office visit with the chemical company in Houston. I'll be flying into Houston on Tuesday, 10/30 in the morning and then flying back to Austin in the PM the same day. That's going to be some crazy day, and I'll be skipping accounting for that. So hopefully, this visit turns into an offer for the summer. I'm excited that I get to visit the offices. It should be fun!

[9] bleeding blue- I stabbed myself with a blue pen today trying to put the pen back on the cap. I missed the cap, and instead, dug a trench in my finger, now now, it's bleeding a bit, and the skin is outlined in blue.. it's pretty sick.

[10] OMG Heroes- Heroes is my escape from the real world. Maybe it's just nice to watch fake TV characters deal with problems entirely different than what I'm doing in my life. And I think the Clarie and Wes love is really adorable! They make a great couple. Oh I hope the dad isn't sketchy and let's them date.

[11] colorado rockies!?!- in the last post, I talked about how I'm excited about Boston. However, I cannot help but feel happy for the Colorado Rockies.. The first time in their franchise history of making it to the world series. That's pretty amazing. As an Astros fan, I can totally relate. Thus, I wish the Rockies all the best and inside, I'm cheering for them to take the world series title, just because I want them to do well. So if Boston can hold off Cleveland and beat them, I really don't know who to cheer for. My gut would go with Boston, but my emotions would go for the Rockies.. oh we'll just have to see. =)

Well, I have to say that this is one of my most structured posts. Tomorrow, is going to be a LONG day. I start at 9:30 and won't be done till about 9 again. =( Then I've got an interview with an oil company on Thursday at 9:30, and then there's the honors business corporate dinner later that night. Well, now that I've gotten all that off my mind, off to do the pile of homework I have for tonight. Hope everyone has a great week!

The Weekend

Music: Bon Jovi- Livin' on a Prayer
Mood: Relaxing

Texas beat Iowa State 56 to 3! And LSU was upset by Univ. of Kentucky! Sweet, this truly is the season of upsets. Haha. And Cal was beat by Oregon State. Sheezz. Who is going to be in the BCS Championship then? Ahhhh.

So far, this weekend has been great! It's nice to know that this coming week will be relatively mild. No crazy tests or any extreme stress-inducing assignments. So this means that this weekend can be pretty laid back. Obviously, I've got some homework to do, like reading for French Revolution, Philosophy, and Management, but other than that, I'm taking a nice break from school.

In fact, today, after sleeping in, getting brunch at Kinsolving, I watched last Monday's episode of Heroes. That was sooo good, and I am anticipating Monday's episode. Afterwards, I went to Gregory Gym to lay out by the pool and enjoy the sun and good weather. So this weekend has been great so far. It's finally nice to take a break and not have to worry about studying for tests or worrying about completing assignments!

Well, I guess that's all I have for now. I'll return to the Red Sox vs. Cleveland game. Go Sox!!! =) I love Boston and the Red Sox (only second to the Astros, of course!). In fact, I'd love to maybe intern or even work in Boston after college! =)

Email Galore

Music: Maroon 5- Wake up Call
Mood: Anxious

[[If you haven't seen the music video for Maroon 5's Wake Up Call, check it out. It's pretty amazing!]]

So it's finally Friday, and my insane week is coming to a close. There's only one thing between me and the weekend-- my Spanish test at 3pm. Other than that, despite three tests, this week has been pretty mild, though my grades are kinda meh right now. I took my accounting test on Tuesday and got it back on Thursday. I did pretty good, but not as well as I would have liked to. I mean, there's just no telling what to really expect. The management test on Wednesday was fair, though I sort of guessed on one of the short answer, so we'll see how that turns out. On Monday, there was a bomb-threat at the UTC so my French Revolution class was canceled. I got my French Revolution essay back on Wednesday, and I was very satisfied with the grade I got. That was my first history paper, and I'd say I did pretty well, especially for my first upper-division liberal arts class. So school-wise, all is well. I'm just sort of nervous about my Spanish test because I mean, I know the material and the grammar, I'm just worried about the vocab. In fact, I arranged to meet with my professor at her office at 10 today, but she wasn't there, so instead I'm tying away in the Mill lab. Hopefully she can meet with me at 12 before my test so I can ask her some questions.

Throughout the week, I was reading on yahoo.com and noticed two interesting articles:

• People spend more time with their computers than with their loved ones
• Email-free friday

I can say that I relate to both articles really well. I'd say I spend a lot of time on the computer.. from reading online articles for classes, blogging, facebook, and of course, email. However, I try to spend as little time on the computer as possible simply because it's a waste of time. I think technology is helpful and good, but I feel we're becoming more dependant on computers. For example, I live off my outlook calendar to tell me what I need to do, where, and when. Oh, and yesterday, I set a new record... 50 received emails from various people regarding various things... imagine that.. a lot of it was organizing the case competition with my committee. But today, my goal is to receive as little emails as possible. Maybe even an email-free Friday, which is virtually impossible. But yea, go technology. At least I haven't gotten addicted to a Blackberry or a PDA. If I had one, I'd be on email all the time. but as of now, I just check email in the morning when I wake up, and then when I return to my room in the evening around 6, before dinner. Then when I'm studying and have my computer on, that little pop-up telling you have new email is always a distraction. So in short, Email but a necessary evil. Grr.. my question is what did people do before email? I remember getting my first email account in like elementary school.. it was a yahoo account and had something to do with a Pokemon character.. charzard maybe? But yea, I think we've come a long way from then.

Also, the end of the week means capture the flag at the capitol with HBA. I'm excited about that because CTF at the capitol is always fun. If you've never done it, you have to before you graduate!

Ok, since ya'll know I'm also a BHP Student Recruiter, I have to do another shameless plug:

Business Honors Program Sophomore Transfer Info Sessions
Thursday, October 18th, 5:00 pm in CBA 4.304
Wednesday, November 14th, 5:00 pm in CBA 4.304
Open to all freshmen interested in the BHP!
Learn about the application process and speak with our staff
Tiff’s Treats will be provided

Well with that, I hope everyone had a great week!

Oh sweet, I just got a call from a chemical company I interview with last week.(I thought it was last week, but I just checked my calandar, and apparently it was on Monday. yes, this past Monday.. wow, I have lost my sense of time). But yes, the person I recruited with just called me and told me they want to invite me to visit their offices for sort of a second round interview/get to know the company! So hopefully this is a good sign. I'll need to arrange with the company when to visit, transportation, etc. But yay! That's exciting!

Ok, I need to jet out of here. I have Philosophy in 5 minutes. Horray for discussing the concept of the Trinity, pre-destination, God's foreknowing, and the idea of Grace. See ya'll! =)

Three Tests Next Week + OU Weekend = Stress?

Music: Ben Folds- Brick
Mood: Content

OU Stinks. Grrrrr. And it's not like they did any better than we did, we just had that silly fumble and interception. Texas needs to stop throwing away games. Now we're 0-2 in the conference and 4-2 overall... sheezz. I'm definitely looking forward to the Purdue vs. Ohio State game and the Florida vs. LSU game. This year's college football is pretty insane. Hook 'em!

On the subject of sports, is anyone following the MLB playoffs? I'm excited that Boston is doing well. And that the Yankees literally got BUGGED OUT. ouch! Also, I'm cheering for the Rockies as well b/c their ball club deserves to do well. Speaking of baseball, I'm still a huge ASTROS fan. In fact, look what you can buy on mlb.com....


It's a Dreamseat Houston Astros Recliner for the low price of $999.99, down from $1295. Again, my birthday is Nov. 15th. Tehehe. Just kidding. I don't think that thing would match anything else in my dorm room, much less fit in my room. But, imagine having that in your room. How insane would that be?

So, this past week was good. No tests, no real pressures nor commitments in any classes. Just some regular homework here and there; the usual. In management, we had a reflection paper due where we analyzed a work experience using the management concepts we learned in the past six weeks. I wrote about my internship experience this past summer and discussed how well I was treated as an intern and how I was motivated to learn and accomplish my goals. And from writing this paper, I was able to reexamine what I'm looking for in a company and what I really want to do with my life. Since this week was not so busy, school-wise, I spent more time recruiting. My interview on Tuesday went well. Then on Wednesday, I went to the Night Prior for a hedge fund company. I'm really interested in this company, as it would be nice to gain exposure to the finance industry. I had an 8am interview with them, which was very informal, so I'm not sure how I did. They just asked me some questions about activities on my resume and some other questions, then they told me more about the company and the responsibilities I would have as an intern. If this interview went well, they said they would fly me to their offices to visit the firm and do a second-round interview.. so that's exciting... hopefully that works out! Also, some friends I know who are also sophomores interviewed with this same company, so best of luck to them as well. Hopefully many of us get offers for an internship.

All the internship interview's I've gotten were through dropping my resume online on McCombs Online Recruiting System and also meeting the recruiters at the career fair. I think we're really fortunate to have the No. 1 recruiting services of all business schools, according to the Princeton review. The Online Recruiting System is such a huge asset. To be able to drop your resume to job postings and then be screened and schedule an interview on the system is pretty amazing. I guess sometimes, we don't realize how lucky we are. I don't know how I would be recruiting for internships right now with out the system. So this is a hint... USE the resources here at McCombs. On Mondays and Fridays, I give a Business Honors Program info session to students interested in McCombs and BHP. Often times, they worry about how large the school appears to be, and think they can't get the personalized education that the ivy-leagues and private schools promise. What I tell them, and this convinces them, is that such a large institution like UT has so many resources that smaller/private schools cannot provide to the students. The thing is the students have to take advantage of the resources provided to them. I tell the parents and prospective students that nobody is going to be coddling you to push you to get a job or brining the opportunities to you. It's really what you make of the resources available and taking initiative to get what you want. So yea, enough with my rant about taking advantage of opportunities. But yea, You can do whatever you want here at UT...
"What Starts Here Changes the World" (said in a Walter Cronkite voice). Haha.

So as ya'll know, Case Competition is coming up.. applications will be out within the next week, October 15th to be exact. And I'm sort of FREAKING out. Case is in about 4 weeks. My committee has our first meeting next week where we'll discuss food, judges gifts, resume books, etc. Ekk. I need to arrange things so I can spend money for the account. I have to get publicity up, signup forms ready, judges and corporate judges ready. I need to arrange t-shirts and the actual case. All this in four weeks. So do me a favor- promote the case competition to your friends; form your own team; get ready to sign up!!

And if I don't write to ya'll next week, I apologize in advanced. I've got three tests. Accounting on Tuesday, Management on Wednesday, and Spanish on Friday. I studied last night (yes, on a Friday night) till 1. Woke up again this morning and studied until Kick-off time. So I think I'm somewhat ready for accounting (knock on wood.. lol) I just need to do the practice test and then some reviewing, and I think I'll be ready. For Management, I need to review the concepts and go over what we've discussed in class. I'm not too worried about the management test because I've stayed up to date with my reading and am fairly comfortable with the material. I just need to put it to memory and then be able to apply to different situations. The Spanish test on Friday is pretty basic. It's over two chapters, but nothing really new. We leaned vocab about the environment, cars, relationships, and age. We also did some grammar stuff about nonexistent antecedents and conjunctions, both which are in the subjunctive tense. So I think I'm good for Spanish, I just need to review. But yea, I was going to go to Dallas this weekend, and it really would have a tons of fun, but I really need to study and prepare for the tests instead of having fun in Dallas and then being stuck on the road in traffic. Hope everyone who went to Dallas had a blast!!!

Hook 'em! Oh and Transformers comes out on DvD October 16th! I'm excited about that. I'd say it was one of the best movies of the summer. And I still really want to see Across the Universe! Oh and how strange is this? A couple, who works, met, and got engaged at a Walmart, got married at Walmart today... Imagine that? Crazy!

Intrinsic Motivation?

Music: Dangerous- Ying Y ang Twins
Mood: In Deep Thought

Wow. Texas Football has really let me down. I went to the Kansas State game until it started down pouring during half time. After I left, we just kept losing.... I'm not looking forward to the OU game and I don't expect it to be too good. Oh, and I read the Sunday and Monday Austin-American Statesman where they did a tw0-day report on Texas Sports and the expenses. Apparently, Texas Athletics will spend $107 million this year. Additionally, Texas Sports spends about $210,000 on each of its 510 athletes. http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/longhorns/09/30/0930utsportsmain.html
I was so surprised. At least our tuition doesn't go to pay for athletics, but I still think it's crazy how much money goes into Texas Sports. And apparently, the money made from collegiate athletics and donations to college sports is tax-exempt. Read the article for more information. I read the article Sunday night instead of doing homework... but I think it's worth it.

So this week is relatively mild. However, for me, it's been filled with Company Night Priors/ Meet and Briefs with companies. I'm recruiting with various companies and hoping to get an internship for the summer. Today, I had an interview with an oil and gas company today for an internship in energy commodities, where I'd be doing analysis, projection, forecasting, etc. for the commodities area of the industry. To prepare, I talked myself through some possible interview questions. My roommate, who is a Junior MPA student, overheard me practicing and we got on this long conversation about motivation and how we define success. Now, this was at 12am when after I just finished accounting and was preparing to go to bed for my 9am interview today.

So, we got on this long conversation about what motivates me and what drives me to success. I find that in the business world, we're motivated and urged to get jobs and success is measured by the companies we recruit with and the amount we make. There's so much pressure at the business school to be ahead in the "rat race" and to stay ahead to get the interviews and the internships. Many people are extrinsically motivated to achieve success because they care about what other people view them as. People view the go-getters and high achievers as such because they've accomplished so much in the business world. But I guess the question was what comes first, the success or the extrinsic reward of approval from society? Just a random question that we were wondering last night. For me, I'd say a lot of what I do is intrinsic motivation. But what exactly does that mean? I'm motivated to do well in my classes and achieve success because I enjoy pushing my self, setting goals, and being challenged. Why do I stay up late each night slaving over homework? Why do I spend so much time doing extracurricular activities? What is my motivation? I'd say most of it is intrinsic. I genuinely find satisfaction in challenging myself in my courses and truly understanding the material. I also enjoy the actives I'm in business council because of the benefit it provides for others, not because of the recognition I get for putting on these activities. That's my motivation. What motivates you?

Well, the rest of this week is pretty simple. I've got a mangement essay due on Tomorrow that I still need to start. And I'm going to give my shameless plug about case competition:

The actual competition is Saturday, November 3. Case applications are due Friday, 10/26

We have two info session on Mon, 10/22- 5pm- GSB 2.122 and Tues, 10/23- 5pm- GSB 2.122.

The prizes are absolutely fantastic:

1st Place Team- $2,500 + USC Case Competition
2nd Place Team- $1,000 + MIBC (McCombs International Business Council, Nov. 14-17)
3rd Place Team- $700

With that, I bid ya'll a great week and see ya'll later. I'm off to the gym.. I read somewhere that some people think sweat thearpy helps relieve stress. I really think it does because it's a way to get away from all the pressures and such of society.

Oh and one more thing, ya'll know I'm the BHP student recruiter. I got business cards today... I feel so professional and "mature" because I've got my professional business cards with my name on them. And I can give them out to people!!! Stop me when you see me, and I can show you it.. and I'll even give you one! =)

Ok off to the gym! See ya'll!

Thursday = Almost Friday!

Music: Jack Johnson- Banana Pancakes
Mood: Strangely pumped

I think I'm a morning person. Crazy huh? Last night, I got sick of the trend of sleeping at 3 or 4 in the morning each day for the past week and a half. So last night, I decided to go to bed at 1am (wow, right?) instead of stay up to do work. I woke up at 8:15 this morning and wrote and wrote and wrote about Rousseau and the French Revolution (this was my second draft) until my 12:30 accounting class. I was surprisingly productive, and I'm glad I got that out of the way. (I still have to proof-read again, but it should be good.) Meeting with the TA with a rough draft yesterday was really helpful and gave me more guidance. Apparently, I was the first person to go to his TA office hours, so he was glad to help. Morals of the story: [1] wake up early to do homework.. you'll have tons of energy and feel better about yourself and [2] go to TA office hours for help, they'll realize you're putting the effort into it and really help you out. [now if only I had time to go to the ACCT office hours... sheez! I'm not behind in that class, but I'm not exactly ahead either. I think I'm scraping by.. but I really do understand all of it... or at least I think I do]

So I reread Tuesday's post and I realized how sort of depressing it was. It seems like this week has just been bad for everyone in general. So instead of talking about school and classes and work and obligations, here are things I've noticed this week:
[1] The Iran president visited Columbia this week and said some really crazy things.
[2] Heroes premiere was Monday! I'm so excited about this series.. it totally makes mondays worth it
[3] The UAW went on strike against General Motors for two days, but then finally reached a plea agreement: http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/070927/gm_uaw_risks.html?.v=1
[4] Diet Dr. Pepper has a strange smell to it
[5] The Astros are NOT last in their division!!!
[6] The Red Soxs better clinch the AL East title.. and then go on to win another world series!
[7] You can get things monogrammed (ie. dress shirts) on JCrew.com [ehm.. i have a birthday coming up. hahah]
[8] Google was established today (Sept 27th in 1998 according to my iGoogle), hence the 9 in the google.com
[9] I realized my yahoo weather application was stuck on my hometown's weather for the last four weeks.. I feel like I've been lied to this whole time!!!
[10] Both Google and Microsoft are thinking about taking a stake in Facebook, which some reports say is worth 10 Billion
[11] I have a delima: facebook has applications.. which I absolutely hate! but there's this thing called the FSX (facebook stock exchange) which allows you to practice trading and things like that) it sounds really cool.. . but think it'll (1) make me violate my no applications stance on facebook and (2) make me even more addicted to facebook than it already is... sooo. to FSX or not to FSX.. that is the question

Well, I hope this was entertaining for you all. I've got a Philosophy over Plato's Republic on tomorrow at 11am. I haven't really started studying yet, but I'm honestly not very nervous. Is that good or bad? In management, I think it's something called the overconfidence effect or something like that. Oh well, I'll hit the union starbucks later tonight after a shower and making the final touches of the french revolution paper. I cannot wait till Friday! It means the end of this week and the weekend.. which means the volleyball game, Kansas State game and other activities that don't involve Plato, Rousseau, journal entries, or harvard business review.

Oh... and does anyone else read post secret (www.postsecret.com)? there was this one about being lonely... "I bought the coolest phone on the planet - but it still only rings as often as my old phone did." Then a reader responded: "I feel the same way. I often wonder why I even have a phone because I rarely receive calls. If there was a way we could contact each other that would be cool. My phone number is 605-212-7787 (with permission).Sincerely,Ryan (with permission)." Isn't that Crazy? Reading this secret and Ryan's reply made me really appreciate my friends this much more. I don't know what I would have done this week without my friends to give me support and let me vent about how horrible the week has gone. So friends, if you're reading this: Ya'll are the BEST! =)))

And with this, I bid ya'll farewell and Plato hello. See ya! Holla!

Work Work Work.

Music: Xtreme- Te Extraño
Mood: Sleep Deprived

So. The new Starbucks in the union takes BEVO BUCKS. That's good news for my wallet, bad news for my sleep schedule. I have a history paper about Rousseau and the French Revolution due on Friday. It's an upper division history class, with history majors and seniors. I'm quite worried about how I'll do on the paper. I stayed up till three last night working on an outline and then today, I hope to actually finish the paper so I can run it by the TA to review ahead of time before I turn it in on Friday. I love this french revolution class. It's so interesting. Though it's tough and requires so much reading (we're concurrently reading about four books right now), it is one of the classes I'm really enjoying this semester.

Also on Friday, I've got a Philosophy test over Plato's the Republic. Being in Plan II and Business Honors, so far, has been good. I really enjoy learning both in the business context and in just overall acedmeica (with Plan II). But honestly, Philosophy is now making me disguised with Plan II. I went into my professor's office hours this morning, and he basically said that my "elementary education" was really bad and that all the questions I asked him in office hours were "common sense." Most professors would appreciate you stopping by their office hours to talk about the course and to clarify any misunderstandings, but I left this hour today feeling like crap and lower than scum. Not a good way to start off the day. I just don't understand who says that to people. AND it's probably too late to switch philosophy professors. At least it's the TA that grades the essay tests and not the professor. C'est la vie.

Relating to sleep deprivation: http://health.yahoo.com/news/179663
"...researchers said lack of sleep appeared to be linked to increased blood pressure, which is known to raise the risk of heart attacks and stroke."

On top of this, remember hearing studies saying that coffee was bad for your heart, and the other reports saying that those studies were not justified. So who knows, maybe college is just tough on the body. But is it all worth it. Sometimes, I wonder if college is even worth it? I know... it sound strange that here I am, a UT sophomore, questioning the point of college, but I've thought about this for a while. College seems like just a foot in the door to opportunities. Perhaps we can call it a weeding out process. but realistically, what we learn here in the classroom can only be applied so far. okay, i'm probably NOT making any sense. of course we need college to get a higher education to become more specialized in a field and get jobs. but is that the ultimate goal? what is the ultimate goal of college and classes? I mean, I'm motivated to get things done and do well in my classes.. but why? because a good GPA and good grades are important to landing a job with a good company. But what does these numbers mean after graduation? Kind of like high school... my HS GPA, SAT scores, and extracurricular activities mean nothing on paper anymore. I suppose it is the experiences I have taken from that that build up on life. ok. enough ranting about nothing. Career week was last week, and I'd have to say that it was pretty successful for me. There are some companies i'm trying to target and hopefully I can land an internship for this summer. That's where i'm conflicted as well. I had an internship this past summer, and I had a great time! But I also want to study abroad in a spanish-speaking country, maybe Spain or Argentina. But I have to decide whether I want to go during the summer or during the fall semester, and if so I need to make sure I'm in the right classes. I just feel i've been too busy to evaluate what I really want to gain from this semester.

Ok enough ranting. Moral of this post-- set a goal for this semester. What do you want to accomplish? Good Grades? Value Added Learning? Internship? Study Abroad? (or what have you?)

Well, I probably won't see daylight all week, so until then. Have a GREAT week!

Tired and Stressed...TGIF

Music: Samsung- Ring 2 (my cell phone alarm clock)
Mood: WEEKEND.

Wow. Finally, this week is OVER. I've been so busy with:

• Career Fair (Wed)
• BBA Mock Interview (Thurs.)
• Diversity Dialogue Dinner (Thurs.)
• Plato
• French Revolution
• Espan~ol
• Accounting
• BC
• life.. in general.

I swear, Thursday felt like Friday. On Wednesday night, after I finished my Acc't hwk at 2AM, I treated myself to some online shopping retail therapy.. some good 'ole Astros gear .. a new Astros cap! woot. though the 'stros are not doing well at all.. at least they beat the Cards Thursday night 18 to 1. and now we're not last in the NL central rankings. But yea, after acct and then online shopping.. I moved on to write thank you letters to various companies I met at the career fair. I'm really interested in a few particular companies and hopefully can get an interview with them for possible summer internships. So going to bed at 4am was not a good idea, because on Thursday, I had a 10am mock interview... not the brightest idea.. I swear, the sleep debt I've accumulated since Saturday night is making me crazy. In my mock interview, I was in such a daze that I felt the room spinning, and it appeared as if my interview's head was growing bigger and then smaller. Strange huh? A lack of sleep can do that to you.

Moral of the week: SLEEP. There's only so much you can do.... Diet Dr. Pepper, Tea, and slapping myself to stay awake ... before your body just gives up and craves sleep. What I really want to do is take an afternoon off to just lay out by the pool and soak in the sun. Who's with me? Next Friday, I have an essay test in PHL over Plato and also an essay for French Rev. connecting Rousseau and enlightenment to the causes of the revolution. I'm supposed to start this stuff this weekend, but I've got BC informal retreat from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon. So this Sunday and this whole next week will be crunch time until Friday. eek. We'll see how I handle it. I think I just need some time to relax and get away from everything for a while to clear my mind.

At least I haven't had to do this:



Oh, and another thing: whenever I see people and they ask "how's it going?" the first thing that I say is "oh, tired and stressed..." Now I'm starting to think it's part psychological. Sort of like the self-confirming or self-fulfilling prophecy. I know I have a lot going on and I'm running on practically no sleep, but at the end of the day, when I crawl into my bed, I can say that I've really done a lot, and that's worth all the sleep deprivation and "stress." Maybe it's kind of an euphoria in a sickening, disturbed kind of way. but hey, whatever works for me right? I'm loving school, and I'm loving life. It's just that this live I love is so busy that I barely have time to appreciate all the things that I've done here at UT. This week has been particularly busy because of career week on top of school and homework. Recruiting is like a full-time job in and of itself. Next week, I should be able to concentrate more on my academics.. well.. I kind of have to as well if I want to excel on my PHL and HIS exam/essay. In any case, thank goodness it's FRIDAY.

Oh did ya'll hear about the Univ of Florida police and the taser during Kerry's visit?? I think it's pretty ridiculous and feel excessive force was used. What are your thoughts?