A Weird State of Being

Music: Come On Get Higher- Matt Nathanson (yes, I just listed this as my song a couple posts ago, but because I just got a new phone and made this my ringtone, it's stuck in my head, and I love it!)
Mood: Stressed, Busy, but calmly relaxed

I really do apologize for being gone from this blog in the last few weeks. I have been swamped with work and really stressed in the past few days that when I haven't been working or preparing for interviews, I've been sleeping.

So where did I leave off? This past Friday, I had a 2nd round interview with a middle-market lending firm based out of New York, so I drove to Houston on Thursday evening and stayed in a hotel downtown. The internship is in Houston in the Energy group, and I really hope to get this internship. From talking with the people in the office and the outline of the job description, it seems like a great opportunity to apply what I've learned specifically in finance with valuations and financial analysis so I really hope to intern with this company. I also hope they tell me soon so I can have some idea of what I'm doing this summer and I can then stop looking at other firms in Austin. It's a only a moment of time, but I am confident that I'll get something for the summer. I just hope it's with this company in Houston. The interviews went really well, and I was truly able to connect with the people I talked to on a personal level. I think they were impressed with my resume and knew that I have a good head on my shoulders, and from there, I think they're looking for fit. Personally, I felt there was a match there and the work seems great. I just hope they felt the same way.

So apart from interviewing for the company in Houston, I've been swamped with projects and assignments. This weekend, I was extremely productive, but I didn't get to enjoy being home as much as I wanted to. I got to meet up with a HS friend who goes to Rice, which was really nice! I really enjoyed our conversation and catching up with her. Besides that and seeing my parents and indulging in chinese food, I worked on the FAP presentation about Google, worked on a presentation for my Plan II TC class about microfinancing, wrote up a marketing discussion, and also worked on a finance individual project that took way too much time, in my opinion. Haha. Funny thing my mom brought up. Everytime I come home, I overeat chinese food and chinese bakery items. She mentioned that because I love chinese food and Houston probably has one of the best chinatowns in the nation, I'll probably end up close to home. Which, thinking about this, if I moved to say, Dallas or Austin, I don't know how i'd survive without good chinatown food! YIKES. Looks like i'm limited to NYC, SF, or Houston.. but I guess seattle has a small chinatown and chicago does as well. We'll see, but the point of all that rambling was because I LOVE CHINESE FOOD. =)

So getting back on topic, in addition to giving 2 presentations today, I had a recruiting dinner with a consulting firm to discuss full-time opportunities with the firm. I thought it was ironic that this was my first full-time recruiting dinner, and I still haven't finalized my internship offer for the summer yet. However, it was weird looking into the future and trying to figure out what I wanted to do for the next 3-5 years. But, I really enjoyed learning about the firm and hope I'll be able to recruit with them in the Fall.

Later today, after that dinner, I worked on a stock pitch I have to give to my MBA in FAP to discuss with him the benefits of UPS. Then, I have a short quiz in Ballroom dancing tomorrow evening and then I need to prepare for a quiz in finance on Wednesday. This week is somewhat tame, but there is always work to be done! I have to work on a marketing plan which is due on Fri, May 8th. I also have a TC paper on microfinancing due Fri, May 8th. Before then, I have a Marketing Exam on Monday, and an FAP and a FIN test on Wednesday. Then, I have one final exam in P2 Physics (which I hope I don't have to take if i did well on this past test, but that's highly unlikely), so my first and last final is on May 13th. From there, I really hope I'll know what I'm doing this summer. I honestly don't have any back up plans if the one in Houston doesn't work out. I'm entertaining things in Austin, but like I said, Houston is where I want to be this summer.

OK, well. it's 1am and I really ought to go to bed. I have to meet my MBA at 9:45am in business casual. Sorry for being extremely stream of conscious in this post. I just wanted to give y'all an update without having to do too much thinking.