A quarter later...

I am 1/6th MBA. Not officially yet, as the grades arent out yet, but i have done well enough in all papers to be sure enough to say that i am done! We had our "Finals Week" this week, and i was done on Wednesday. Fall Quarter is over and now it is time for the Winter Break (not yet, but still). What a relief!!! I have three days to catch up with self, friends and others, before i pack my bags and run to NYC for Bank Week.

In retrospect, this quarter has been a quarter of learning - of multiple dimensions. In learning people, in learning my strengths, in digging out my weaknesses, in trying to be as academic as i used to be, in learning new levels of time management, in understanding and playing the recruitment game well, in handling relationships and, in many ways, learning more about myself than i knew earlier. When i look back at the quarter, i realize that this quarter had thwarted a lot of evaluations i had about myself. I have had my fair share of mistakes, amidst enough and more success stories, and I am glad i did most of the mistakes now than later, because i have the time and resources to improve going forward. Sometimes it has been tough, trying to figure out why things are the way they are, but in the end the learning has always been worth the pain.

Bschool is a strange experience where you grow into a confident individual who can literally take on the world, but also learn to be humble about yourself (this is not necessarily true for everyone). Bschool is also difficult in the sense that this is a place that will put you through the toughest test you've ever faced - but only to prepare you for tougher tests that you'd face in the future. Without your knowledge, you will stretch yourself in multiple areas, and in the process improve yourself in all those areas, provided you handle it well. I am seeing that happening to myself (and a lot of my friends), and hence i am glad i made this decision. But beware - dont take this for granted. Bschool is a fair game - WYGIWYG.

Finals were tough - I had three in three days. In spite of GND and a demanding recruitment process, it was good (yeah, good) to see people put in a lot of effort into the finals. I was done by Wednesday and have been partying ever since. Believe it or not, we did have a TNDC this Friday, and with a huge turnout! In true GSB spirit, everyone was stretching their boozing limits, and the night was long, with lots of crazy stories that can't go on print ;) One of my friends from the Brazil Random Walk hosted a holiday dinner for us yesterday evening. I stuffed myself with awesome food and it was good to catch up with the group again (missed you though, RK). Went out to another party from there, which got cut short, and we ended the night watching a movie in a friend's home.

We have plans to do an Indian lunch today at Devon (looking forward to the Pani Puris) and then i should pack my bags for the trip to NYC. I fly out tomorrow, for my first visit to NYC, a city i have been loving for a really really long time. Sounds like the perfect story when i say "my first quarter in Bschool started at Rio and ended in NYC". Bank week has a crazy schedule, what with covering 15 odd banks in days. I am definitely looking forward to meeting the bankers and make new connections and strengthen existing ones. Hopefully the week will be informative and productive. And of course, there are huge party plans next Friday.

I return from NYC on Saturday, and look forward to a three week hiatus from all things Bschool. No, wait - there interview preps to take care of :) Such is life at Bschool...