A Step Towards the Weekend

Somehow I survived the hardest part of my week. On Monday, I managed to attend four classes, a SY reception with students and faculty, finish all my case readings for Tuesday, and field an entire soccer team. Woo hoo, go me! I had three more classes today and that ends my anxiety for a couple moments regarding massive amounts of reading. While the idea of how much I need to read is looming, I can turn my attention to more pressing items, like bills and perhaps my resume. Yeah, the resume, that thing that's been lingering over me head! And with the resume comes questions, thoughts and ideas. What do I want to do?! I have ideas, I've had ideas, I've discounted ideas and yet they all seem to return with vengeance. I look at the tired eyes of the bankers and sometimes thank the stars I didn't end up there, but there's a part of me that perks up when a fellow classmate and good friend mentions we should talk if I'm still interested in banking. Am I? I was so dedicated to the idea, the lifestyle, the perks, the downfalls and right now, after another 40 hour a week job, am I still ready to throw away a social life for stimulation and let's face it, money? Indeed I suppose the negative way I just wrote that sentence might warrant a no, yet I'm considering the idea.

Additionally, where do I want to live? I came to business school fully prepared for this crazy life where reflection was only in my dreams and I worked 24/7. I didn't think I'd consider anyone else except myself when making a choice about the next location of my job and here I am, having conversations with someone who means a lot to me on where "we" want to live! Since undergrad, I've focused immensely on location, location, location. Boulder was a great location nestled in the mountains with a winter climate that didn't strike fear into me like that of the Northeast. After college, I wanted nothing more than to return to my home outside of SF where it doesn't snow and though the sandy filled beaches are cold, they still exist a short drive away. Charlottesville was a cute town and I'll admit, I didn't give much thought to it, other than it sounded good and may have a similar college-feel to Boulder. While a college feel is nice when you're in school, it's not a necessity post-MBA. I have a tentative list of about 17 cities I'm considering and know it should be cut down to perhaps 7 target cities, which then leads to target companies. Or should I even contemplate picking target companies and then cities. What makes these questions tougher is a counterpart willing to work with me to find an area we both enjoy. Chicago sounds massively cold and miserable to me. My perception however cannot be backed up with much experience (especially recent experience) and I know many people who love Chicago. (Plus I love deep dish pizza, which makes it a more dangerous location than the South as I tiptoed around Southern food often during my time there.) Even as I complain about cold, I wonder if that's appropriate as I've tentatively agreed to spend 7 weeks in one of the coldest and darker parts of the world, Sweden. Then you have Minneapolis. I've never been, I don't know what to think and as much as I contemplate crossing it off the list, there are a number of companies with operations there that I may want to consider. All these thoughts flying around and I still have a mini list of personal items. Thank goodness for a light late week!