The Undercover Reader

It's amazing to me what reach this blogging community has. Just by being a part of Hella's list, a slew of "strangers" have read my blog. A handful of the active bloggers in the community will comment on my posts and give me their own thoughts and inspirations. Then there are the undercover readers. Those people who browse the articles, if you could call them that, leave anonymous comments or don't say anything at all. In this small world, I met one of those people yesterday.

As you know, I don't just write about my journey to an MBA because this blog was never started for that purpose. I often discuss random thoughts, fun activities, soccer, Spinsters and anything else under the sun that I feel the need express. Last night at a potential new member happy hour, I was introduced to a girl who was talking to one of our membership chairs. The membership chair said she's always curious how people find out about Spinsters and this girl noted an MBA blog, though she couldn't remember whose. From there we discussed Hella's list, which is where she found that blog and as I read every post on the list as well, I know I'm the only person who has mentioned and is a part of Spinsters. We concluded it was my blog! WOW! I always say that you never know who you are going to impact one way or another by your decisions and here I am just babbling random thoughts of my life and thus, someone found themselves amongst a group of fantastic women. Even with our words - we make an impact. Feels good.

How do you keep them straight?

HAPPY FRIDAY!! Oh I can't begin to explain how excited I am that the weekend is here, although the sleep for which I long will have to wait until Sunday evening after my soccer game. Argh. Busy is good, however busy is also, well, busy. I attended a Lifehouse concert at the Warfield on Wednesday, which is another converted playhouse, now awesome venue. It's quaint for a live show. I'd never been there before and I wish I would have frequented it sooner as we do get a number of great acts in the Bay Area, but life gets away sometimes.

Last night we had our first prospective membership event for Spinsters. This is when those 'who are you' questions flood the conversation. Luckily, we also strayed past the MBA to discussions on shoes and logistics of walking to work in heels versus flats. Highly thought provoking...kidding. :P Anyhow, there's 175 members in my philanthropic organization. A small percentage of them are easily recognizable as they are very involved in the leadership of the organization. Then there is the other type of member who is no longer a new member, thus not required to partake in anything and will simply show up when or if it's convenient. I actually ran into one of those members at the event last night, she joined my women's soccer team this season and in 2 years, I'd never seen her at a Spinsters event. Go figure we travel in similar circles.

Next, we have the potential new members, which last year consisted of 250 women competing for 60 or so spots. It's like business school, but we don't critique the essays, however each person does need to network like crazy. Meet the right people and meet them often. This is where I have difficulties, keeping everyone straight. Granted, I should try to remember a handful of people, make some notes and move on, but what happens when those people walk up to me at the next event, expecting me to know who they are. We'll repeat our initial conversation because even if I recognize them, I've probably forgotten all the basic answers. And the worst part, I'm on the membership selection committee this year and hence it's imperative that I remember who these people are. Anyone have tips and tricks for keeping people straight? I had the same problem with MBA events. I'd even recognize other applicants, but wouldn't be able to remember where I'd seen them or if I'd even talked with them. This is why I thoroughly enjoy networking sites, there's a lot of basic information at your fingertips for which you don't have to ask.

The good news is, it seems I've moved past my nostalgia for basic conversations and actually enjoyed myself last night. There are a lot of great women trying to join the group. On the Darden front, I should be meeting with an international student, who is in the Bay Area visiting his brother, tonight. It'll be nice to meet another classmate, but I'm hoping the night isn't late as I do have to go bridesmaid dress shopping tomorrow before my soccer game. See... busy. ;)

Not So Lazy Sunday, But Also, Not "Productive"

I'll admit, I miss the lazy Sundays. Those days when you honestly had nothing important to do and it could all wait until tomorrow. Today was definitely not one of those. Last night was the Spinsters Holiday Ball, which was indeed entertaining, but I "worked" more than I would have liked. The volunteers last night were helpful and yet, completely annoying at the same time. I had a person here and there not show up, but perhaps it worked for the better. Who knows? Afterwards, some friends and I did a little dancing at Bruno's in the Mission, then I carted everyone home and crashed around 3 am.

Although the sun is not rising at three, it is late considering I had to be up, yet again, at 7:30 am for soccer. I truly love and enjoy the sport of soccer, but sometimes I wonder if I should give myself a break. My hip flexor is still bothering me and after the tournament on Saturday, I'm sure the THREE games I played today didn't help. Additionally, I have returned home after a day playing in SF and I'm exhausted. At the rate I'm going, I'll probably be asleep by 8 pm. However, I STILL have not started my LBS essays and with each passing day, I have less enthusiasm to complete them. Granted, it's not required that I apply to another school in Round 2, as I have finished the rest of my applications in Round 1. Furthermore, if I apply at all, I want to put my best foot forward. All I need to do is sit down one night and get the first drafts complete, but like other applicants, I'm having trouble focusing. Even now, my shoulder aches as I type, and the thought of another 4 hours on the computer makes me sleepy.

I read and glance over various blogs in the student and applicant world of MBAs. Receiving my invite to interview at Darden has definitely made me excited, but knowing that I'm only waiting for an answer from BOTH Georgetown and Kellogg puts me on the verge of crazy. Ross noted that they can request an interview up until their decision deadline, but the more I hear about others interviewing, the more worried I get. Also, I have read that people are getting DINGs from Kellogg and actually a personal friend in SF, the only other person I actually know that is applying to business schools, received his DING. Three months ago I did not know what a DING was, and here I am discussing the logistics of one. I guess it's natural that you won't be accepted to every business school to which you apply. We often empathize with other applicants and sincerely wish them the best of luck, but truth is, we hope that luck is ours as well. I need to book my flight to Virginia for my interview and work out the details of my weekend in DC. I have close friends in DC and thought seeing I'm flying to the East Coast, I might as well make a trip out of it...

As much as I know I should start typing essays right now, I think I may change into some sweats that don't smell like soccer, turn on the tube and relax. Hopefully I can focus tomorrow.

Darden Interview

My heart skipped a beat, maybe it was two. Every time I open my Mac email, which has been set aside primarily for MBA contact, I take a deep breath and cross my fingers. With .Mac, you view the number of new messages before you can view who they are from. It's an added step, but over time, I've found that I like it. The enhancement of anticipation is almost welcoming, thought nerve wrecking.

Sure enough, today I opened my email to receive a Darden email message with "account status change". This is where the stomach locks, I had to look up my login information for the Darden website, the whole time praying, please please please, let this be good news. And for some reason, I thought it would be. I signed on and in the right hand corner it states: "Call/Hold for Interview". I released some pressure on my gut with a deep exhale. As I understand it, I have been invited to interview! WOW! By far, I was most happy with my Darden and Ross essays. Although the Darden essays were different, I thoroughly enjoyed the introspection they provided.

The interview is required to be held in Virginia - on campus, which I think is a good way to gage the interest of a candidate. There are set interview dates in December, before Christmas and in January, shortly after New Years. I kindly mentioned to my boss that I received an interview and he noted that January would be preferable because of our business.

I don't touch on work very often other than noting that I went to work, did something, and came home. I guess part of that is because I would hate someone searching for Ensemble to run across my personal blog. At one point, I changed my myspace profile because it would show up in a Google search - third from the top. I'll touch on work in another post, but the reason it is preferable for me to be here through Christmas is because the busiest time of year in our Philanthropic sphere is right before year-end. Conversely, year-end statements are our largest quarterly mailing of the year. It's a lot to ask to be gone for one if not two days.

On another note, I also got invited to be a member of the Membership Selection Committee for Spinsters, which in my opinion, is a high honor. :)

Politics of Leadership

There are different forms of leadership. There's leadership in the general sense of running things and being the pinnacle of an organization. There's behind the scenes leadership where one contributes to a goal without the transparency of seeing who is doing the work. Leadership is initiative, interaction, teamwork, guidance, organization, and prioritizing. It can be managing people, things, and general tasks. It's also inspiring/influencing peers to meet a goal. Leadership can also be creativity and encouragement.

There are tiers of leadership and one is just as important as the next. Someone may not be in charge but show characteristics of leadership. The important part to remember about leadership is that there is no single definition. And because of this, many people view leadership differently.

I started thinking about my event last night. Spinsters of San Francisco put on their first fall charity party of the 2007-2008 year. I am the hostess co-chair and thus organize a small group of hostesses for every event. I, along with my co-chair, report to a member of the Board. My co-chair and I decided that we would alternate who is running the committee at each event. The balance lets one of us work and the other have fun.

For the most part, I rarely stress. The benefits of stress simply aren't worth the hassle. However as the second shift began, I started to fluster. I had already gotten a cancellation and decided that I would simply step in for the shift. One of my hostesses was diligently early as was asked of her and I quickly gave her directions and a position. I tried calling the missing hostess a few times. Next I knew, my phone was ringing and the person was asking who this was. It was easy to tell that she was somewhere in the venue and with slight disdain, I snapped, "aren't you supposed to be hostessing?" I don't mean to sound forward or rude, but I feel we ask very little of our hostessing members. It's a required hour of their time that they choose and an extra 5 minutes we ask for that seriously helps me out.

Finally pulling myself together and relieving my old hostesses and replacing them with new ones, I tried to calm down. My board director asked how things were going and I commented, well, as long as I don't have to call people to show up for their shifts. Perhaps that was snooty of me, but it wasn't what I needed to make the night flow. She asked who, to which I replied I don't want to name names. She pulled the, I'm your board director, you have to tell me, so I did. Turns out she was friends with the girl. I quickly retreated to my post, a bit miffed that I said anything at all.

This is the other difficulty with leadership - politics. I don't care if you're my best friend, if you're supposed to be somewhere, I have no sympathy when you don't follow through on your obligations. As a leader, you have to think quick on your feet and often fill the empty holes of a project. I'm not about to burn a bridge over a power trip, but as college educated females, we should understand our commitments. Hostessing is the first impression that everyone gets of the Spinsters, we want it to be a good one so that they return for future parties.

Tarot

It's Sunday morning and logically I should be fast asleep, but instead I'm writing a blog. Tonight was the Spinsters Annual Ball. I took 4 fabulous dates and we had an unbelievable time. :D I also got my cards read. I'm not sure how much you believe in psychics, palm readings or tarot readings, but this was definitely a bit freaky. Three of us did the tarot reading and a few others opted for the palm reading. Besides putting your energy into the cards, the tarot card reader doesn't know anything about you. You place your feet flat on the floor and repeat your full name 3 times. You shuffle and remove 3 cards from the deck face down. The tarot reader lines the cards up. The majority of readings are done past, present, future, one card symbolizing each. There is an option to ask a question for each card, however the lack of privacy makes it a bit difficult to feel comfortable. The insight this woman had is incredible. Without going into too much detail the first card she turned, with me, she interpreted that I am very emotional, which is quite true. She also said that I don't always show emotion and people don't always know what's going on with me. This again, is quite true. I found it ironic that of all the cards I could have picked, I picked that one. Emotional is also a common trait of the Zodiac sign Cancer, which is the sign I was born. Each person identified closely with their reading, but I didn't feel they were too broad to be interpreted any way you wanted. My last card was the Chariot. The Chariot shows that you are going for something. You have convition to accomplish something and if you work hard enough, you will. Lately, this is me - work, study, gym. Accomplishing what I've put on hold for far too long.

Finally we each picked an angel card. Another form of learning a little about ourselves. Mine was Simplicity. And I'm definitely keeping it simple Overall a great night, but seeing it's 5 am, I should stop this and head to bed.

The Women of SF Spinsters

There's something empowering about being in a room with the creme de la creme. I'm not talking about millionaire CEOs. I'm talking about the highly sophisticated and motivated members of Spinsters of San Francisco. It's hard to believe that nearly one year ago, I was trying to join this organization that I knew very little about. I was looking for an in to meet new girlfriends and diversify my current "to-dos".

There are many ways to explain Spinsters. A post college sorority is an easy stereotype, but hardly describes these ladies in the proper light. Drinking in the name of charity is another quick way to exit the question - "what is a Spinster?" But honestly, that's hardly just or dignified. These ladies have drive. They are college educated, many with advanced degrees. They want to better our community on not only a city level, but a national level. These are the girls that become your best friends, accidentally. They push themselves, grad school, work, marathons, charity parties. They make the daunting tasks of bi monthly meetings something to look forward to. They are an inspiration to me, and I am grateful to be called one of them.

I walked into the Elks Lodge last night forgetting what the camaraderie of Spinsters truly means. It is not an organization for everyone, but I have been lucky enough to fall into the right crowd. I've been distant the past few months for many reasons, but none that I feel like pinpointing. The GMAT studying is consuming me right now, and will continue to do so for the next 6 weeks. But it's these ladies that help me remember why I joined Spinsters. I do enjoy hands-on philanthropy and bettering the world one child at a time, but walking into a room full of friends is a feeling hard to beat. Without missing a beat, you'll simply be asked how you are. It doesn't matter that you have "disappeared" from the forefront of once common rendez-vous. The important thing is you're there to talk, to laugh and to bond. Thus far, I can't explain what Spinsters means to me, but the experience has been one I treasure.