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February 09, 2006
Some big developments...
So it's been a ridiculously long time since I submitted an entry (almost one month exactly), and I'm not sure why. I think part of it is that so many great things have been happening lately, I'm a little overwhelmed by it all. Part of it is also that I got really discouraged when I received my grades in the mail. They were my worst ones yet of college! It was bad... After I finished freaking out about how I'll never get into graduate school, I realized that I seriously needed to cut down on my commitments and focus on school. So I've decided to do just that, and things are working out much better these days. However, before I dive into a lecture about balancing school and extracurricular activities, I want to share some exciting developments in my life:
One of the most exciting of the "developments" is I've met someone very special, who we'll just call Kevin T. for now (so that the hordes of people who follow my blog don't start stalking him), and he's snuck into my life in a wonderful way, and is now my boyfriend. What does that have to do with your MBA Journey?, you might be asking.
Well, we met at the Annual KPMG PhD Conference that I went to back in November. I never thought I'd see him again, but we became email friends, went on several dates, and decided that it was okay to call each other boyfriend and girlfriend. And so it is.
He's an MBA from Cal Poly Pomona (the school everyone thinks I go to), and is now pursuing a PhD in Management or Marketing--whichever will allow him to focus on Entrepreneurship. Besides being really handsome, fun, and smart, he's been a great support to me on my MBA journey in the time that we've known one another. He also has a love for and a calling to live in NYC which is always a great point of connection for me.
Another wonderful development is that I got the job with SEO! I am so excited, I can't even stand it. I interviewed with them in late January, and felt much more confident about the whole process. I bought a cute suit instead of a frumpy one like last year, got a great pep talk from one of my mentors, and researched the foundations I might be placed at more thoroughly than I did last year. The interview went really well, and I left it feeling very confident. Two weeks later, I received a call that I was being offered the job. It is such a great feeling to have been selected, because I applied to the position last year and didn't get it. And now, a year later, my dream is coming to fruition.
Of course, I plan on taking the job, and I can't wait to live in NYC this summer. For those of you undergrads of color considering applying to SEO (and I highly recommend doing so), I give the following advice:
1) Apply in the First Round if at all possible. Even if they don't interview you during the First Round of acceptances (as what happened to me), your having applied early will stand out in a good way.
2) Do as much research about the position(s) you're applying for as possible. Go on SEO's website, the websites of the partner firms, and track down and find SEO alumni who did the same position you did. As tiny as the Philanthropy program is every year (~14 people), I found two people to talk to--one of whom I had a lengthy phone conversation with that turned out to be very helpful.
3) Take quantitative courses such as Statistics, Economics, and Calculus. Although not every position states these as prerequisites, courses such as these will be relevant to any position you take with SEO and you will surely be competing with people who have extensive backgrounds in one or more of these subjects. Make sure you at least have one of each of these courses. They will also position you well when it comes to applying to an MBA--especially if you don't do exceptionally well on the Quant portion of the GMAT.
I don't yet know my firm placement, but I'll be excited to work at any of SEO's partner firms. It's going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity where I expect to grow tremendously, meet some great people, and gain some valuable skills and experiences.
Another happy happening in my life is that Kevin T. and I have decided to go to Brazil! I hesitantly approached him about the idea of us going somewhere for my Spring Break, and he busted out with, "That sounds great! Let's go to Brazil!" So off we go. To make it even better, my mom offered to pay for my plane ticket as a graduation present, so it's pretty much a free trip for me! I love to travel--especially to countries of the African Diaspora, so I'm very grateful and excited to have this opportunity. We'll be in Rio de Janeiro for 9 days and Sao Paulo for 2. I'll take lots of pictures and ask Marquis how to post them on the blog.
One last piece of news is that I applied to participate in Northwestern's First Annual International Youth Volunteerism Summit in Volunteerism and Social Entreprenership. Basically, they're bringing together 50 undergraduates as well as philanthropists, entrepreneurs, and artists to go to workshops on a variety of related topics all in the name of international volunteerism and social entrepreneurship. One of the most exciting things is that at the end of the conference, the organizers are going to fund one of our proposed social ventures with a $10,000 grant! Of course it would be fantastic to win that for my Street Girls in Ghana project, but just having the experience of attending this conference will be really wonderful. It's Feb. 23-26, so it's coming up very soon!
Another development that isn't quite as exciting is that I've finally surrendered and will be writing a thesis. I concoted so many schemes to get around it, but finally realized that the easiest way to graduate is to just do a daggone thesis. So I've decided to make it as relevant to my graduate school applications as possible so that if it doesn't work out this time around, I will have a great research experience to add to my credentials. My working title is: "Sisterhood Agenda: Black Women, Feminism, and Social Entrepreneurship." It's quite the excellent blend of my current academic, professional, and personal interests, so I'm actually really looking forward to working on it. 60 pages of writing, here I come!
For those of you who are curious, I'm taking Senior Thesis, Microecon, Calculus, and Daughters of Africa: Art, Cinema, Theory, Love in my last semester of college. I'm not sure if it's cutting out some of my extracurricular activities or having a more balanced courseload (between quantitative and qualitative courses), but I feel much more on top of my work, and like I can really graduate with a bang and maybe distract people away from my bad grades last semester with a stunning array of all A's.
Decisions come out in late March... We'll see...
Posted by kaneisha at February 9, 2006 03:47 PM
Comments
Hi! I just stumbled across your blog when I googled IRTS because I too applied for the summer fellowship. I was just wondering if you recieved notification as to if you are a finalist or not. I'm anxiously awaiting a response and I just wanted to see if they sent out any e-mails yet.
Posted by: Pamela at February 9, 2006 08:35 PM
You are inspiration personified.
Posted by: Kevin T at February 10, 2006 05:20 PM