This entry is going to be brief but meaningful as it my last for MBA Diversity--at least for two years anyway. Since I'm off to Ghana and then to my first year at the Kennedy School, the abounding wisdom and insight I have to share with all of you is not the most relevant. However, it has been an exhilarating journey. I have been so thrilled to receive comments from other students of color currently pursuing graduate degrees, in the process of applying, or simply people just stopping by to give some encouragement. Although I wasn't an MBA Diversity Fellow per se, my involvement with the organization as a blogger definitely impacted my perspective while applying. On more than one occasion I stayed up late at night reading Marquis' Stanford GSB blog, gaining inspiration for my own MBA Journey. Thank you, Keisha Dawn, for providing such a great venue for students of color to draw strength, encouragement, and advice from one another.

I want to make myself available to those out there who are about to embark on the journey to their MBA--especially those applying right out of undergrad as well as to young women and students of color. Feel free to email me at Kaneisha@gmail.com and we can email back and forth or set up a time to talk (that is if you catch me before or after Ghana).

To read about my adventures in New York City, Ghana, and my first year at the Kennedy School, check out my blog at www.xanga.com/kaneisha_deeaun or click here.

I hope to hear from you. You'll certainly be hearing from me!

My arrival was a bit rocky. I spent a ridiculous hour-and-a-half in NYC traffic in a SuperShuttle from JFK Airport. Our driver held us captive in the shuttle forever as he inefficiently drove around in circles within a 5-mile radius dropping us off at our destinations in a seemingly random order.

A little frazzled but still excited, I arrived at my Midtown East apartment-style dorm, and dumped my stuff off. Although small, the room I share with my roommate Grace has a nice view and enough room for the both of us. My biggest complaint is that we don't have a full length mirror or a trash can. Anyway, I immediately discovered the 99 cent store across the street and headed there to buy cheap hangers and other first-day purchases. It was there that I experienced/witnessed my first NYC racially charged encounter. Basically, a Latino store employee was pestering a Black woman customer who was knocking things over during her frenzy of 99-cent shopping. Within five minutes, they exchanged a slew of horrendous racial epithets, and no one else in the store seemed to notice or care but me. It honestly reminded me of a scene from Crash. It wasn't pretty.

Saturday was my SEO Orientation and it was intense! Just to give you an idea of the hours, I left my apartment at 5:45 am and didn't get home until 9 pm! However, I can honestly say it was worth every minute. We had lots of phenomenal speakers that talked to us about survival in corporate America, the key to great networking, and the cultivation of outstanding work habits. SEO has extremely high standards, but from what the alumni have told us--and demonstrated through their success--is that the SEO Way definitely works. Some examples of SEO Philosophy is that we are expected to "work harder, faster, and ask for more" than the other employees at our firms. We are to arrive at least 20 minutes early to work and to every SEO engagement. We must make it a habit to be the first in, last out at work, receptions, etc. I was thrilled about getting SEO, but after being here and surrounded with 402 other amazing students of color has made me truly honored to be a part of SEO. I know that the lessons I am learning and the experiences, contacts, and friends I will gain through SEO will tremendously improve my readiness for graduate school.

My roommate Grace and I get along really well. We laugh a lot, have fairly similar socializing habits, and have plenty to talk about. She's doing the Accounting program in SEO, so we'll have a fairly similar work schedule.

I start work tomorrow, and I'm really excited!

Hi, everyone! Since I haven't quite figured out how to include real pictures, I thought I might give you a peek at my oh-so-cute avatar. That's pretty close to what I look like, and once I figure out how to get pictures on here, I will surely start prettying up this blog.

So I graduated! It was wonderful taking a ridiculous amount of pictures with my friends and family, and my dinner--while a bit hectic--was also very nice. Click here to see some pictures! I was also honored to win a number of awards. I received the Black Studies Dept. Prize as well as the prize for the Outstanding Thesis in Black Studies. I was also awarded the Ada May Fitts prize, which is awarded annually to "a woman member of the graduating class for outstanding intellectual leadership and influence on other students at the College". I was really honored because the award comes from a nomination by your peers. Overall, my three graduation prizes ended up being a $1000! This is really great, because I wasn't even expecting this money and now my savings account is replenished from a year of too much shopping. Although it was really hard at times, going to Pomona was a really great choice for me. If anyone has family members in the college admissions process, Pomona College is a great place for them to consider.

Saying goodbye to my boyfriend was hard, but I'll see him in no less than 53 days--not that I'm counting or anything. We've embarked on the dreaded long distance relationship, and it hasn't been easy so far. Kevin's 8-5 work schedule combined with the 2-hour time difference makes talking on the phone a little of a hassle. I need to get in the swing of doing all the romantic activities that the guidebooks to long distance relationships suggest. It'll be like we're courting again. (Yes, I said courting)

The drive home from school with my dad was fun. It seemed to drag on towards the end, but we enjoyed snacking on convenience store food, commenting on the desert scenery, and trying to see who could hover around 10 miles above the speed limit the best. One of my favorite games we played was "Let's try and get wireless internet." Once one of us got connected, we would try and drive near whatever source we thought was transmitting the signal. My main interest in getting internet access was that I was waiting for my decision from Stanford GSB.

After multiple failed attempts at driving alongside the FedEx truck to check my email, I finally called my boyfriend and asked him to check for me. It was a no. I figured as much since I hadn't received a phone call from them. Basically, they admitted very few applicants from the waitlist this round. I was disappointed only minutely. It was more of a satisfaction of my curiosity of whether or not I got in. I'd been encouraged to keep my options open, and now I know for sure that Stanford is not an option.

So it's final! I'll be going to HBS for Business School, while also pursuing a joint MPP degree at the Kennedy School of Government. I'm glad to finally have it decided, and now the next step on my B-school journey is to get it paid for! I plan on applying to the Zuckerman Fellowship which is a generous full-tuition scholarship (with a stipend!) for joint degree students between KSG and other graduate schools. I was a semifinalist for this one before I had to withdraw my application. Since you can't defer funding like that, I was applying in the wrong year. I also applying to the Reynolds Fellowship, which is also full-tuition with a stipend for students interested in social entrepreneurship. Since I wrote my thesis on social entrepreneurship and won a prize for it, I'm very hopeful about my candidacy.

So now that I'm home, I've been spending time with my family, my friends, and preparing for NYC. I found out that I will actually be interning at both ABFE (Association of Black Foundation Executives) and HIP (Hispanics in Philanthropy). They're in the same building, so that facilitates collaboration. I contacted Dan, the intern who worked there last year, and he was absolutely in love with the place. He gave me the very good news that I will have great two great bosses, my assignments will be interesting, and that I get free lunch everyday! My housing at the School of Visual Arts is also a mere .4 miles from my internship, so it's really just the best thing ever. I am really excited about this summer. I think it's going to be great.

Shopping for work clothes has been an adventure. Although I consider myself pretty fashionable, I really did not know what was appropriate for work! I bought a whole wardrobe of clothes and had 80% of the items vetoed by my friend Kevin Curry who has been in the work world for a few years, knows my sense of style, and is young enough for me to listen to his advice on work attire. However, yesterday I had a very successful shopping day at Target, Gap, and Old Navy buying high-quality and cute clothes for work. Part of the issue is that I have very full thighs and a fairly small waist, so clothes that fit my waist were stretched thinly (and apparently inappropriately) around my thighs. Thanks to Gap's Curvy line, I found pants that flatter my figure. Now all I need to buy is shoes and belts.

By my next entry, I will be living it up in New York City!

My boyfriend also came down for one night, and we went to the San Diego Zoo with my friend Martie, who is a “travel agent” and got us a fatty discount on the pricey $32 admission tickets. The three of us had a great time ogling the giant pandas, gorillas, and elephants (Did you know that the way to distinguish African and Asian elephants is that the African elephants have the large, floppy ears and the Asian ones do not?). Now I’m back on campus, and it’s time to pack up my room, spend my last few precious days with my boyfriend, and get ready for my family’s arrival and my college graduation.

Some more exciting news is that I finally received my firm placement for SEO, my summer internship. I’ll be interning at ABFE (Association of Black Foundation Executives) and HIP (Hispanics in Philanthropy). I had to do some investigation to figure out what the acronym ABFE stood for, and in my search, I found an article written by Dan, a junior at Harvard who interned there with SEO last summer. Hopefully, Dan can give me some insider tips on what it was like to intern there, and I especially want to know what the dress code is. For our weekly seminars and any kind of all-intern gathering, the dress code is business formal, meaning suits in no other colors than black, navy blue, or gray. It would be really great to know that I don’t have to go out and buy 5 suits (one for each day and then start all over again) when I will surely not be wearing them in Ghana, and I am really excited about the prospect of going out and buying cute (and professional) business attire.

Another really wonderful thing about my interning at ABFE is that it is a mere .4 miles from my apartment, meaning that I can walk to work, and save loads of money on transportation. It also means that I don’t have to completely free myself of my horrible habit of going back to my room several times for forgotten items. My job is less than half a mile from my job! I am so excited about living in NYC this summer in my air conditioned apartment that is half a mile from my job.

Today I had a delightful lunch with Shobha, a second-year here at Pomona who heard about my getting into HBS and wanted to talk about applying to Business School. It’s funny—among all the advice I was giving her, I didn’t tell her to read my blog and follow my journey! It looks like I need to do more to market myself and our website in general. I’ll be sure to let her know to check it out, and then she’ll be really excited when she sees this paragraph all about our lunch! Anyway, I was really excited to hear about her interests and accomplishments, and I am excited about keeping in touch with her throughout her own MBA journey. If she continues to be assertive and as ambitious as she was in finding me and having the talk that we did, she’ll surely seek out and gain the experiences and support needed to get in as an undergrad.

I will receive my grades tomorrow, and that’s when I’ll draft my “I’m still interested! Let me in!” letter to Stanford GSB. I’m not sure if waiting this long to communicate my interest will negatively affect my candidacy, but I will be able to wow them with excellent grades and the fact that I won First Place for the Outstanding Black Studies Thesis award! I was very honored, and the award made me even more proud of my work. I got to present my thesis and read the introduction at a fancy and intimate awards banquet of Black Studies faculty and staff. The ceremony was short and squeezed in a very busy day for me, but it made me feel very special and reminded me of how many people have helped me accomplish my goals and pursue my dreams.

For those of you out there reading, whether it’s today May 10, two months from now, or two years from now when I’m starting my MBA, thanks for following my journey and I’m excited about continuing to share it!

My thesis is done!!! Just to remind you, it is titled "Sisterhood Agenda: Black Women, Feminism, and Social Entrepreneurship." It was really exciting to finally get it bound and to know that I had written a little book. There are lots of things I could do to improve it and to make it just that much better, but it jsut had to end at some point, and I am very satisfied with the end product. I would be very excited to continue working on it in the future.

I mailed off my University of Ghana application. I'm applying to the MA in African Studies, which would be a wonderful complement to my Black Studies undergraduate major. I could finish it in a year, and also take advantage of being in Ghana to learn more about African history, politics, culture, and philosophy. I have a wonderful contact in Accra, Ghana who has been helping me through the application process. She's a Rotary scholar from Japan, who is doing a Masters at UG right now. I'm crossing my fingers that my application will arrive to her apartment in the next few days and she can walk it over to the admissions office and seal the deal for me. I will be supremely disappointed if my application doesn't make it to Ghana by some mailing mishap. I didn't make copies of my materials nor did I get any kind of mail tracking service, so it will be completely on me if the application doesn't get there. Let's just hope it does!

I've gotten my graduation dinner invitations printed and handed out! Now it's time to wait for the RSVPs to trickle in and for me to debut my Wish List, an elaborate PowerPoint presentation that highlights my top choices for graduation presents. I got the idea from my boyfriend, who is even more picky than I am about gifts. Hopefully, it will be well received and useful to my guests. It's been fun making it, and it will be even more fun getting the presents!

Yesterday, I made a whopping $160 selling my junk at the 2nd Annual Senior Sale at my college. It was really fun convincing my fellow classmates that they desperately needed my stuff. My girl Shadiah and I definitely made more money than anyone else, and we also had the tables closest to the free food at the BBQ put on by the RAs. It was fun and very profitable. I know B-school is much more sophisticated than lessons in hustling, but working the yard sale definitely made me excited about learning the ins and outs of Business Administration.

At my college, classes end a week early for the seniors, and the tradition is to rent a house on the beach in San Diego to lounge on the beach and party our last week of college away. I'm really excited about my house, which will house 7 fabulous people and several guest stars who will pop in and out throughout the 4 days we'll be in San Diego. We are definitely a group of people with very strong personalities, so my goal is to try and be as laid back and relaxed as possible so as not to contribute to any potential explosions or showdowns. I was in charge of budgeting our money, so I opened up a checking account with my friend Zack to collect everyone's cash. Zack and I figured that for $350, we'd provide an all-inclusive package for the 4 days which would be all-you-can-eat-and-drink and housing. To be honest, I'm most excited about the food and drinks, the board games, reading on the beach, and screaming at the TV screen while we watch bad movies.

On that note, I need to go study for my Math test and finish up that PowerPoint, so I can be completely carefree by the time Senior Week rolls around and it's time for cocktails and beach BBQs.

I know I'm having a graduation dinner, but I don't know how many guests will be there. Nor do I know how to tell people that I really want gifts... Maybe they read my blog!

I know that I'll be interning in NYC this summer, but I still haven't received my foundation placement for the summer. I don't know when to book my ticket to and from New York for. As the days slip away, I can almost hear the whoosh as the plane ticket prices continue to escalate.

I know that my boyfriend is going to come visit me in NYC this summer, but I don't know how long nor where he/we can stay. I know he's going to come visit me in Ghana, but the questions of when and for how long linger in that regard as well...

I know that I'm going to spend next year in Ghana, but I don't know where I'll be living or what courses I will be taking. I recently received the application in the mail, and 2 of my 3 recs have come in, but I still have to send it off, wait for it to arrive, and then wait for my notice of acceptance.

I know that I need to be in Ghana by the start of the semester, but when exactly is that, when can I buy my plane ticket, and how much later after the start of the semester can I arrive if I need just another week or two at home?

I know that no matter what I am going to the Kennedy School of Government MPP program after Ghana. But how am I going to pay for it? Will I be awarded one of those amazing fellowships from the Kennedy School? Will I snag the fabulous Jack Kent Cooke fellowship? Or will I graduate from Harvard with over $100,000 worth of debt and no full-time work experience?

I know that I'm going to Business School after that, but I'm back to not knowing which one. I accepted a place on the waiting list for Stanford, and I feel good about doing so. I was advised by mentors to keep my options open, and it seemed like I should see what Stanford thought about my candidacy before I took myself out of the running. I'll find out my new status by May 15.

My "You've been waitlisted" letter said that it was appropriate to send a letter reiterating my interest in the school, so I know I should definitely do that. I'm just not sure what to put in it--or which new accomplishments I have to share. I would certainly count getting in to HBS and KSG as a huge accomplishment, but I'm not sure that's what they want to hear about. I'm doing pretty well in both Econ and Calc (got B's on the second midterms--which I'm happy with), and I'm thinking I'll get my Econ prof to write me a letter of recommendation extolling my many virtues and skills in quantitative reasoning...

I don't like this fuzzy place of knowing and not knowing. I've been incredibly fortunate and honored with one wonderful opportunity after another, but it's becoming a lot to keep up with. I find myself worrying about things that are far less urgent than the tasks I am avoiding. Perhaps it's my subconscious attempt to slow down and gain control of what is feeling like an increasingly planned-out future. Maybe it's my tried-and-true habits of procrastination until the final wire because I always know things will work out somehow.

It's the last weekend to work on my thesis, and that's another unsure surety hanging in the air. Having worked with my advisor many times, I am pretty confident I will get an A on my thesis, but I'm also scared that it's confusingly somewhat neoconservative underpinnings (I don't know how that happened! Sorry, fellow progressives!) will compromise my grade. Of course I'm going to graduate, but Mr. Perfectionism is still tugging at the bottom of my gauchos. (I imagine him as a short leprechaun-like man with big, beseeching eyes...)

It's definitely time for bed. I've got lots of writing (and worrying) to do.

I took a three-hour nap and watched an hour of Sex and the City with my hilarious friend Martie. Yes, I still have my thesis to work on, but that is coming along nicely, and I think I will be able to finish stress-free (which is a big accomplishment for me). So far, I have about 39 of the 60 required pages, and it's due on April 21. So I have 11 days to write 21 pages which comes out to roughly 2 pages a day--which is completely doable. My aim is to write a whole 8 pages between tonight and tomorrow night, so that would dramatically reduce the workload. We'll see...

I finally received my application from the University of Ghana, which means that I am very possibly going to receive a MA in African Studies! That would be crazy, because then I'd end up with 3 Masters by the age of 26. I'm definitely not trying to collect degrees, but I'm really excited about all three programs. I don't know how excited I'll be about all three Masters theses. As much as I've enjoyed working on my thesis this semester, I'm definitely confident and ready to do another one (hopefully shorter...)

So I plead my case to the powers that be at both the Kennedy and the Business School at Harvard, and I was successful at getting the tuition deposit waived at the B-school, which is a big $1000 relief. I will be sending in both confirmations very soon. Three years in the Northeast, here I come! I'm excited about Winter coat shopping and there's also the much bigger deal of the apartment hunt. Luckily, I'll have three close friends going to Harvard before I get there, so they can do some preliminary scouting for me.

Soon it will also be time to make arrangements for flying to NYC for my summer internship with SEO. I have housing (yay!), but I've yet to find out which foundation I'll be working for. I'm anxious and hesitant at the same time to buy my flight to NYC because I'm not entirely sure when my intership actually starts. I want to give myself at least a FEW days at home before I leave for NYC and I definitely want to have at least a week at home before I leave to Ghana. I'm sure I'll know more very soon, and the key is to not go Googling around, worrying myself to death about it (what I'm really good at).

It's also time to send out graduation invitations, which has actually turned into a predicament. I really want to send out evites, but my mom says that's tacky (and Lord knows I would hate to look tacky!), and I don't want to deter people from buying me fabulous graduation gifts with a tacky invitation (I'm only half-kidding. I am banking on graduation gifts to replenish my bank account and to buy my suits I need for my job this summer). Therefore, I've gone a few steps above tacky (didn't quite make it to elegant) and I've decided to use the cards from my Jazz Series Faith Ringgold set, which I love, and really need to use before they get swallowed up in the moving process. So it's settled. I'll be using a somewhat unrelated card to announce my graduation party, but that's what it's going to be.

I'll go all out on the invitations when it's the announcement of my graduation from Harvard! Okay, it's time to reward myself with a Snickers bar and write some more of my thesis.

My HBS interview was short and sweet. It was 30 minutes and with a friendly woman. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I stayed calm, confident, and brought in a revised ONE-PAGE version of my resume. (Note to undergrads: As much as you want to pack in all the great stuff you've done--especially to show that you can compete with the big kids--just keep it to one page. Really.) Would they want me to know the latest trends and news in the Business World? Would I have to work through a case? My interviewer was intimately familiar with my application. She asked me very specific questions about my plans, preferences for the order of my joint degree, and also listened to my reflections about my own candidacy. Her specific questions required specific, confident answers, which I was excited to be able to give. I left the interview feeling extremely confident about my candidacy and excited to join HBS.

And I got in!!! I've been elated since the day I got the email saying I would join the Class of 2010. Yes, B-school will not begin for me until 2008--after a year in Ghana as a Rotary Fellow and a year at the Kennedy School (which I am also thrilled to have gotten in to). I feel like a superstar.

But what about Stanford? Well, my interview was with a young, energetic, and admirable Latina who graduated recently. We met at the Chado Tea Room, an elegant locale that people come and have afternoon tea. It started off a little rocky, because I showed up a whole HOUR AND A HALF early (at least I was early rather than late). I read a few of the many magazines the tea room had on hand and waited patiently. After traveling back from my HBS interview, my computer's clock had gotten very confused and reset my appointments in my Outlook Calendar. Anyway, my Stanford GSB interview was very different. It was in-depth and more interactive. She was not as familiar with my application (I'm not even sure if she had any info on me besides my resume). Her questions required reflection on past experiences, and an ability to articulate to her the varied reasons why I would be a valuable contributor to the Stanford GSB community. I could hear myself talking A LOT and I was pretty confident that I gave honest, insightful, mature answers. However, I didn't feel AS CONFIDENT about my candidacy.

And I was waitlisted--which is still a really big deal because I might actually get in. I'm wavering back and forth between accepting a place on the waitlist and not. I haven't visited Stanford GSB and it may be a better program for me in its smallness and West Coastness and its wonderful Stanfordness.

However, staying at one institution for the 3 years is also very attractive. Spending 3 semesters each on two opposite coasts doesn't sound that great. I feel that I would be overextending myself trying to get to know two different communities in such a short period of time. Harvard also seems to have a lot more fellowships available (or maybe they do a better job at advertising them...)

So my mind is kind of already made up. I definitely don't want to just take a place on the waitlist for an ego-trip because that's ridiculous and might take someone's spot. I will decide by the end of this week and go on from there. I'm pretty much thinking it's going to be Harvard though! Two really exciting things about my going to the Kennedy School is that two of my very best friends in the whole world, Shadiah Sigala and Kevin Curry will be there. I am so blessed to have two essential members of my support network so close to me in my future!

I went to the Recent Admit reception in LA for the So-Cal admits to the MPP program at the Kennedy School. Not only was it fun, every single person there (with the exception of one person) was a person of color--including alumni, admissions and financial aid directors, and admits! I was delighted. However, I also had a great conversation with a current MPP student at Harvard who let me know that the numbers of African-American students are pretty similar to that of my undergrad--PITIFUL, though a ridiculously wonderful group of people. I hope that more initiatives like MBA Diversity can draw more students of color into the top schools like Harvard and the other schools that sponsor the organization. There are just too many wonderful, talented, intelligent students of color in this country whose potential gets eclipsed by challenges that they have little control over.

I certainly look forward to using the rest of my life to be an agent for social change so that people who look like me will be a part of the norm rather than the exception. Thanks for reading!

What's next: applying to the University of Ghana for my fellowship year, hearing back from Harvard regarding my fee waivers for the oh-so-high tuition deposits, what my boyfriend KT is doing next year (and how I fit in), and finishing up my last few weeks of college...

I visited a class, Real Properties, about Real Estate which wasn't that outstanding, but it was a visiting prof and the first session, so I'm sure it will get better--and if it doesn't, it's only a half-course. I really enjoyed the class atmosphere and think I would fit in really well both at the Kennedy and Government schools. I have absolutely loved my visit here.

A wonderful and wild coincidence is that the student who conducted my Info Session was Will Hsu, fellow blogger for MBA Diversity! When he said his name, it struck me as familiar, but it wasn't until he mentioned working with MBA Diversity that it clicked. I was so delighted to get to meet him in person! He seems to have loved his two years at HBS, and has his whole post-grad plan worked out nicely.

While on my Harvard visit, I've also met two fabulous women who did SEO during their college years, and it was so encouraging to see SEO alumni doing fabulously and commenting on the greatness of the program. I am so happy to have been offered the job. I'm excited to hear about where I'll be working.

I'm still contemplating the benefits of working for a few years, so I am just going to wait until I hear back from schools until I start thinking about it too much. Priority right now is to make good grades, make progress on my thesis, and get ready for my Spring Break trip to Brazil with my honey!

Yes! I received not one—but TWO—interview invitations in one day! I was invited to interview with both Stanford and Harvard. I’m days behind in sharing my good news with all of you, because I’ve been so overwhelmed with making travel arrangements that I haven’t gotten around to writing. But here it is.

My Stanford interview is yet to be scheduled. It’s with an alum, who lives nearby, so that’s nice. I’ve already emailed her to request an interview time, but I’ve yet to hear from her. She might be getting a call from me in the next few days…

As for Harvard, I have to go all the way to Boston to interview, so I decided to make the absolute most of the trip, and visit both the Kennedy School and the Business School (remember that I’m a dual degree candidate). So I’ll be in Boston from Sunday March 5 through Wednesday March 8, and my interview is on Tuesday. The wonderful people at the Kennedy School have already found me a student host for the day I’m spending visiting their school, so I already feel very welcome and excited about the trip. One drawback is that I have to incur all the expenses of the trip. I’m definitely not used to that. I’m looking into staying with a friend’s parents during my time there, and hopefully getting my school to cover my flight. After all, what kind of amazing publicity would it be for Pomona College to get to say that one of their graduating seniors made it right into Harvard Business School?!

Stop getting bored. The good news isn’t over. Just two days ago, I was notified that I am a semifinalist for the Zuckerman Fellowship at Harvard which provides full tuition and a substantial stipend for dual degree candidates! Of course I’m elated, and I hope to get it, but I’m also being realistic and not working myself into a frenzy.

Whether I make it past the interview round for Stanford, Harvard, or the oh-so-exciting fellowship, I will have had a great experience applying. With my Rotary fellowship next year coming up, I feel little stress (well “little stress” for me) regarding my graduate school candidacy. I have a whole year to reapply if it doesn’t work out.

Right now, I’m on a flight to Chicago, because the International Youth Volunteerism Summit on Social Entrepreneurship at Northwestern University is tomorrow! (Was that a long title or what?) The website is pretty amazing, so you should check it out. I’m psyched about spending several days dialoging and hanging out with other undergrads who are interested in the elusive field of “social entrepreneurship.” I wonder if I’ll meet anyone else who is looking into Public Policy or Business School. This conference is supposed to be very high-tech, so I think we’ll be using our laptops lots during the weekend, so I’ll try and sneak an entry in.

What else is on my plate? The boyfriend and I are still trying to pull our Brazil Spring Break trip together. I made the treacherous drive into LA to submit my visa application today, and I’m glad that’s over. However, KT (that’s the acronym for the boyfriend—not that he’s some famous person who needs his identity hidden) is having lots of trouble with getting his passport back, so I, always the worrywart, am anxious about him getting it in time for him to get his visa. He keeps telling me it will be ok, so I’ll just try to let some of his cool-headedness rub off on me.

We’re still looking for summer housing in NYC. Is there anyone out there who wants to sublet to a cute young couple….? Our best bet looks like International House which is in Morningside Heights and offers some affordable and appealing offers. The only catch is that for KT and I to apply together for one of the apartments, we both have to show proof of being a student with a full-time job, which he has yet to be able to prove. Some wonderful people are looking out for jobs for him, but most of the contractual work he’s looking at starts immediately, so it’s kind of a last-minute deal kind of thing. I guess it will work out like things always do.

Thesis is going well. I’ve really gotten into reading for it, which has been enlightening and enjoyable. However, the more I read, the more sources I find to read, so I’m going to have to start writing very very soon. Speaking of, I think I’m off to do some reading.

I’ll be writing more consistently in these next months (I’ll use blogging as a break from thesis writing). Lots should be happening, so keep up!

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...

And then I finished my applications. It was fairly painless. An hour before my application was due, one of my HBS recs still hadn't been turned in, and there was a lot of short-term freaking out on my part. But I called Harvard, and they kindly told me that they would still consider me in Round 2 whether that last rec came in or not. It did eventually come in, and I could breathe again.

I ended up translating a 17-page research paper I wrote in Spanish while studying abroad in Cuba, because I was dead-set on submitting the optional writing sample to the Harvard MPP program. Then I had a ten-minute bout with anxiety because I feared that my ambiguous position on socialism in Cuba might make me look anti-American or something. Then, I realized that the Kennedy School of Government would never be so short-sighted and biased to let me in or not let me in because of what they suspect my political beliefs might be. Wow, Dubya's Homeland Security and such has really left an impression on people. It has me questioning whether I should have submitted a project I worked really hard on...

It's now that last week of my Winter Break where most of my Austin friends have returned to school far away, and for some curious reason, my Austin friends that are still here don't want to spend EVERY SINGLE MINUTE with me like my best friends Leah and JJ do, so that's been an adjustment. My house shuts down at 10 pm, since my parents and sister have work and school, and thus begins my quiet night-life where I write carefully crafted emails, watch hours of TV, surf the web looking up stuff like, "Who played the Oompa Loompah in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?" and then being like, "Wow! Why was he born in Nairobi?"

Thank God I still have an hour of Sex and the City left on my Netflix DVD. I also have a movie I want to see, but it just seems really deperessing and not like something I want to watch at night by myself.

Life in Austin seems like it would be way better if I had my car here, but I don't think so. I enjoy not driving, and not having my car forces me to slow down a bit and just chill out. Spending time with my family has been nice, but they all go to bed three hours before I'm even thinking about going to sleep. Maybe I should take up night-time yoga or knitting or meditation. Something that will keep me from watching hours and hours of TV and wanting to eat just because I'm bored.

Maybe some comments from my readers would keep me occupied! Until next time...

I've rewritten 6 of my 7 Harvard essays, and they have come out much better than the first or even the second drafts--which I lost due to computer error if you're just now tuning in.

I've yet to start on my Stanford essays, so that needs to happen TOMORROW. I've been feeling kind of antsy because communication with my recommenders has been pretty erratic, and I fear that they won't get my recs in on time. I think I'd do much better by worrying about what I have control over, however.

My friends and I are going out to our friend Zack's house for New Year's. I'm glad I won't be downtown with the crazy crowds and risking my life coming home at 4 am with all the drunk drivers. Hopefully, we can even sneak and crack a few firecrackers while we're out there--since it is a rural area. Well... this is Texas, and I certainly don't want to start any wildfires, so maybe we'll just stick to cocktails and karaoke.

I'm feeling better about my applications than I was a few days ago. Now's it's a matter of time of writing great essays ad getting all these applications in on time.

I had a great Christmas, and my plan of officially celebrating Kwanzaa didn't really happen, but I do know that today's principle is Ujima, Collective Work and Responsibility, so let's all work together and send me positive energy, because tomorrow I take the dreaded GMAT.

Now, I've always thought of myself as a great standardized test taker, but the GMAT has been my Achille's hill. Can you believe that today I took a 3-hour online practice test and I made the EXACT SAME SCORE as I did on my diagnostic test four months ago!? Now that just don't make sense--after four months of studying. I guess I really should have taken a class.

No use crying about it now. I'll go in there, take the test, come out and keep on working on those apps.

I cannot imagine how hectic and overwhelming it must be to apply to 5-10 schools. I am drowning with just Harvard and Stanford.

I am so lucky that I have a year already planned out. I'd be chewing off my fingernails out of anxiety if I didn't already know I had something lined up for next year.

Sometimes I think it will be embarrassing if I get dinged by both Harvard and Stanford--in front of my hordes of blog readers, right?--but then I remember how young I am, how I'll get really valuable feedback, and how everything works itself out somehow.

One exciting thing is that I found out that I'm a semifinalist for the TV and Radio Broadcasting internship in NYC I applied for. I have to submit another app by Jan. 16 to see if I become a finalist. I feel confident--and excited!

One major setback in my application process is that I wrote all seven of my Harvard essays in one document and LOST THEM ALL. Yes, I did. I'm still getting used to my laptop, and I guess I didn't understand how the whole sleep/hibernation/shutdown situation works added with my impatience with Microsoft Word's autorecovery system, so I probably just told it, "No I don't need it!" and lost my essays.

I was really devastated at first and then I figured that maybe my THIRD drafts would be spectacular. Let's hope I at least get them written.

Whew! I have a long way to go. I think it will be great once I get there.