Back to School, Again.

Yes, I even entered the school via a musical number.



My last post was in January and after reading through it, I realized that I had talked about going for my Masters. As funny as that is, I am actually now in a Masters program. This happened back in May when I finally hit my wall of regret and discontent and decided to go pursue an MBA. The first step was the G.M.A.T. and let me tell you, I wasn't good at the S.A.T. back in high school and I wasn't very good at the G.M.A.T. back in June. Regardless, I got a 520 and my preferred school only required an average of 500. Check one.

The second part was applying to a graduate school and thankfully I had a strong resume, application, and letters of references. So it was just a matter of submitting and waiting, but after 3-4 weeks, I got my letter of acceptance! I was now an MSU-inite? So fast forward to September and I've already begun my first two classes (Accounting for Managers and Achieving Competitive Advantages) and have successfully sat through over 4 classes. For those who don't know, I had anxiety attacks back in my undergraduate which resulted in me having to drop out. Just being able to sit in the classroom is a big achievement on my part and I'm finally starting to get over a fear that has crippled me (in a few ways) for the last 7 years.

I actually enjoy the program and there are perks associated with it. First, I got an iPAD 2...and I LOVE it! Secondly, the structure is a cohort style, meaning that I will be with the same 30 people for the next two years. For me, it relieves a lot of stress of having to deal with new people and since I've already told them about my anxiety, I don't have to keep retelling people every new class. The program is two years and even though I'll graduate with an MBA at the end of the summer of 2014, I will still be in school for a few more classes. The reason is because I am also pursuing a double concentration in both Marketing and Management.

While I'm excited to finally start taking steps to help me get into marketing, I am missing my free time. No comics, no hanging out, and very little TV. However, I have made a decision to quit these hobbies for the next two years so I can concentrate on my classes and getting a good grade. But, I feel I should stress that I am not looking to get a 4.0 (although I do welcome it). One thing I did with my undergraduate through Phoenix was I studied just hard and long enough to write my papers or take exams. Once the class was over, I took all that information out of my head. This time around, the grade is coming second to me. I want to retain the knowledge I learn and could care less between a B or an A, as long as I understand the material.

On the personal side, I'm approaching my 1-year wedding anniversary (how nuts is that?! and love you wifey!) and yeah....that's about it. I hope to post more moving forward, but we'll see how that works out. Homework comes first :-D

Do you want to work for an insurance company?

What can I say? I've been working out...and losing my hair?

Neither do I! Yet, when I put my resume out on the web, the insurance companies are the first ones to respond back to me. "We think you'd be great" or "We have a wonderful opportunity for you". Sure, your resume states you want marketing and nowhere did it even imply you would want more customer service, but that's what you're gonna get!

Is it just me or is it incredibly hard to find a potential job that meets your goals? I have been looking a little more aggressively for a marketing job. This could be market research, market analyst, media marketing, anything! Yet, all I keep getting calls about are customer service jobs. I mean, I can't really blame the employer who sees my customer service oriented resume and decides that I might be a good fit. I don't take it as an insult, but it is very disheartening to think that you're not good at anything other than customer service. And for those in the field, this is not a jab at you; it's just I want to finally move away from that position and more into the marketing community in which I got a degree in.

Aside from my lack of success on the applying end, there were some interesting changes at my current job. The first being my manager just quitting/getting fired last Thursday. That was a little bit of a shock, but I did see it coming. She had been complaining about her job and hinting at the notion that she was looking elsewhere. For those reasons, I'm not really sure what went down, but I did hear that she threw her I.D. badge at HR and made a scene as she left the building.

On the home front, we've started writing our thank-you cards for the wedding and I've been getting back into anime (again, I'm cool. Remember?). I've caught up on Bleach, Fairy Tale, and Naruto. I've just finished Deadman Wonderland which was pretty good, but got weird at the end. I've also started Prince of Tennis at the very beginning and I am currently on episode 14. In terms of comics, I haven't really been reading as much and wondering if I should quit again or just keep collecting and read them as I get a chance. I tend to read 5 comics during lunch a day, but that's not always a guarantee. I'm about 2 months behind with no chances of catching back up.

To finish this oh-so-riveting post, I've got my father-in-law's b-day party this coming Sunday, my friend's b-day party/Superbowl party next Sunday, and not a whole lot in between. And oh! I forgot to mention, but I just started back up with the gym and am proud to say that I still remember how to run and use a treadmill. So go me, right?

Finally, I have been thinking about going back to school again for a Masters. This is something that's been on my mind for the longest time, but I'm still not sure which way to go. I keep hearing that online just doesn't count , but it's very convenient for me who works full time. Either way, I also don't know if I want to continue with marketing or just enter a new field altogether. It's not like I'm really doing much with marketing as it is and maybe need to find something more specialized. My wife is a librarian, so I was thinking of pursuing a career as a gym teacher.

That's right...drop and give me 20!