Double Capacity

Is it really the end of October?! Scary. I realized something even scarier today. I must have been mentally blocking this but the next three weekends are going to be quite demanding. In my limited wisdom, I signed myself up to coordinate the School's diversity hosting weekend "Johnson Means Business" November 1st-3rd, the Johnson School's only case competition hosted by the Hispanic American Business Leaders Association (HABLA) November 9th and 10th, and the inaugural Women's Management Council professional development trek to New York City on November 16th! So essentially, my life does not belong to me these next three weeks. Well, not as much as I would like at least. I do have to retain some sense of self to get through some of these second round interviews that will undoubtedly involve some travel to New York City and Boston. Oh, and let's not forget that I am actually still a student, folks. Yikes!!!


Surprisingly, I actually thought my life was busy before school. In fact, I think its safe to say that i have actually doubled my capacity to take in information and perform. Business school altogether has truly been a mental, physical and emotional workout. And though I reach points of sheer exhaustion and feel like I just can't go on, I push forward and surprise even myself at just how much I can stretch myself. Of course, I also take the liberty to reward myself handsomely. Given the grueling next three weeks I described above - which will likely allow for little sleep - I decided my prize would have to be something truly special. To save those of you who are not blessed with the patience gene, I can share that I will be going to Paris! I can still barely believe that I'm actually going but I've been a little hungry for international travel ever since my plans for Cancun were thwarted last summer.

Tonight, I'm writing to you from New York City where I am attending the 7th Annual Wall Street Summit, an event hosted by the New America Alliance (NAA). As part of my fellowship from the Robert Toigo Foundation, I was also named a New America Alliance Fellow which provides an additional base of resources and information for a network of Latino finance professionals. As part of their amazing schedule of events, President Bill Clinton will be speaking!

It's getting late, and I've got an early morning so that's all from me for tonight.

Cheers!

Go Big Red!

I was looking forward to my drive to Albany and Boston mostly because fall is my favorite time of year and I knew visually I was in for a treat :) For those of you in places where you don't get to see the amazing foilage of upstate NY, I've shared a short 1 minute video below. I'm quite sure I could get in trouble for filming and driving, so don't tell any highway patrolman, ok?

Of course, I could have stayed all weekend with my friends in Boston after my interview, but I had to come back for Cornell Homecoming! Sadly, this being my sixth year at Cornell, I think it was only my second Homecoming football game. And even this time, I couldn't stay for the whole game because it just got too cold to enjoy. It was a gorgeous afternoon, but chillier than I expected. I did get to stay through the very spirited half time show when the band performed, joined by alumni band members. I had every intention of going to the Homecoming Concert too, but those plans changed when I decided to meet up with my Hermanas (Sorority sisters) for dinner. We had an alumna Hermana on campus doing some interviewing for her firm. She was a member of the second pledge class (ever) 19 years ago and hasn't been back on campus for the last 12 years. It was great just to hear stories about what her experience was like 20 years ago at Cornell. My night was capped off when I joined some friends at Stella's, one of my favorite bar's in Collegetown. I have included a few photos from Saturday's events below.

Cheers!

Limited Compassion

There was a mad dash for tickets to the Dalai Lama speaking event yesterday. I was a participant in the secondary market for my chance to see His Holiness in person. Word has it there was even a black market for tickets! Shameful to think someone would willingly profit off of the relgious leader's presence, when he and the school in fact, do not. I had also heard some folks were arriving two hours in advance to get seats. Two hours? Really? Despite having to stand in a 1/2 mile long line in an unnaturally hot and humid October afternoon (wait, this is Ithaca...there is no such thing as unnatural weather patterns), despite having to endure the oven like atmosphere of Barton Hall where thousands of attendees packed the bleacher seats like canned sardines, and despite the event having a live broadcast online where you could watch from any remote location (like an air conditioned one sitting in a seat with a back to it), yes despite all that, I would willingly pay again for this rare experience.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama warned us in his opening, many of us had come there because we were curious, and that's okay. Then there were others of us who had come with high expectations, and that's not okay. The room thundered with laughter when he said we would surely dissappoint this group of people. This humorous introduction set the mood for the rest of his talk. In reflection, I think he couldn't have made a wiser marketing decision here. In order to sell his message he needed an audience willing to particiapte and an "ask" that can be easily adopted. After this humanizing move, he made his case for joining him in a human approach toward peace. In a convincing argument he described how the physical features and lifestyles of humans show an inherence for affection and gentility; from our ability to smile beautifully with teeth (not jaws) to our handshakes and hugging arms (not fierce claws) we are gentle creatures. But overall the greatest message I took away from the Dalai Lama's talk was the idea that we are all born with limited compassion. However, we have the opportunity - and more so responsibility, I think - to grow infinite compassion through practice.

In other recent events, we are right at the middle of the semester. The 1st years have made it through their 1st half of the core and are now on fall break. The 2nd years also had a fall break (apparently) earlier this week. I spent part of my break in Houston for the NSHMBA conference. Overall rathing for that event is about a 7 out of 10. Not great, Not bad...Not like the NBMBAA conference in Orlando (see story below). So what's going to keep me busy over the next few weeks? That is, aside from classes (obligatory disclosure for the professors and administration that read my blog). Johnson Means Business! It is fastly approaching and hard to believe because I have soooo much to do! Happily, the event will also allow me to reconnect with some old friends from undergrad and from Los Angeles as they were admitted to the weekend and recently informed me of their confirmed attendance. I can only hope my record will improve from last year when both my hostees ended up at different business schools this year (*LOL*). In all seriousness though, so long as they end up in business school, we all win. And on that happy note, I bid you adieu.

Cheers!