Procrastination Multiplication

Rather than doing anything remotely useful (productivity wise), I instead decided to celebrate quitting my job by doing something I have wanted to do for the last 10 years. For the last 5 weeks I have been crossing the globe, the long way around, and next week I will finally fly back to the US.

Although I will admit waking up in a cold sweat choked by the worries of things I am putting off, for the most part, the beauty of what I have seen has overwhelmed my guilt. I won't wax too poetic; I will only say that international travel is enjoyable, eye-opening, and fulfilling, and I highly recommend it. It has definitely been worth it.

Of course, what ends up happening is I end up in situations similar to today. As I type this, I am in Paris, packing my bag (for about the 20th time), preparing for my friend's wedding tonight, and deciding on my first quarter course. Which is going to be Turbo Finance, not because I've thought this out thoroughly (because I haven't) but because I enjoy challenging myself and better the first quarter (when there's no recruiting) than the second (which has been described as an exercise in sleep deprivation and despair). On a side note, in China, 4's are considered unlucky number because the pronunciation sounds like "to die." So there you have it, if you're in 440 I'll see you there.

For those who haven't decided yet, I can contribute some wisdom from a lovely lady a year ahead of us, who had a strong finance background:

"Turbo... I definitely shied away from it, I'm glad I did. First quarter is pretty tough in itself, and Turbo is LOTS of work from what I hear. LOTS. BUT - the upside to it is that you'd rip the bandaid off and finish it quickly. I took both Fin 1 and Fin 2, and I enjoyed both classes. Turbo is literally the two classes combined into one, so you will still learn all the same material."

She did send me the syllabi for her Fin 1 & 2, I'll be more than happy to forward them on to you if you're interested. She also mentioned:

"--Second, CIM is going to be the craziest three weeks of your life. EVER. You won't have time to do anything during it... literally. So get yourself settled and moved in all before CIM starts. There will be no time to do anything but sleep and be at school during CIM. I totally thought I would finish unpacking during CIM... and I didn't get to doing it until Thanksgiving break! :) Also, everyone gets really really sick during CIM, so make sure to take your vitamins during it, every little bit helps!

--Third, I didn't really do this too well, and I would recommend it... Give your friends and family a head's up that you're going to be ridiculously busy. I know, sounds crazy, right? I had to spend the first few weeks of school trying to convince my friends that I didn't forget about them. Some got used to it, some didn't. It's just one of those things that really caught me by surprise. I figured, hey, I was in banking, I can handle balancing non-Kellogg friends with the b-school schedule! I was kind of wrong. :) Don't get me wrong though, you can still make the time, it's just tougher than I originally thought."