April Adventures

April has been the most bipolar month for me, in a long time. I wrote a song about it…and it goes something like this…

Trip to Houston:

After the post-admission euphoria, I thanked the gods when he presented called me into his office to attend yet another leadership seminar. Before I could weasel out of it, he said the magic words: blah blah blah mandatory blah blah blah Houston blah blah blah 11th to the 15th April... Could it be? I might make the Wharton Welcome Weekend after all!

mandatory:
This eased my conscience about jetting half-way around the globe on the company dime.

Houston:
I *heart* Houston.
I *heart* Texan women.
I *heart* Texan steakhouses.

11-15th April:
It meant there was the possibility to jet over to Philly after the seminar to catch the tail end of the Welcome Weekend...or so I thought.

The Seminar:

The seminar was definitely informative. This seminar, as with any leadership seminar, started with self-awareness. We spent the first day doing self-evaluations on Myer-Briggs Personality Typing. This is my 4th test of this kind during my career and I usually have very predictable results. I/E NTP. I/E meaning that I always fall almost dead between a 50-50 split between E, meaning that I am a cross between introverted and extroverted. Combining all four, this yields, a split between "The Scholar" and "The Entrepreneur". Sounds very Whartonesque if you believe the prevailing stereotypes.

As the week unfolded, we covered topics such as leadership styles, emotional intelligence, the concept of flow, and motivation - (yes, Mr Maslow again). All in all, it was a week of self-discovery, and we all left every day skipping to the bar singing kumbaya.

The Wharton Welcome Weekend:

Wharton was great. The last time that I visited Philadelphia, was during a snowstorm, when I flew over for the interview. This time, the sun was out and the place was buzzing with energy. My weekend however, went south very quickly. First, a car pile-up on the 610 in Houston lead to my missing the last flight to Philly. I rebounded, and caught the first jet the following morning. Next, upon my arrival, we quickly realized that Continental lost my baggage. How does an airline lose a bag from point A to point B? Stuck with my backpack with a laptop, a camera, cologne, a sweater, a change of undies, and portable toiletries, I headed over to the hotel to see if I could catch the afternoon session of the Welcome Weekend workshops. Finally, at the hotel, I was informed that they lost my reservation despite my calling in advance to reschedule. Fresh from the leadership seminar, I put my new tools to work and was able to secure a room in the fully booked hotel at no extra cost. By the time my adventure was over, it was 3p.m. and most of the scheduled events were done.

Through steely stubbornness, enhanced by a steak and a few beers at the hotel restuarant, I was able to salvage the weekend. First, I hit the Welcome Weekend Party got my groove on with fellow admits. Next, I spoke to Riter & met up with Brit-Chick for Mexican Brunch. (it exists and is delicious). I also did some apartment-hunting and found a winner. Finally, I wrapped up by heading over to the movieplex, and checking out Sin City - (Definitely a worth seeing, especially if you're into gore, nudity, and leather-clad nymphs having orgasms while shooting machine guns.)

The Resignation:

Last week I finally submitted gave 4 weeks notice at work. That adventure deserves its own special post.