Today is my first Monday of summer break,  or self-employment,  or freedom from thoughts of homework – depending on how you look at it.  I woke up, drank coffee, and wrote letters and cards to friends and felt so grateful for the break from school.  My first year as an MBA student was both exhilarating and exhausting (mostly exhausting), confidence-boosting and humbling (mostly humbling), enriching and impoverishing (most impoverishing).  All year, I asked myself  “Why did I come back to school again?”

One of my goals for the summer is to take time to reflect on that why and focus on all the good things that my MBA education has brought me.  I’m starting that goal today.

I am grateful for the following gifts from my MBA education:

• a social circle that grew like it was on steroids.  so many friends. so many parties.  so much laughter.
• understanding the Time Value of Money
• running buddies
• an introduction to racquetball
• understanding how to grow a business
• harnessing the power within Excel for decision making
• good excuse to buy more suits and professional clothes
• the opportunity to contribute to writing a $1.5 million grant writing for International Education
• the opportunity to plan a successful trip with the Entrepreneurship students to Chicago
• an expanded vocabulary.  Words I didn’t know how to use correctly simply a year ago: assets, liabilities, stock holder’s equity, exit plan, leverage, net present value, EBITDA, kaizen, blue ocean strategy, SWOT analysis, pivot table, and many more,
• understanding how to maximize the tools in Quickbooks for my own business
• education tax credits
• practice writing haikus with Facebook friends the eves of exams
• actually understanding what it would take to start a business (instead of going forward blindly as I did the last time around)
• confirmation that I am a solid writer
• confirmation that Diène is supportive and understanding and awesome in social situations
• getting to spend my days in Grainger Hall – so luxurious compared to my liberal arts facilities in undergraduate
• having time to listen to podcasts on the bus rides to school
• living on the academic calendar.  summers off.  love it.