Tuesday, April 15, 2008

The Joy of Saying No (or the Joy of Following)

I've hit the wall. I needed a longer spring break. I thought that once I made it through recruiting I would feel relaxed and have lots o' free time (ha) but instead I started the quarter exhausted and the challenging course load I've heaped upon myself is not helping. I'm revisiting my priorities and trying to pare down my responsibilities.

I wanted to be more involved in DSAC this quarter but it's too much. So my DSAC contribution will just have to be this blog. I have two leadership responsibilities - one fairly major and one moderate - and I really just want a break from everything. Instead of excitement at the stream of outings and events coming through my inbox, I just feel annoyance. Spent the weekend back on the west coast and returned with this feeling of dread, wishing that I wasn't in school right now and that I could just take the summer off, which is a shame. I want to enjoy this experience - not dread it. So I've resolved (again) to say "no" every chance I get.

This is probably wise for any MBAer but definitely for future MBA parents: take all the breaks and vacations that you can! Be very sparing what you sign up for! It seems obvious but I continue to forget that my responsibilities outside of school are far different from most of my classmates. While a late night co-chair dinner is fun for some, for me it just represents more time away from Y and Baby Y and less precious homework time. While student parents don't want to be excluded due to impressions of what they do and don't have time for, we really are different and there is definitely a limit to what one human being can do. And everything takes longer/is harder than it seemed at first glance. Most of us like to run things and have a say in our school experience but I have to learn the joy of following or risk running myself into the ground.

That was a pretty poorly written post but ... I'm really tired!! :) [more interesting, better written posts upcoming ...]

1 comment:

Mo Zhou said...

Hang in there. :) It's nice that you were able to spend time with family during spring break. I think with your blog, your contribution to help student understand Chicago GSB is tremendous. I definitely enjoyed reading it. As a future female MBA (wannabe) I have a lot to learn from you. :P *HUGS* Don't run yourself into the ground. I enjoy watching you dance on stage much more. :)