Midsummer night's dream

At the moment, i'm going through my Gmail labels and deleting, one by one, all the folders i nicely designated for each ibank i was in the interview process with last year. Some of them were old and particularly active (e.g Deutsche Bank, Bain, Citi) while others were plain empty, meaning i was intending to apply but decided against it (e.g. HSBC, Societe Generale, ABN-Amro). This time last year, I was freshly finished with the Duke language program in Beijing, fluent in conversational Mandarin, 5 kg fatter, and was about to kick start my last year at Brown. On top buying new books, shopping classes and decorating my new personal space (2nd flr Andrews Hall), i made it a point to make time for prepping for the forthcoming finance interviews. i was following business/econ news closely (and make no mistake, i honestly enjoyed doing it - one of the few good habits i've had since high school years). i logged on to their websites every night. in fact i was this close to bringing myself to cramming accounting ratios and endless finance formulae. i ordered a tailor-made business suit and firmly decided that i would wear the babyblue dress shirt to the interviews instead of the white one (Express Men, 2 for $55) because i thought it enhanced the overall tone of my navy blue suit and my dark blue silk tie. and the modest scent of Euphoria by Calvin Klein.

i like it how things always have a funny way of working out and how the hand of Fate is ever so fickle. this is the only kind of moment when the spiritual side of me begins to think about the possible existence of the higher power, who i shall for now call NoAccident, not God. (there's no accident, according to Freud).

here i am, one year goes by quick. i'm now looking at class schedules of my master's program next year and getting pretty excited about the next 12 months. Term1 looks okay (although what's devilishly wrong with the schedule planner who deems it appropriate to squeeze in a seven-hour block on Tuesdays?!?!!?!?!). Term2 is the most obnoxious (there's this Urban Design studio period that runs from 2PM to 6PM on top of other stuff). Term3 is the "calm before storm" recovery period, cos i only have classes (projects) on Tuesdays. that said, 10Am - 6PM. WHAT. Term4 is the ultimate nightmare of my educational life, period. Zero classes, but i need to produce a 10,000 word "dissertation in planning" (excluding tables, graphic presentation, and design component) that is worthy of a Master's Degree. TA DAH! VOMIT CAN I?! If the Bartlett's exchange program works out, I hope to spend Term4 writing this masterpiece either in Cambridge, MA or Berkeley, CA. This is my set short-term plan, i think. The preamble of the life of a young adult. always mildly confused but decidedly transcontinental.