Sooooooo......1 month down, 11 to go

Time flies so quickly. I had to double-take when I saw the calender today, which I honestly didn't expect to be the case. The past summer absolutely sped by me (as my summers usually do, despite the awesome mix of four online and three-hour classes that populated most of it), and I fully expected that once the regular school year started, time would begin to creep by at its usual pace again. College as a whole has come and gone in a flash, but in my experience, the school-work routine slows down time a little (at least in the moment).

I think my change in perception is due in large part to the last six months; I've seen a friends graduate, move, get jobs, and in one case, get married, all of which highlighted my lack of definite direction (at least in my own mind). It was a little depressing; thinking about what was going to occupy my future without being able to simply say "another year of college" (this was before I knew I was going to be in the full-time MBA program) was both challenging and scary, and actually still is. I'm still really not sure what I'll be doing when I finish school. Of course, the proposition of absolutely HAVING to leave school has emphasized the need for a path; I need to come up with a game plan, and that, I think, is making this last year of school pass very quickly.

The relevant point in this post is that now is the perfect time for all of us MBA students to start planning for the future (if you haven't already done so). I've started scanning schools for Ph.D. programs; I've given it a lot of thought and figured out that continuing my education in the form of a doctoral degree would provide the most personal satisfaction and happiness to me. Scanning schools, however, has made me realize that I need to considerably prepare before I even think about applying (first of all, I need to retake my GMAT :P).


Whatever it is you choose to pursue, now really is the time to start preparing (start looking for companies that you would like to work for, scanning job postings in areas where you think you might want to live). This, once again, is only if you haven't already done so. If you're anything like me, however, there is still a considerable amount to be done before I move on in life and only 11 short months to do it in.