The Thesis is Done, Man.

@boleshka and @ebonifiyah on our  final thesis defense day!

First, I’d like to give props to anyone who recognized that the title of this post is a shout out to one of the funniest movies I saw as a kid, Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead.  Remember the stoner brother and his friends were throwing plates up in the air and shooting them after his sister told them to do the dishes? When they'd shot up all the dishes he says "The dishes are done, man". I loved that part! I thought (for one very brief fleeting moment) about doing that with my little brother but I enjoying living, so I scrapped that idea real quick.

Next, I’d like to clarify what I mean when I say “thesis”. We didn’t really write a thesis in the traditional sense. We actually didn’t write a thesis in any sense. It was actually called a Management Field Study Report but it’s much easier to say “thesis” when you are trying to describe the year long project/report you are working on to other people. One year of research, interviews, focus groups, analysis, meetings,presentations, consultations,  frustration, sleepless nights, frustration, sleepless nights and oh yeah, frustration and sleepless nights. Well I am happy to say that we have successfully completed our requirements for graduation and on MARCH 25 I will receive my diploma which states that I EARNED the degree of Masters of Business Administration from Tsukuba University in Ibaraki, Japan.

Only 19 days left!

From Struggle

To Progress!

Here goes EVERYTHING!

In just a few short days, I will be ending the second and final year of my MBA program. I would be lying if I were to say that I am closing out this program without the slightest bit of trepidation. The next few months are huge for me in both personal and professional ways and I'm extremely nervous about my future. 

Soon I will be expected to embark on a career and take the corporate world by storm. I know that I am fully capable of doing exactly that but the "what", the "where" and the "how" all have me a bit unsettled. My life thus far has read a little differently than my friends but each personal milestone has helped to build the foundation for the next one.

My work experience up to this point has been colorful. My first full time job opportunity came when I was hired as permanent from  a work study job I had as Research Program Coordinator at UNC. I worked there from graduation in 2001 until my acceptance into the JET program in April of 2002. The summer I picked up and moved to Japan was surprisingly to some, my first time ever leaving the United States.  I decided to accept the offer to spend the next few years of my life as an English Language teacher, go figure! In 2005, I made the decision to move to Atlanta and try my hand at life there. Armed with a little cash in savings, no job prospects and heaping amount of true love, I jumped at the opportunity to follow my heart. At first, I wanted to teach Japanese in the Atlanta public school system but the paper work involved would end up taking me nearly 3 months to complete (slow processing on their end not negligence on mine) and I ended up taking a role as an Administrative Assistant in department of Finance at City Hall. From there I moved on to a position as an Executive Assistant to a VP at Ricoh, USA. It was in this position that my curiosity for business really grew. My boss trusted me and expected me to be excellent. I found that style of management is what best suits me. I left Ricoh after the shake up of the merger was more than I could handle and moved on to the most liberal working experience I've ever had at GTM, Inc. Guerilla Tactics Marketing agency in ATL. I learned even more about business and professionalism there than ever before and I knew that B-school was the right next step. My strong internal motivation propelled me from teacher to administrative assistant to executive assistant to marketing account executive and now I am trying my hand at being someone’s boss, learning what it takes to be a manager.

As I sit here and write personal statements and rewrite resumes I can't help but think...Here goes EVERYTHING.