Getting My MBA at 48

Tuesday Stand-By Motivation

Again I am sitting on stand-by B (7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.) it is hard to get my motivation around this stand-by. More because I feel home lost (not homeless), I have a place in San Francisco which I rarely see I think 6 days in December and my friends in Scottsdale have been great opening their home.

The one I have to spend the most time at (my friends) now, is not my place so I feel uneasy. I try and become as small as possible not taking up any room or making any messy. Walk softly and invisible.

Then with being on Reserves, with stand-by shifts days are just tough. Most days I try and go to the local coffee shop, there are 2 that I go to Winflields which is next to a church. It has great atmosphere and the coffee and service are great the other is the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf again great coffee and service with a good atmosphere the only difference is that the Coffee bean is busier so it makes studying harder sometimes.

The reason is I can get up in the morning get ready incase they call me out and then go to the coffee shop which is only a few blocks aways. Make it convenient if I get called out on a trip.

Today I am looking to be able to commute back to San Francisco this evening since I have a day off then start my working vacation. The only good thing is that I know what I will be doing from now till the 21st and will only need to spend 1 day at my friends house in Scottsdale.

For the last month everything has been out of whack, most because of scheduling and flying. I am trying to start this new year on positive notes and turn them into my chapters.

I have gotten some of my reading done for accounting today, but not much I am hoping I can on the flight back to San Francisco.

Break…going to the airport…

Tags: accounting, big business, books, cancelation, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, commute, delays, education, flight attendant, flights, flying, hawaii, life, management, mba, online university, phoenix, san francisco, scottsdale, studying, success, technology, travelers, university, us airways, winfield's, working vacation

Studying at a Coffee Shop, Studying while I wait to be called for a trip

It is early morning and I am here at Winfield’s, a little non-profit coffee shop not far from my friends house. So if I get called for a trip I can get back, change and head to the airport.

It is a quiet place, for now till the neighborhood gets wind of it, which will be a good thing for them and business. I can get studying done here easily plus they have free WiFi which is always a plus.

I was reading Business Week online this morning, the article “Best Places to Intern” by Lindsey Gerdes. She reports that nearly 90% of Goldman Sach new hires in 2009 had been previous interns with the company.

Gerdes also reports that the same is true for the Big 4 in Accounting, KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers, though they hired 900 fewer entry-level positions 91% of the ones hired had been previous interns.

I am wondering with online education becoming more mainstream, major universities adding at least some classes to their curriculum and even former GE CEO Jack Welch is paying more than $2 million for a 12% stake in the Chancellor University, In which the Masters of Business Administration program will be called “The Jack Welch Institute”

Opportunities for internships will change, I guess more to the point since in the online world there is no need for a break in a semester, opportunities for students to get internships will change. No longer in this economy is it viable for anyone who wishes an education to go to the tradition brick and mortar university. Having responsibilities of family, job, or for other reasons more students are turning to online universities.

I agree that they are a great way for a company to see who is the best fit into their corporate culture.

So how does the new online student get the same opportunities afforded by an internship?

One defiantly is networking, either through your work, social network or through your university. But that always don’t show if you are a good fit into a companies corporate culture.

Because I have been wondering this myself, since I am unable to do an internship and with me being back on reserves my schedule is not my own, case in point the 2 day trip they assigned me for tomorrow gets me back on Thursday at 10:15 p.m. to late to be able to commute home. Another day where I have no place to sleep, per se.

As much as I want to be able to sit study during any given day uninterrupted, or start working showing my skills and knowledge it keeps getting put on the side line of life.

One thing is for sure I won’t quit trying, or achieving for what I want in life. So for now it is back to the books reading and studying, trying not to focus on the negative only the positive.

Tags: accounting, best places to intern, business week, Chancellor University, coffee shop, deloitte, economy, ernst & young, ge, goldman sach, kpmg, masters of business administration, mba, pricewaterhousecoopers, the jack welch institute, winfield's