Was it Worth it?

A year and a half ago, I attended a wedding of a dear friend and randomly had a conversation with an older man who was pretty successful in his career and on the verge of retirement. To the best of my memory (and actually there were others there who can attest to the fact that this is actually accurate) the conversation went a little something like this:

Man: So what do you do?
Me: I just finished my MBA and am a marketer at a small company.
Man: Oh congratulations! Where did you get your MBA?
Me: USC.
Man: Really! Now tell me, what rank is USC business school these days? I mean, is it even worth it to go and spend money for a school that's not even in the Top Tier?
Me: (Literally LOL.) Well, USC is ranked about 21 these days, but I don't think ranking is the most important thing when you're choosing a school! And besides, people go to business school for different reasons. I was an English major in undergrad so I thought it would be a good idea for me to broaden my horizons and learn more about business!
Man: Psssshhh...English. Now that's a useless major!
Me: (Literally LOL...again.) Well, it's not so bad. It helps people with their communications and writing skills!
Man: Oh, I suppose. What did you study as an English major? I assume you read the Classics like The Iliad and The Aeneid?
Me: PUH-leeez! I translated those from Latin to English in high school! No, as an English major, you study the English writers such as Chaucer, Milton, and Shakespeare! But I focused a lot on women Romantic writers because I liked that the most. Oh, hey! My drink is empty! Please excuse me!

Fast forward to 2010...this weekend, I attended an online marketing lecture, given by Lorrie Thomas (if you Google her, she's the Marketing Therapist - not the accused murderer) at UC Berkeley extension, as part of my ongoing efforts to expand my horizons. Before the class we went around the room and gave brief introductions of ourselves and it turns out about 30% of the class was unemployed - I suppose a sad sign of the times. During a break, I was chatting with a few people and the conversation went something like this:

Girl #1: So you went to business school? Where did you go?
Me: USC.
Girl #2: So how's that working out for you?
Me: Ha! Apparently not that well, since I'm sitting here right now!

Anyway, since then, I've been thinking about the fact that I did indeed go to business school and really have nothing but my diploma to show for it! I took out a shitload of loans (thank goodness it was only 2 years, not 4 like medical school) and I haven't recovered even half of it! Not to mention my forgone salary from my old job and all the on-the-go job experience I would have accumulated!! I'm no financial analyst, but it doesn't take a genius to put these facts and my blog together to realize that I'm not optimizing my ROI for this particular investment!

However, when it's all said and done, right now I'm still glad I went. It was a great experience to get out of the industry I was in, work on a diverse set of projects, and in general learn more about leadership from smart people with different professional backgrounds than myself. Although I do have to say, when my little bitch of a friend, Sallie Mae, comes calling once a month, I do get pretty annoyed...but to answer some questions..."Was it worth it and is it working out for me" to have gone to business school? It's debatable...but as my career is a marathon and not a sprint, ask me again in another 10 years. :)

New Year, New Job?

So I've now been unemployed for about 4 months, which is the longest I've ever been unemployed for since I was 16 years old and had my first real job bussing tables at Osaka Terriyaki House. I have to admit, when I first got laid off, I was so HAPPY that I almost peeded in my pants! Unemployment didn't bother me one bit in September because I was getting married at the end of the month and I had more important things, like flower arrangements and cake, to think about besides the fact that the economy was busting up and I didn't have a steady income.

My job situation, or lack thereof, continued to not affect my mindset at all in October because for the first week I was on my honeymoon in Europe blithely spending my/"our" cash gifts from the wedding. Then when we got back, there were about a thousand thank you cards to write to our friends and family, and about same number of wedding gifts to unpack and sort out. (By the way, thanks again for all the gifts, we loved them all!)

Then the month of November rolled around. In theory, not working is awesome. I know that in my whole life, no matter how much I liked my job, in the back of my mind I always wished that I could be unemployed and stay at home all day....but just as I thought I'd actually reached my Nirvana, I started to get bored. I realized that there was only so much cleaning and unpacking you can really do in a tiny ass one bedroom apartment that was really fit for one small Asian girl but was now being shared by an abnormally large Asian couple.

Anyway, after 2 months off and running countless lame ass errands - like getting stamps at the post office - and spending entirely way too much time at home watching bad daytime TV - Home Improvement, Roseanne, The View, The Today Show, General Hospital, and Oprah mostly - I decided that I needed to go out and get a job! However, my timing was totally off!! WTF? For the first time in my life, I was actually desparate for a job, and every place I turned to was on a "hiring freeze" or doing "lay-offs" or just not getting back to me. WTF!?!

It's Jan 2009, and I'm sick of being bored and not working. I'm also sick of my friends (though probably well-meaning and good natured) asking me "What do you DOOOOO everyday?" and "Aren't you having the best time ever" and "You are SOOOOOO lucky you don't have to work." I rue the day I used to say the same things to my unemployed friends. For those of you who I said that to in the past, I'm sorry. For those of you who are asking now? Well, I guess you can continue to read my blog...