
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
This Weekend is Brought to You by the #2

Thursday, October 25, 2012
Just Keep Swimming
“I’m
drowning,” I replied to his inquiry about how things are going.
He looked at me, his expression neutral, then shrugged. "You ain't drowned."
Not quite the response I was expecting. For over a week I had been functioning on minimal sleep and time. My days were filled with 3 hour long classes, study group sessions, club presentations, training sessions, and forced networking. I was exhausted and overwhelmed and staring down an additional eight hours in a day that already had the first eight in the bag. I thought I would find a moment of solace from the sympathetic ear of a second year MBA. Not so much. But upon second thought maybe his words weren't really dismissive, but rather encouragement. Was he telling me that struggling against an undertow is still better than being on the bottom of the ocean? Right now I am not so sure.
He looked at me, his expression neutral, then shrugged. "You ain't drowned."
Not quite the response I was expecting. For over a week I had been functioning on minimal sleep and time. My days were filled with 3 hour long classes, study group sessions, club presentations, training sessions, and forced networking. I was exhausted and overwhelmed and staring down an additional eight hours in a day that already had the first eight in the bag. I thought I would find a moment of solace from the sympathetic ear of a second year MBA. Not so much. But upon second thought maybe his words weren't really dismissive, but rather encouragement. Was he telling me that struggling against an undertow is still better than being on the bottom of the ocean? Right now I am not so sure.
Monday, October 08, 2012
One Sixth
"Let's get a black woman's opinion on this issue. Are there any black women in the room?" The facilitator scanned the room for a target. Immediately, I averted my eyes and fixated on the lint on my sweater. Maybe no one would notice me in the far corner.
"Here's one!" the assistant announced, striding toward me with a microphone in her hand.
I should have known I wasn't going to blend in, because even in the middle of a diversity session with nearly 300 classmates I was still the only person in the room who looks like me.
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