The End of a Chapter

It’s over. My last final is in the books. In just 6½ short days, I’ll be officially recognized as a Master of Business Administration by Baylor University.

It was only 22 months ago that I knew my life would have a chapter in Waco, Texas. I took on the challenge mostly to achieve some form of growth intellectually and spiritually and fiscally (though earning power wouldn’t happen until graduation), while maintaining my personal relationships and physical fitness requirements.

I got what I asked for and so much more.

I now have new relationships with cohorts that I respect, ones that will undoubtedly achieve great things in the near and distant future. This has the makings of a network of great accomplishment that wouldn’t have been possible without the support of Baylor University.

Just two weeks ago, I received admission into Beta Gamma Sigma as recognition for my work in the classroom. While I’m ultimately honored and humbled by this acknowledgement, I know that it wouldn’t have been possible without the help of fantastic cohorts and faculty. For me, this is a drastic change from the kid who thought that he could handle everything by himself in high school. I’m sincerely thankful for that transformation.

I now have a career lined up that tells me where I’ll live, what I’ll be doing, and how much money I’ll be making for the foreseeable future. What seemed to happen in a week’s time really and truly took 14 months of growth, nurturing, maturity, and development.

I’ve only been a blogger for the past 4 months, so I haven’t gotten to build as large a readership base for the University as I would have liked. However, I’ve truly enjoyed the opportunity to use this venue as a means to provide insight into the mindset of a graduate student as he prepares for the turbulent business world that awaits. However, because I’ve been given the opportunity to build myself in the spiritual, intellectual, relational, physical, and fiscal arenas, I’m ready to advance to the next chapter that life has to offer.

Thank you to my loyal readers! I want to thank you for reading my posts. I’ll leave you with one closing thought that I’ve been pursuing for the duration of the semester: continue to achieve balance in your life. I truly believe that life will provide maximum benefit to yourself and others around you if you seek to be balanced in your commitments and your pursuit to consistent growth in the five aforementioned areas.

With that, I bid thee farewell, and as always….. SIC ‘EM BEARS~

The True Meaning of Finals

As I study for finals one last time, I’ve taken a study break to think about what it is that I’m really here doing. I know that achieving an MBA is the ultimate goal, but I am still seeking out the deeper purpose for this “final exam cram” rigmarole that I routinely find myself in.

At face value, studying for finals is nothing more than the sprint that happens at the end of the marathon. It is not the work that is done at the end of the semester which makes the biggest percentage of a GPA, but the learning that is done over the course of the 15 weeks that lead up to the final. This is a likely reason why “cramming” is harder as my GPA matters less and less. I’ve been forced to get a better understanding for why I’m doing what I’m doing in order for studying to once again be effective.

In thinking back on past semesters, I can’t remember any facts or equations that I forced into my mind on the day before each of my finals. In fact, a transcript is often necessary to remember exactly what class was taken when.

It strikes me, however, when I look at my old textbooks, that I’ve rarely bothered to utilize a textbook that doesn’t relate to a semester exam. Plenty of useful information sits in books that are simply being unutilized on my bookshelves.

I’m not going to be effectively study again if I do so with the same mentality that I had as an undergraduate, or even as a first semester grad student. It is much more motivating, however, to view this exercise as a means of maximizing the information in this set of textbook materials that will either end up on my shelves or on eBay. Instead of finding one more fact that happens to be on the exam, I instead want to take with me one more life lesson from these materials that I’ll use in some capacity later on in life.