So about 2 weeks into my new routine of swimming a few times a week, I started to have a pain in my lower back. Last night (about 24 hours ago exactly) I had had enough and decided to stop in to urgent care to have it checked out. I found out that I strained some joint in my hip and need to take it easy and recoup. Victory – I knew what was wrong. 

I get to CVS to fill the prescriptions from my visit and the pharmacist informs me that my health insurance hasn’t included my prescriptions yet.

My response would have been like Charlie Brown’s to the left had the store not been quite full.

I then remember that I have an app on my phone that has a coupon for discounted prescriptions (Its called “Key Ring”). So reluctantly I try and see if it will knock 10-15% off and I’m told I owe $16 for the two prescriptions.

VICTORY AGAIN!

What is even better is that the pain went away and I was able to get a good night’s sleep for the first time in a week.

I wake up this morning and realize I haven’t put in as much time as I probably should have for my Economics final.

Around 8:30 I head to school to face the music and get an hour of last minute studying in. At 9:30 we start the exam and for about 10 minutes I’m fine. Then like clockwork I turn, restrain my back and fight through the rest of the exam fighting the urge to take one of the pills the doctor gave me which would probably have me answering the questions less coherently than I already was.

After that test I have my strategy class and then another exam in Decision Making with Excel. I can see the light at 3:45 pm and can’t wait to get done with the exam so I can alleviate my pain.

I heard my phone get an e-mail during the exam and paid it no mind. Probably a good idea because it was just about the best news I could get with that “ding”.

The e-mail was an official offer to join Oracle’s Cloud CRM sales team as a Sales Consultant. VICTORY INDEED!

My first call was to tell my dad that yes, I finally have confirmation that I will be employed upon graduation and all of his children will again be in the work force.

Not too much time to celebrate though as it is Ash Wednesday and I had to get to the 5 pm service at St. Peters so I could get a jump on my Finance review for tonight.

It has been a crazy 24 hours and I couldn’t be happier right now but celebration will have to wait for Friday when Finance is done and I prepare to embark on the last 10 weeks of my MBA journey. It’s been rewarding so far.

So aside from working to get my MBA the past two years, I have indulged in what most argue are “two of the top television shows in history”: (CAUTION – SPOILERS)

Yup, you guessed it. Spring 2012 was The Wire and this winter break / semester has been Breaking Bad. Now I can’t fully judge them because Breaking Bad hasn’t ended yet but I figured I’d offer a comparison and try to explain my reasoning.

I will come right out and say that I do not think Breaking Bad is on the level of the Wire. It’s not even the best show currently on. (List at the end)

Now since I watched one first, it will likely always have a little edge, however it goes much deeper than that. I like a lot of variety, learning about different people and situations and piecing them together. Loved Pulp Fiction, Crash etc. movies like that that have a lot of pieces that flow together. The Wire is far superior in that case. You are always trying to predict what is going to happen and then something completely different happens because you forgot about one minute scene and character. (Like when Omar finally meets the grim reaper in Season 5 because Kenard is out to prove himself.)

The plot lines are probably the biggest difference for me though. In one, you have five seasons following the demise of a good man (Breaking Bad); the other follows a city and how the people in it fit into the various different aspects of a city (Baltimore) in each season: The Drug Game, The Ports, Politics, Schools and Media. The viewer is able to identify more with each person as they see their part in the different seasons and connect the 5 aspects of the city more easily.

Often we’ll read articles in class and be able to see exactly why we read one and have another one that kind of just seems thrown together. The Wire to me was written and filmed for a reason – to open your eyes to all the different aspects and to learn why right from wrong is just so in some cases (see Season 3 of the Wire with Hampsterdam). Breaking Bad while very entertaining often has me thinking that it has no direction and is a bunch of interesting and cool scenes thrown together. I feel like after watching Breaking Bad I need to go research parts that were left unanswered – similar to how I’ll often have to find a supporting article to fully understand a concept. Things will happen and it won’t be explained what the background was or why someone is a certain way. Mystery is all well and good but not with key points.

Finally – The Wire probably takes the cake for me because of some of the interesting business aspects they include throughout the way. My favorite character Stringer Bell is in business school and will take lessons from class and apply them to his drug empire. There is a great scene where he takes his crew and explains why they need to change the name of their product, similar to how businesses do after a crisis. The chemistry in Breaking Bad is interesting but you don’t really get to see how things are run and reasons for actions.

And since I like top 5 lists (High Fidelity anyone?) as you may have guessed from on of my previous posts…

TOP 5 TV SHOWS IN MARK’S OPINION:

5) Breaking Bad

4) Sons of Anarchy

3) Arrested Development

2) The Sopranos

1) The Wire

Probably the most important thing I learned in college was how to manage my Saturdays and Sundays between football and studying. This weekend is presenting quite the difficult time management situation though. Great games from Saturday morning until Sunday Night.

I had to wake up at 7:30 this morning to watch my beloved Notre Dame Fighting Irish play in Dublin, Irleand. Needless to say I didn’t get too much of my reading started before 11 AM (When Notre Dame won 50-10, not too shabby). Now after a few chapters I decided to take a bit of a break and share some of these tactics that have helped me through the years. First is deciding what is achievable during a football game is key. I would love to sit down and read a book during a big game but lets be honest, I’m not going to retain too much while George Attkinson III is breaking a 50 yard touchdown run. That is why my marketing break even analysis work is much more appropriate to choose while watching a game.

Now that the game I care the most about is over though, I can definitely switch it up. Its kind of like choosing what music you want to listen to while you study. If I put on my favorite song or even a song that I know most of the words to, reading isn’t as possible. Watching the Penn State v. Ohio game is kind of like listening to classical music. I enjoy the general principle but don’t know much about it and can sleep just fine if I don’t pay attention to it. Now I can get my reading done though and I can look forward to a few more hours of productivity until the good games start up around 6 PM.

Why do I bring this up? Well getting this work done today is essential if I am going to enjoy Baylor taking on SMU tomorrow evening with a proper tailgate and dedication to the game. I mean brining work/stuff to read to a game just screams amateur fan and I can’t have that title on me.

Get your studying done today so tomorrow can be dedicated to the Bears! Sic em.

So usually everyone works FOR the weekend but this one should be very different. Between core 2′s working on focus firm and many of us working on an OB project – the work should continue through Sunday. This isn’t necessarily the worst thing though – after this weekend, most of us will essentially be done with these classes and only have to focus on the other classes for the last week and a half. They are both pretty much semester long projects that have taken countless hours but I know at least for me has paid dividends.

For our OB project we were student consultants for a local Waco business and spent time interviewing employees about the organizational structure, leadership and reactions to change that can be seen on a day to day basis. It was a really interesting opportunity to sit with people and ask them point blank what works and doesn’t work in the organization the work for. It was also really interesting and pleasantly surprising to find out that management and employees didn’t differ much on their perceptions of the company.

With focus firm I am assuming it is a bit more in depth (check back next semester for updates on that from me) but they are working on a project for a international company and doing more of market research and then presenting findings on that. I am just happy I don’t have both of these projects going on simultaneously.

Also this weekend will allow for some time outside of the Hankamer building with the annual golf tournament on Saturday afternoon. There are about 20 of us playing  in the tournament grouped on our differing skill levels. I am definitely looking forward to this as golf is probably my favorite pastime on weekends and Saturday looks to be pretty good weather. We’re playing at Twin Rivers which I played last weekend to get a feel for and it should be a fun time. There is plenty of water too so I can have a Roy McAvoy moment:

Hopefully I will remember to take pictures for once and can upload some on Sunday.

I didn’t really notice it until about halfway through this week but Spring Break could not have come at a better time this year. This week has a ton going on and a good amount that needs to be done for next week that having the week off allows for.

First off, we have finals for two classes next week that I have been able to study for over break and focus on school wise. Not having to go to other courses and worry about the new material in those allows for us to just plan for those exams and get questions ready for our review sessions. Seeing as Finance will be one of the tougher core classes – having a full week to prepare definitely doesn’t hurt. I don’t know if I really want to take these practice tests again though – they are getting redundant – hopefully the tests are just like them.

Secondly, it allowed me to bring in some family – I got to have my dad and my brother visit last weekend to see Waco and then Dallas. While there isn’t a ton to do in Waco, especially when its raining, we made the best out of it and were still able to have fun. Taking them to see the live bears on campus was exciting – I just wish they didn’t miss basketball by a week. (Ok maybe the week wasn’t “perfectly” scheduled but pretty much).

Third, I don’t know if you have noticed but this week is March Madness and also my favorite time of the year when it comes to sports. Being able to watch most of the games that I care about in between studying is such a blessing. I don’t have to sit in work or class agonizing over whether or not the team that was up by 5 with 2 minutes to go held on or busted my bracket.

Finally, Saturday is St. Patrick’s Day and as a good Irishmen, it is one of my favorite days of the year. Bravo Spring Break schedulers! You nailed it this year!

Having Fridays off is awesome. While Monday – Thursday is pretty jam packed with class and work, looking forward to a three day weekend every week is nice. Friday is great for a number of things though – not just rest.

Meetings are really tough to schedule throughout the week but Friday leaves a nice big window open for those. Today I was able to meet with a professor, get my advising done for next semesters’ classes and do a mock interview. All before noon. Having advising done and knowing what I am going to take is a load off my back – very excited about courses for next year. I am going to take an International Business Law course that should be great. Satisfies the international requirement and another class that focuses on words not numbers, for me – that is always good.

Catching up on work is the second thing Fridays are great for. While the week definitely provides enough time to get work done for the classes that week, Friday allows for group meetings and projects that take the full semester. With some of the courses requiring books to be read as well – not a bad day for that, especially when it is as nice as it has been recently.

Finally, getting in that workout that you miss during the week can be done Friday as well. You can schedule your workouts in but inevitably you are going to miss one due to a group project or work so when you have to make one up Friday is the day for that. Although definitely don’t forget a towel at the gym or they’ll try to charge you $2 for one.

All in all it was a great day and looking forward to a fun weekend.

So I got back from Orlando on Sunday night and what a trip it was. We got down there just fine and the conference was great. Seeing all the Keller Williams agents so enthused for their jobs and to learn about tactics that other agents are using. We were set to head back to Waco Sunday, but sometimes Mother Nature makes up her own mind of what should happen; and she decided sleet was essential for Sunday. Our flight from Dallas to Waco was delayed until Monday morning so we ended up having to drive back; but it all worked out and I was ready to start section 2 of Core 1.

*Note when visiting Orlando (or anywhere for that matter) = Ask locals what are good places to go visit and do not take the word of the tourism magazine. When something is called “Disney for Adults” or “The Mecca of Nightlife” – that should be a key sign that they are lying about what the place is actually like.*

Economics started yesterday and seems like it will be a pretty interesting course. It should be a lot of applying real life scenarios to economic principles which will make a lot more sense to me than working with economic graphs all day. Finance might be a different story – definitely will be my most challenging course this semester.

And I just had to take a 10 minute ping pong break. (I could lie and say I won but I got beat 21-12, demoralizing).

Right now I am prepping for Negotiations class just going over some of the notes from the past few classes to try to use those techniques in class today. Its nice to have a class that isn’t as demanding outside of class to look forward to each few days, and then devote all the focus in the class section. I find that when I’m not worrying about finishing a project or homework assignment I am much more likely to be enthused in the class about what we are learning.

We have a bowling social on Thursday night which should be a great end to the week – definitely looking forward to that.