My favorite time of year

... is just about now, when the temperatures start to dip into the '60s, the hills around Charlottesville transform under fall foliage and coffee shops start selling warm apple cider. With the hot, sticky summer a distant memory and a snowy winter still months away, it's time to pull on a sweater and explore the 'ville at its finest. Recently, my boyfriend and I took a "date day" and did just that, hiking and wine-tasting our way through some of the prettiest autumnal scenes around. It was a fantastic break from recruiting and case-reading -- the kind of day that puts everything in perspective. And as I sat outside Veritas, wine glass in hand and cheese plate in reach, I realized how lucky I was to be enjoying another fall in Charlottesville.

Time to get a J-O-B

... or at least, that's what the parade of stressed and suited Darden students would indicate. Yet I have not put on a suit all year. And I'm feeling the pressure. Big time. Problem is, the industry I have my heart set on - media - doesn't recruit on the same schedule or through the same process as other, more popular post-B-school industries, like banking and consulting. While other companies have visited Grounds, toting free water bottles and scouting for incoming MBA classes of 20 or 30, most media companies have no idea what openings they'll have next year. Which leaves me ... stressed.
Both a planner and a worrier, I have spent the last few weeks worrying about not having a plan. In some ways, this worrying has been good. It's spurred me to reach out to Darden alums, scour media websites for job listings and remind myself (sometimes hourly) that "everything will be fine." In other ways, however, this worrying has been ... bad. I've cried, complained and dragged myself around my apartment feeling woeful and sorry for myself. Not attractive. Not even to my very loving and supportive boyfriend.
Yet even in those dark moments, I know I'm on the right track. After all, no one said following your heart was easy.

3 more quarters to go! No!

This afternoon I handed in a take-home final, a paper and two projects and in that one trip to the Faculty Office Building, officially ended my first quarter of second-year. Instead of the usual post-exam euphoria, however, I felt kind of sad about the whole thing. I mean, with one quarter done, and only three more ahead of me, it's just a matter of months until I'm out of Darden and back in the real world. And I'm just not sure I'm ready for that.
See, Darden is like a wonderful cocoon. Sure, we feel job pressure and suffer through late night project work and presentation meetings, but we also spend our waking hours surrounded by our best friends, learning truly interesting things, protected by the student safety-net.
For almost a year and a half I've reveled in this free and easy existence. Yet now I'm starting to feel the clock tick down. All of a sudden, I'm worrying about finding a full-time job, moving to a new city, covering my looming loan payments -- all of the adult issues I'd managed to avoid while here in business school. And it's scary.
So ... who wants a Ph.D?

Second year!