Just under a year ago I separated from the Army after serving four years and eight months. The extra eight months I served above my commitment was because I was deployed at the time. So at this point I had gone from High School, straight to college, then into the Army which had been telling me where to live, what job to have, and what I was going to get paid. After separating I finally had the whole world open to me! Well, the world was more like my oyster…really tough to crack open.
I had three big questions in front of me: where do I live, where do I want to attend a Masters in Business Administration, and what type of job I wanted to have…either that stuff or take off to Costa Rica for a year to “learn Spanish.” As I reflect back now, one year from that decision, I wish I had gone. Honestly. At least I would have a skill now. I have found out that leadership and team-working abilities aren’t skills. Those Army commercials were a lie!
I thought the transition to civilian life was going to easy, I had just come from being deployed, making quick, very important decisions that affected thirty mens’ safety. Now I was only making decisions for myself. The first decision I made was to attend Emory University’s part-time MBA program. Applying to programs was a long process, I had to squeeze the GMAT, essays, and interviews at the last minute because of the timing of me returning from Iraq (although I probably would have waited until the last minute anyways). Why did I choose Emory? Well, I tried to go into the process unbiased toward school rankings but I ended up just going to the best school I got into. I enjoy it fine. I really like the people but it’s a lot of work. I love learning again, it had seemed like it had been so long since I had “used” my brain. Plus we go out for beers after class on Wednesday nights, so that’s pretty cool.
Deciding on attending Emory narrowed down my decision on which city to move to. However, I didn’t know exactly what part of Atlanta I wanted to live in. I had grown up in the suburbs but knew little about in town living. I spent about 50 hours and looked at over 100 houses (literally) with a Realtor, that was a family friend, to find the perfect house for me. I love the area and house I live in now. I could see me living in this house or area forever. It has a perfect mix of young and old people that would let me feel comfortable at any age.
I made two dynamite decisions, now only one to knock down! For one of my MBA essays I was asked to write about what my post MBA plans would be. Since I had never worked in a job other than the Army, well and in High School I worked at the movie theater, the grocery store, and as a Boy Scout camp counselor, but I knew I didn’t want to do any of those for a career. I really had no idea what I wanted to do; only that I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I thrive on taking risk, handling the pressure of having all of responsibility on me, and understanding business to make smart, prudent decisions. I began to think, ‘I really felt confident that I could do almost anything in business and I enjoy all aspects of it, and I don’t want to be a “blue-collar” worker but I don’t want to sit behind a desk everyday. Donald Trump is pretty awesome, I want to do Real Estate development. That seems like a likely path to owning and running my own firm and is an interesting industry to me.’ At the time, I had no idea what part of it I wanted to start out doing. I just told people I wanted to be a “real estate developer” but had no idea what it took to do that. I began on my information and job-seeking journey by seeking contacts from all over the industry. I got one contact from Georgia Tech MBA admissions, one from UGA MBA admissions, and one from my mother. From those contacts I got three more and continued to build a network in which I had met over 50 people in about a two month period. The intent of meeting these people was 1. learn about the industry 2. make as many contacts as I could without being affiliated with any firm 3. and once I learned enough about the industry, to finally choose the right job for me. I would also read books and anything else I could find on real estate to learn more. Finally I had three job offers and a solid understanding of the industry so I decided it was time to choose which job. I asked family and friend’s for their advice and finally made a decision. I think it was probably the wrong decision…
I’m going to have to make this a 3-post series. I didn’t intend on this but all of this information is important to understand me and where my writing is coming from. Tomorrow’s post will bring everything together, explain my blogging style, running style, and lifestyle, and hopefully make you laugh more. If you need something to laugh about, think about me spending 2 months learning about an industry and eventually picking the wrong job! Hilarious!