How do you measure success?

The Beers for Books event at IBEX was a huge success. Thank you to everyone that helped out especially Romano, Gary B, and the pole dancers that worked for free. We raised almost 30,000 JPY for Room to Read. Special thanks to my boy JG whose been one of my closest friends in Japan through thick and thin. From time to time we piss each other off, but after all these years we’re still friends.

One of the things I am doing to evaluate the schools I am applying to is reading student blogs. I came across an entry from one of the students at Texas. It was about their opportunity to meet superstar investor Warren Buffet. Here is an interesting excerpt from the entry:

“There was one particular story that Warren told that really had an impact on me. He told a story about an old woman who befriended him several years ago who took a while to open up to him. She had escaped the Holocaust, but before coming to the United States and settling in Omaha, she had been in a concentration camp in Auschwitz with her sister. Unfortunately, her sister didn’t make it out alive, but this woman had been one of the lucky ones. As Warren told us this story, he described how at some point the woman had said to him, ‘I’m sorry I have been slow to open up. It is hard for me to get close to people, because when I evaluate my relationships with them, I always ask myself, ‘Would they hide me?’’ In jest, he remarked that there were several people in his life whose cover he’d intentionally blow (”HE’S IN THE ATTIC!!”)….But Warren went on to equate this to how you measure success…not by how much money you have, or how many letters are after your name. Warren paused (for emphasis), and asked us simply, ‘How many people would hide you?’”

The rest of the entry can be found here, but I found it a pretty interesting way to evaluate success. I never thought about it, but I have close to 1,000 friends on facebook and I wonder how many would hide me. JG and DC def would. I’d hide them in a heartbeat too.

No word from Texas. I read the fine print on their admissions website and it said 10-13 weeks after submitting my application online. We just entered the 10th week, so I’m sure that’s what admissions will tell me if I send them an e-mail asking them what’s up with my application. Question is: should I do it anyway? I don’t know the etiquette for asking admissions about where your application is when the waiting period hasn’t ended yet. Does it hurt my chances? I think I’ll give it until the end of this week and if I don’t hear back by then, I’ll give them a little nudge.

Why I like Japan

I’ve been back in Tokyo since last Friday. I didn’t think I was jet lagged but I slept all day on Monday and was up all night on Monday night. Last night I barely slept as well. We’ll see how today goes.

At my USC admissions interview, I was asked why I like Japan. I guess I don’t really talk about it that much, but I have certainly thought of it and was ready to answer the question. What I like best is how its traditional culture, for the most part, coexists in harmony with its modern culture. Just taking a walk outside you will see signs of westernization within seconds. There are McDonald’s and Starbucks everywhere but isn’t that for the better? LOL. What I mean though is how Japanese people still spend time with their families over the New Year’s holidays, participate in tea ceremonies, visit temples, etc. They certainly do non-Japanese things, but what I like is how the traditional stuff is always available to do, and people freely choose to do them.

No good updates at the moment. UT says that I should hear back from them 4-6 weeks after my interview. The 6 weeks will end this Friday, Texas time. I should hear back from USC on April 1. It’s all a waiting game. And annoying one at that. So at the moment I am filling out financial aid forms and reading books. I bought Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man and two books by Malcolm Gladwell. Haven’t made much progress on any of them.

Finally, just a reminder that my last bartending gig is this weekend. Proceeds will be going to the Beer for Books charity. Details below. Please stop by if you’re free!

Beer for Books - Cocktails & Dreams finale
When: Sunday, March 21 at 8pm
Location: IBEX Roppongi - ARIES BLD 4F, 3-15-24, Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Map
Entertainment: Live DJ spinning hip-hop and R&B, pole dancers
Cost: FREE
Phone: 03-3746-1075

Mid-trip update (WARNING: This post is more boring than usual)

I am finally over the jet lag. It took me a few days but I’m on EST at the moment. Unfortunately I am flying to Seattle tomorrow so it’ll get messed up again. Hopefully it won’t be as difficult when I head back to Tokyo.

Yesterday I went to my third school in a week. It actually wouldn’t have been that bad except yesterday was an all day event. Besides listening to presentations I had to meet and greet dozens of my future classmates. There was a really random situation at lunch. The MC of the day sat down and asked me about my background. It turns out he went to the same undergrad institution as I did. He was a freshman when I was a senior and we had never seen each others faces until yesterday. One girl overheard our conversation and said her brother graduated the same year as me. Her brother was actually some guy I knew very well.

Business schools tend to all have the same marketing plan. They all talk about the world-class education you get but for the most part emphasize the experience working with your fellow classmates at your school. Whether or not they live up to that billing is for the candidate to decide.

When I went to Maryland/Smith’s admitted students day, I got that vibe. It felt like a cult, but in a good way. I had never seen so many people genuinely happy to be affiliated with an institution like that. Whether it was a company, school, or club. They did a great sell job and my interest in the school has certainly spiked. We also saw a professor teach a class. He did an unbelievable job putting the concepts in plain language and got us to work together to solve it.

I am not sure if I got the same feeling at USC. The other candidates I met during the visit did not impress me when I talked to them. Granted it could've been an off day. The student "ambassador" I met, however, was great. The guy was so into USC you would think they make him down a jug of USC kool-aid before he meets prospective students. He is the type of person I want to go to school with.

My visit with Texas was somewhat in between the USC and Maryland visits. The other candidates I met were really smart guys. The current student was also very informative and smart as well. This wasn’t a “welcome day”, it was just a campus visit so I didn’t get the same sell job I got at Maryland. I attended an “Energy Law” class which was interactive, but did have some animated students talking about nuclear power waste. Overall I got a good impression but wish I had the chance to attend one of their admitted students days.

Up next: University of Washington. They have a very small class – around 100 students. The other programs I am applying to have a significantly higher enrollment. The advantages of a small class is that you know everyone. The disadvantage is that you get less opportunity to network. I don’t mind that however, as I don’t really have a problem making those connections outside of school. Hope this will be a good visit.

Eating crabs w/ my boys from growing up. Then the Oscars tonight (sorry I couldn’t think of anything else to write). Should be a chill day.

REVERSE CULTURE SHOCK

I just got to LA this morning. Flew United. They ran out of beer so I tried to drink myself to sleep on wine but it didn’t really work out. It basically means I’ve been up since around 8am Monday morning Tokyo time. It is now noon on Monday… California time. You do the math.

I’ve been living in Japan a long time. Enough that I look right first when I cross the street. Almost got killed today because of that. Luckily I got to the Taco Bell in one piece. There is one about 1000 feet from my motel. And this is the first time I’ve been in a motel since I was a child. This place reminds me of the movie Monster with Charlize Theron. To make matters worse the chain lock on the door is broken. But even if I got it replaced I wouldn’t feel any safer since it was broken last time.

So I’m sitting in Taco Bell (my traditional post-flight meal) I am wolfing down a Chalupa and see two girls sit down. One of them had two tacos on a tray and her friend had 6 tacos on a tray. So I’m thinking to myself wow she can put down tacos like a champ. At which point I notice a car waiting in line for the drive-thru. A couple, the guy is driving. He’s got both hands on the wheel while his girlfriend is feeding him fries. So yeah if you’re following this story correctly, they bought fries and are now in line to get tacos as well. Yes, I am definitely back in the States.

I also had to tip a driver of a shared van that didn’t even put my bag in the car, then told me to pay him in cash after I already pre-paid via the internet.

I think this might be the right time to move back to the States as I am losing touch with what was once normal to me. My buddy DA says that I am going to be the first and only person in my class to drop out of business school to move back to Tokyo. I hope he’s not right lol. But living in Japan for the past 5 years has me convinced that Japanese people are the most normal people on Earth. That is a compliment.

My motel is less than a mile away from the USC campus. I am attending an information session, followed by a class visit and tour. Afterwards I will be interviewing with a “Senior Associate Director”. So far I feel like I have been doing well, or at least as good as I possibly can be at all my interviews. So I won’t change anything. Perhaps I will wear my glasses instead of contacts but that’s about as big as any change will get.

Staying here until Wednesday at which point I will move to Austin, Texas until Friday. Looking forward to going out on a Thursday night in a real college town. Hopefully I don’t end up in the gutter on 6^th street.

I am flying to DC/MD/VA on Friday for Smith/Maryland’s admitted students day on Saturday. Staying till Monday, at which point I will move on to Seattle for a visit to UW. Flying to LA on Wednesday then get on a plane Thursday that arrives in Tokyo on Friday. It’s a lot for 11 days, but pretty important towards my decision and I’m sure their decision about me. Hopefully the people at USC and Texas like what they see.