Welcome to Business School

"Hey Kara, do you want to be on the cheering squad to welcome the admits??"

Umm... No.

Standing in front of over a hundred strangers in a Blue and White t-shirt screaming and cheering... No problem. Standing in front of over a hundred strangers in a Blue and White t-shirt screaming and cheering at age 28... Absurd. So I passed on that and decided I would try my best to offset the cheesy welcome by showing the admits that some of us had indeed moved beyond the "glory days" of high school pep rallies.

We were given a list of the dos and don't for the weekend. Don't say anything about having to walk miles to get to school from the Green Lot, which as most of you may or may not know, is the neighboring city to Durham. Be positive about the workload, life in the "city" of Durham, and everything in general. Keep PDA to a minimum if you are part of the crew. The list went on. So, in an effort to obey the rules, I tried to strike up the right balance between maturity and fun loving. I talked about the rigorous academic curriculum, the life lessons one could expect to gain from working in teams, the many opportunities to develop leadership skills... I was also sure to mention that beyond the walls of the Fox Center, we really knew how to cut a rug, let our hair down, party hardy. I highlighted my 36 hour Campout experience, the 80's party, the Halloween party (still can't find my gloves), the dress like a Fuquan party, the Fuqua Fridays that we turned into Fuqua Saturdays. "We love to drink here at Fuqua," *chuckle chuckle* And I really thought I was doing a pretty good job of convincing the admits that Fuqua was a work hard, play hard environment, the right place for them.

At the end of our evening of wooing and wowing them at school, we decided it was time to show them a good time. The spot chosen: Shooters, a local joint here in Durham, with a mechanical bull, a dancing cage, and a whole lotta cheap liquor. This was my first time going to Shooters. Let me set the scene, Shooters is one of those spots where you walk in and immediately feel compelled to yell, "Let's do shots! Who wants to do shots?!" Not the Lemon Drop shots you'd normally do, in celebration of a co-workers birthday, just to prove to yourself, and everyone else in your business casual clad group that "you could still hang" with the best of them. No, this place brought you back to 21, when Adios' and Long Island Ice Teas were the drinks of choice, and where only one of three shots would do. Patron. Jager. Goldschläger. I was surrounded by a mass of my classmates, and future classmates, all of us rehashing our youth, licking salt from our filthy hands, slamming shots of tequila, and then shoving limes into our mouths, limes that were passed to us with the same hands that wiped down the bar, touched our money, and other things...

It seems trivial things such as rules and regulations fell to the wayside after a few drinks, and what was left, was pure and utter debauchery. In the entire 8 months I've been here, I have NEVER witnessed such a debacle. The ONE weekend we were asked to be on best behavior, the ONE weekend, and suddenly we choose to honor Joe Francis with our own Fuqua Gone Wild. It was glorious.

The next morning as we stood around awkwardly, waiting to greet the admits in our beer stained t-shirts, infused with cigarette smoke, our eyes red and glassy from dehydration, I thought, our high school pep rally days may have been behind us, but as for our undergrad days... we've got a long way to go. I smiled to myself as I watched the admits head in our direction, "Welcome to Business School."

Spring Break Ruminations

Every once in a while, when you least expect it, you get a taste of your past... not in the nostalgic sense, like that bittersweet feeling you get when you visit your old high school or when you order a happy meal from the McDonalds menu; but a real taste, in its true form, unadulterated, and just as you remember it. Of course we all want to feel like over the months and years, we've grown and matured. I know I would like to think that I've moved on to bigger and better things, and yet sometimes I look back at my past and think, what was so wrong with the way I was? I was happy. At some point in time, before abandoning my life in LA in search of the promise of new beginnings, I was truly happy.

After my trip home during Christmas, I was convinced that my life, as I'd known it no longer existed. It felt as if everyone had moved on, and that I had too. So I returned to Durham ready to accept that I would never again hand a tardy slip to my 1st period teacher, and that a happy meal, despite its name, did not have the ability to elevate my mood, nor was it by any stretch of the imagination a "meal".

And then Spring Break happened. The stars aligned and what resulted was strangely compatible blend of my new life and my old life.

Recapping from notable moments, and though there were many, these stand out the most:

Going to watch In Bruges and Juno *a must see* with my mom… I can’t remember the last time I watched a movie in the theater with my mom, mainly attributed to her contempt for the rise in movie ticket prices. She would refuse to go watch movies in the theater as she noted, "The script isn't going to change in transition from the theater to DVD."

Breakfast with Gloria at Ocean Diner... Quite possibly one of the most embarrassing experiences of my life, which I blame solely on my brother who in moment of drunken clarity at a college frat party, thought it would be a great idea to take a puppy home; a puppy he was ill-equipped to care for. Five years later I'm still paying for his mistake, this time with my dignity. As other dogs sat outside enjoying the sun and the people, my canis familiaris apparently accustomed to French dining laws, spent the better part of our meal wailing to be let in, and would not be silenced despite our repeated attempts as well as those of the pitying passersby. Needless to say, our meal was cut short. "Check please!"

Catching up with an old friend... There are people who you meet in life, who you'd be okay with never seeing again. And then are those who, though you'd probably be okay with never seeing again, you'd like to see again. My last night in LA, I ran into someone from my "I'd like to see again" list, and that was pretty nice, except for the fact that now I have that Moldy Peaches song stuck in my head. "Here is the church, and here is the steeple..."

During my spring break, I had a taste of my past, and what I realized was that some of the things I loved the most aren't quite ready for "past" status yet. Which is good, cause as the pile up tardy slips from my high school years will show, I'm in no hurry. :)

Traveling Woes

"Hurry up," my dad called out to me. "American always leaves on time!"
"I'm hurrying," I yell back as I frantically look around my bedroom, correction, the "guest room" for anything I may have left behind. Nothing. Could it be? After ten years of travelling solo, I was going to actually leave with everything I'd arrived with? I quickly looked on the right side of the closet, empty, then I quickly looked on the left side of the closet... Of course. I start tearing clothes off the the hangers. Do I really need that 70s style turqoise dress that looks like its been bedazzled by a four year old?? Game time decision was "yes". Why? I don't know, actually. I made a similar game time decision back in the summer of 04 at a thrift shop in San Diego by buying this dress but as I've never worn it, logic should have told me that my game time decisions, well they suck.

I gather up my clothes and run downstairs. The dryer! I drop the pile of clothes on the floor and run back upstairs. I pull out the partially dried clothes and run back downstairs. I pick up each suitcase, because in addition to my many other talents, I know how to mentally calculate the weight of luggage... right. My shoes bag is definitely below 50 lbs. I shove the odd clothes into my shoes and cosmetics bag, and zip it up. I will definitely be rewashing when I arrive back in Durham.

I arrive at the airport with 10 minutes to check in. When I finally reach a machine, I have a minute left. I quickly swipe my card and check in. My flight is delayed by 15 minutes. I note the flight gods are with me today. I receive my boarding pass, check my luggage and head off to the security line. "Ma'am, outside and to the right," a woman tells me. That's weird, I think. Why would I need to go outside and... down to the next terminal? I panic because suddenly that 15 minute buffer isn't looking like much of a buffer. After 30 minutes in the security line, a TSA rep pulls me out of the the line, and I try to ignore the judging faces and dirty looks as I make my way to the front. I put my bags on the security belt fully aware of my unbagged gels, liquids, aerosols and prayed for the best. My faith in TSA restored, I race to my gate unhassled.

And sat on the plane... for an hour.

I came to 3 conclusions during that hour:
1. I really should have taken a second helping of my mother's delicious steak, potatoes and eggs
2. I don't need to have my cell phone switched off on a grounded plane.
3. I was not going to make my connection in St. Louis. So, no dad, American Airlines, does not always leave on time.

In the hours to follow, my life would take a turn for the worst. What should have been only 7 or 8 hours of travel, turned into a day and a half, two hours spent trying to locate missing luggage and an overnight stay at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in St. Louis. I can now empathize with those poor castaways of the Minnow. The only brightside to this nightmare was that I made a new friend, Lisa. We enjoyed dinner at TGIF Fridays, and a much needed St. Patty's Day shot. The great conversation and my medium/well done burger with onion rings was a great distraction, and I don't think I could have picked a better unintentional travelling buddy.

Finally arrived at RDU, a worn down bitter version of my former self, who you might only recognize if you'd seen me the day before as I was still wearing the same clothes. After retrieving my luggage, Lisa and I parted ways, and I was left to do this last leg on my own. I sat in front of the carosels and waited patiently for my roommate to pick me up. I used my hour and a half to read for class I wasn't attending... Why? Dunno. It just seemed like the right thing to do.

When my roommate pulled up, I was overcome with a warm feeling and happy to see a familiar face. I didn't want to leave LA, but after spending the past day and a half in limbo, seeing my roomie made me feel at home. On the way back to Durham we weighed my options, go to class late, don't go to class. Thankfully she helped me rationalize the situation. Game time decision: Go home and sleep. I think to myself, I really could have used her in the summer of 04.