THE INCOMING WOLVERINE  My dream was to get a European MBA so I could live in Europe for two years, no strings attached. But, as I got embroiled in the MBA application process, I realized that I was mixing up my goals with my whims. The MBA was for my career. It wasn't my ticket to a two-year vacation in Europe. I needed a program that had strength in marketing and corporate strategy, a highlight on entrepreneurship, a diverse student body, and a reputation for world-class research facilities.

Initially, Michigan wasn't in the running -- until my ideal program checklist laid testament to the fact that UM covered all the bases. UM also boasted time-tested relationships with all the right recruiters, the largest living alumni network, and a unique opportunity to learn theory through practice with the Multi-Disciplinary Action Project (MAP). It is a consistently highly ranked MBA program, and the larger university also ranks well in sciences, law, and other sundry fields. Ann Arbor is one of the last great college towns with a humble Midwestern culture, and in the year I applied, the Wolverines made it to the Rose Bowl. What's not to like?

Just one thing: Winter.

Call me shallow, but I'm a tropical island girl. Going to Michigan meant I would give up nine months of summer for nine months of winter. I wasn't so sure about how ready I was for that. It wasn't the best experience in the world either when snow flurries decided to grace the Go Blue Rendezvous weekend last April. It was supposed to be spring already! My tropical butt was frozen, but there was no turning back.

Having met my future classmates, the current MBAs, and the faculty and staff of the UMBS, and seeing Michigan's dynamic and enlivening culture in action, my resolve to Go Blue for my MBA was solidified. I really felt the fit. Before the snow even fell that weekend, I had already signed a lease for a quaint apartment three blocks from school.

THE SENTIMENTAL ISLAND GIRL  I've been slowly packing clothes, photographs, mementos and dried mangos into boxes. I have long ago said my goodbyes and endless thank-yous to my mentors in H&Q and have started doing the rounds of friends and family dinners, lunches and coffee breaks. The tears haven't fallen yet, but as the magnitude of the changes start bearing down on me, I know the long forgotten part of me that is my parents' little girl is going to tear up. I've never lived away from my family in my entire life and now I'm going cold turkey for two years. Very, very cold turkey.

ON A NOTE OF SIGNIFICANCE  As I write, I have a little less than a month to go before I fly to the U.S. I'm planning to stop over in California to spend time with my "significant other" in San Diego before I fly to Ann Arbor for the UMBS pre-class orientation known as the Leadership Development Program (LDP). It feels weird calling him my S.O., but that's what boyfriends (and girlfriends and husbands and wives) are referred to in B-school.

Francis and I met over a year ago at the wedding of his cousin (my childhood friend) in Guam, a U.S. territory, where he was completing a one-year stint in honor of his scholarship contract. We met just as I was completing my applications to B-school and he was preparing himself to go back to the mainland and pursue other opportunities in engineering. A relationship was the furthest thing from our minds as we were both in transition. Entering B-school is tough on an MBA, but even tougher on significant others. I didn't think I could juggle schoolwork, job search AND a long-distance relationship, but there are some things we can't control. Maybe, what Paulo Coehlo said in "The Alchemist" is true. "When you decide on what you want, the rest of the world conspires to help you reach it."

Francis was visiting me in Manila when I received my acceptance to Michigan. He was as excited as I was, more so because he knew of the Michigan devotion to football, which is a passion shared by the University of Texas in Austin, his alma mater. Around the time of the Go Blue Weekend in April, he moved back to the mainland to take an engineering position at a wireless telecommunications company in La Jolla, California. With just a bit of effort from both of us, things somehow fell into place. I'm still not that excited about having a bi-coastal relationship but it sure beats an intercontinental one. This trip will be a first in a long string of trips between Ann Arbor and San Diego within the next two years. Monthly four-hour flights, oh, joy!

All the MBAs I've spoken to have advised taking time off before the MBA to de-stress and regroup, so I'm doing just that. I'm also looking forward to the M-trek in mid-August where I have signed myself up for A-Week-A-Costa-Rica, one of the most popular treks this year. When I'm not packing, I'm learning how to cook, how to do laundry, how to iron, and all the other rudimentary how-to's that I should've learned a long time ago. I didn't realize how much of a brat I was.

The to-do list goes on forever, so I haven't had time to really get excited. But, as I fix my resume in time for recruiting season and exchange emails with fellow MBAs, I feel a little skip in my heart when I realize for a split second that I'm starting a brand-new chapter in my life. And I know that as soon as I figure out where I can buy the best winter clothes, that warm and fuzzy feeling will be more profoundly felt right down to my toes.

I can't say just yet if this big move is worth it. So many choices in this world can't be made with logic alone. Sometimes, after you've analyzed all the choices and debated every aspect of every decision, you just have to go with what feels right. This feels right.

Go blue!

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