BW Online | November 21, 2000 | Georgia Cabrera: Reflections on the Overall MBA Experience

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NOVEMBER 2000

MBA JOURNAL: B-SCHOOL REVIEW

Georgia Cabrera: Reflections on the Overall MBA Experience

Georgia Cabrera
Stern School, NYU
Class of 2000

GEORGIA'S JOURNAL
Introductions
Admissions
Preterms/Orientations
Midterms
First Semester Overview
Internship Interviewing
Year-End Overview
Summer Internship
More on the Second Year
B-School Overview

STORY TOOLS

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Graduating was tough. No doubt about it. Some people didn't care one way or the other. But I felt like I was sinking into some sort of fog. Those last few months were difficult. You know the usual cliches: turning a page, closing a door, blah, blah, blah. I started assessing what I had done these past two years, who I'd remember and keep in touch with, who'd care to remember me. And I wondered if I was any closer to figuring out where the hell my life was going. But really, you can't assess B-school that way. (And, by the way, the answer is yes.)

A friend and I were talking over dinner, joking about not being able to recall anything specific that we'd learned in business school. But at the same time, we can't say that we are the same people we were two years ago either. Hell. Is any twenty-something the same person they were two years ago? Are the changes we perceive in ourselves a result of business school, or is it that we just got older? I don't know. All I know is that I wanted to change my life and open doors, and business school allowed me to do that. London and Kuala Lumpur aren't so far away anymore for this lil' girl from Texas. I took up golf. I have a subscription to The Economist. I know (and more importantly care) who Tony Blair is now. I can fly halfway across the world and know someone to call up to have a drink with.

Did the world get smaller or did I just grow up? And again, is this world-stretching/shrinking phenomenon a result of having having gone to business school or is it inextricably linked to who I was to begin with? As a physics teacher cum "capitalist," I found my Stern School experience was profound, but I can't say that all my colleagues share my sentiment. At the end of the day, one's personal take-away is directly correlated to how immersed one was in the sights, sounds, and smells of B-school.

I haven't started working yet, so these days I spend my time strolling through art galleries and museums. I read a book in the coffee shop late in the morning. I walk my daughter home from day camp. So yeah, it's a bit scary that I'm embarking on such an all-encompassing expedition (my career on Wall Street). Sometimes I let myself wonder if I shouldn't have just gone back and gotten my doctorate in sociology or journalism like I wanted to do, before the allure of the Street and capitalism called my name. But I'm curious and I have to see what all this hoopla is about and for now, I'm here to stay. So I'll sell bonds and love it. And yes, I have become a bit more pragmatic about things. Yes, I do look at the world and my place in it differently now. I must say that I'm still in the mood to impact the world in some noble way and haven't quite given up the notion. So maybe it'll happen at an investment bank. Maybe it won't.

So now I'm a bona fide MBA. I want to point out, though, that I did not do it alone and without a lot of sacrifice from those who love me. I couldn't have done it without my daughter's fearlessness, my mother and sister's resilient generosity, and an Englishman's million kisses. And as for all those-that-shall-remain-nameless who thought an ex-school teaching single mom couldn't pull this off: Cheers to two fantastic years of losing grip and loving life. You ain't seen nothin' yet.