Monthly Archives: April 2012

The 30 Day Challenge

Food, Just Blah,

I saw this from a friend who shared this video on Facebook. I watched it and felt challenged. It will not take more than 5 minutes of your time so I suggest you watch it. 🙂

So for 30 days, starting tomorrow –

I will not eat rice for dinner.

Wish me luck. LOL

What will you try for 30 days?

Part III: Getting There

Masters, Personal, ,

Track back (because this is already way too updated):

April –

I submitted all my application requirements to Hult International Business School. It felt good that I actually have applied already for Master’s. One school down.

I received a call from the London School of Commerce. They were asking if I will apply to their school. I’m not really sure  about them and I’m still doing my browsing. They also informed me that in order to get a student visa, I need to have a “show money,” which basically translates to “I can live in UK for a year.” This basically means either begging from parents or loaning from them. Either way I am hoping I could get that much money into my bank account.

In other news, my friends and I are putting up a business. It’s been a long planned business which is only taking shape now.  I met up with my college friends (and business partners) last Saturday and they said me that they have already reserved the name of our business to the Security Exchange Commission. We just have 3 months to finish our papers then it’s all registered after that. One step forward.

I just found it really impressive how quickly things happened. I know that one of my friends and her friend was just discussing about the business. Week after that, they already had the name reserved and the initial meeting of the main management/”Board of Directors.” We’ve also had our initial strategic planning. I found it all so impressive because it was a “just do it” attitude. There were no qualms. This business is long overdue and it’s been talked about for a long time… and here we are. We’re about to have our own business, and a social enterprise at that.

Looking back on my experiences, whenever I have “just do it” moments I end up being happier than I would have thought I would be. I think the main problem with me, or with people in general, is that they’re too cautious that everything ends up delayed, taking too much time. To be honest, I don’t like meetings because I see them as unproductive, unless of course, it’s necessary. In government, most meetings aren’t that productive because the actions have to achieve consensus. And consensus is harder when you have lawyers around the table.

Time is essential. If you want something done, just do it without overthinking or overanalyzing. Sometimes it’s good to be reckless. Sometimes it’s good to just go ahead. I’m not saying do it all the time but recounting my experiences, it really felt good “just doing it.”

What have you done with a “just do it” attitude?

Part II: Making Choices

Masters, Personal, , , ,

As continued from Part I: Discerning…

I  checked out some UK universities for my Master’s. I attended University of Liverpool’s web seminar on social media as a tool for marketing. I therefore conclude that I am not fit for a marketing job.

I started congratulating myself this morning that after a week of choosing between some random courses that I feel would be practical to take and I think I would like, I narrowed the courses down to two. It’s either I take International Business or something about Financial markets/Economics. I am just deciding now which school I should apply to, and limiting them to a maximum of 3. I have already applied to Hult International Business School, pending some requirements.That leaves me with  2 more schools.

The main problem that I have with UK universities is that they require IELTS/TOEFL. In US and AU universities, they don’t necessarily require an IELTS/TOEFL as long as you can provide a certification from your institution/university that their medium of instruction is English. So that leaves me with more or less 2 months to take an IELTS (I prefer IELTS) before I can actually apply to the universities.

In choosing the universities I also consider the following:

  1. If they have the course/specialization that I want to take (Durham University was out of the list because their specialization is more on research and sciences, and I would probably one of the last persons who will be accepted in such a highly distinguished university)
  2. location (how far is it from the city; would the town/city have all the necessary stuff I would need; what would be the cost of living)
  3. part time job availability (I am not sure if in US they allow international students to work part time but in UK and AU they do at a maximum of 20 hours a week. Coming from a third world country, it would be preferential for me to take a job while studying so I can make ends meet/help out with all the expenses)
  4. % of international students (this is very important for me since I would be studying in another country, a country which I haven’t even been to [well, except for US])
  5. scholarship (One of the reasons I’m somewhat iffy from applying to the University of Liverpool is because they don’t offer scholarships, and this counts a lot. It’s not cheap to get a good education.)

I am still browsing through some universities. I might already schedule an IELTS exam this week, right after I finish my personal statement for Hult. Cheers for me, and for all those ambitious youth.

To be continued… just because I have to continue writing that Personal Statement.