Currently Reading Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't By Jim Collins see related

Has It Already Been A Year?

 I AM DONE!!!!!!!!!  After taking my last final (Advanced Corporate Finance for anyone who cares and it was an ass raping for all of us) of my first year of MBA school yesterday, my classmates and I proceeded to get completely hammered on 6th street afterwards.  It sure is a great feeling to have absolutely no responsibility whatsoever.  None of us can believe that we are already half way through the 2 year program.  I think I've said this in almost every xanga entry but good lord time is flying by!!!

This is probably a good time to reflect upon what I have learned since coming back to school.  Here are a few thoughts that come to mind:

1. It's great to step out of your circle of comfortability once in a while, especially if you can meet some amazing people from drastically different backgrounds.
2. Opportunities pass you by everyday but you have to realize which ones are worth chasing after and which ones are simply whims that can become obstacles in your pursuit of happiness.
3. Learning is a life-long process......don't ever let it stop.

OK I think the half bottle of $10 red wine (hey I am a broke student ok?) I just consumed is starting to kick in.  Before I pass out, here are some pics from the India trip I took during spring break:

This was the first thing we did when we got off the plane.....chugging JD on the bus!

Hanging at the beach in Goa

Would this be an awkward family photo or what?

One of the many fun filled drunken nights in Bangalore

This security guy at the airport did not believe my canon was a real camera and made me take a photo of him to prove it.  I suspect he knew but just wanted to see himself on my camera.....damn picture whore......

Meeting Lula, India's Minister of Railroad, in Delhi.  We were targets of a media frenzy!!

Photo op with some Indian soldiers

The breathtaking Taj Mahal.....walking through the entrance was like entering a dream land

Cows (and their shit) are EVERYWHERE.  They just roam around in the streets as if they own the place.  It was especially difficult for me because I craved beef soooo bad in those 2 weeks and no place served it (if you are lucky enough to find 'beef' on the menu, just know that it's actually buffalo meat).  I believe my exact thoughts at the time of this photo was 'yuuuuum beeeeeeeeef '*in a Homer tone with drool dripping down my chin.

That's it folks.  I will be driving back to Houston on Sunday and taking a 2 weeks long road trip to Cali before my summer internship starts in June.  Also, after years of putting it off, I have finally joined the world of MySpace.   Holla!

PS. I am usually not a big fan of house music but this song was playing at virtually every club in India.

This weekend went by as smoothly as we could ask for.  It was almost as if someone up there was watching over us.  Just to let you guys know, we were able to raise over $16K of donations for Curtis's Mom.  She was so thankful and wanted to contact each of you personally.  It'll take some time and she probably won't get to everyone but don't be surprised if you get a call from her.  For those of you that haven't met her yet, she is the sweetest lady and was so strong throughout all of this.

We had 100 programs printed for Saturday and they ran out way before the service started.  Every seat was filled and many had to stand.  This combined with the success of the donation collection truly shows what type of person Curtis is.  He touched so many people in his 26 years.  As someone said, "Curtis was not a rich man in terms of money but he was amazingly rich in terms of friends."

We could not have accomplished this without the help and compassion of all of you.  Whether you donated, helped out with the service, or simply passed along the word, I am sure Curtis is deeply appreciative of your contribution.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Sincerely,

All of Us

p.s. Please pass this along to everyone.......

*Picture contributed by Ly

RIP Curtis Chow

Funeral Service will be Saturday,
February 3rd at 10am at Winford Funeral
Home located at 8514 Tybor Drive
Houston Texas 77074

Currently Reading Case in Point: Complete Case Interview Preparation, Fourth Edition By Marc P. Cosentino see related

Helloooo?  Is anyone still on this thing?  Oh well, I am bored so I've decided to update finally.  Austin is cold as hell and school has been cancelled for 2 days in a row.  Yesterday I had the ingenious idea of walking 9 blocks to my friend's apt to prepare for upcoming internship interviews and back instead of thawing my car.  Needless to say I am sick now but at least I can tell my kids that when I was their age, I walked a mile in the snow for school.......

Without realizing it, I've done quite a bit of traveling since China/Japan in June.  Some pics are a few months old already but I figure I'd share anyway:

Miami

Look who I found in Miami?  It's the Brain!!!!

Bubba Grump Shrimp

Looking constipated while in South Beach....

Seattle

National Board at NAAAP Convention in Seattle

the famous Pike Place Fish Market.  We didn't see any fish gettin thrown around tho. 

View from the space needle.  Such a lovely city!

Alaska

Helicopter ride to see Mt Mckinley

getting ready for sea kayaking

The Gang

Drinking by the river.  There is still sunlight at midnight!!  Soon after we saw the Northern Lights but I can't find the pics right now.

Biking around Seward like a bunch of kids! 

Glacier hiking baby!

I even got to mush a team of huskies.  It was one of the coolest focking experiences ever!

Thailand

river market in Bangkok

Phong pissing in his pants.......

kickin it on Pattaya beach

Scorpions taste like shit...well actually more like plastic because I dont know what shit tastes like....

Tom thought he got a hot chick but......as Austin Powers would say....'ITS A MAN BABY!!!!'

Riding on an elephant is a painful experience due to the rough texture of its skin and the prickliness of its hair.  At one point it started going after some food on the ground and almost threw me in a ditch.  focker!

Andy got a new pet......

....but mine is better! 

Ring side for kick boxing

New Years 2007!!!  Bombs were going off all over the city but people still partied on like there's no tomorrow.

Vietnam

Sunset at Vung Tao, Vietnam

Pho 2000.  A pic of Bill Clinton eating there is hanging on the wall.

i dont know much about this guy but i think he's either saying 'Say guh, what yo name?' or 'DUUU MAAAAA!!!'

It's What Yo Nam!  Haven't seen him in years but somehow he tracked us down in freakin Vietnam of all places. 

Locals hanging out......

Night view of Saigon

Good times as always (minus the 2 days in Thailand that I literally peed out of my ass before I started popping my prescription traveler's diarrhea pills).  To all my vietmanese people out there, I must apologize for my previous misconception.  Vietnam is a great place to be, probably my favorite out of all those above.  The people are super nice and I even got used to the language for god's sake!  No longer will I view the people of Vietnam as a bunch of 4'10'' bottle throwing, booby trap setting crazy nikkas.  Much love homies!

Next stop:  INDIA in 6 weeks.  WOOHOO!!!

Have you been keeping in touch with all those who were once close to you?  I know I haven't.  That is why lately I've decided to contact everyone that I haven't talked to in a while.  It's probably the best decision I've made in a long, long time.  Regardless of where we are now, I am so thankful that I've had these great people at least at some point in my life.....

Grad school has been kicking my ass.......

Things don't always turn out how I imagined.  I have alot of things I need to figure out.......

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!