Coming Up for Air

There is a myth circulating the Johnson School that the first semester is the hardest, but I'm sitting here wondering what exactly folks mean when they say hard. First semester classes were challenging to be sure, but we were on a highly regulated schedule that ensured classes, assignments, and exams were coordinated such that the burden wasn't too much to bear.

This half semester has been a wholly different story. My class schedule extended into almost every weekend, such that 6 days a week, the light coming through the ceiling of the Atrium was the only light I saw. But classes were just the beginning...add in clubs, BRV, interviews for summer internships, associated travel, various entrepreneurial activities, and, oh yes, Thursday night bowling, and the result has been very little sleep and the inability to prioritize the things that are most important, like calling my mom and dad and my equally busy brother. I try to keep perspective and allocate time accordingly, but of late, I've even begun to neglect this, my beloved blog (and by beloved, I mean that I take great pleasure in writing it).

Clint Sidle, the leadership guru at the Johnson School, once told me very simply that all-too-often people sideline themselves. They look externally, recognize life is difficult, find particular industries impenetrable, companies too competitive, risks too great, or activities too time consuming or mentally strenuous. So, they simply bow out. They sit on the sideline and watch the team play. They take a job at their third or fourth choice company or even industry. They take the wrong immersion or the wrong classes or they don't throw their hat into the ring for an elected position.

The problem herein is that the individuals who get the big jobs or start the cool companies or become elected officials are often not the best people for those jobs--they are not the most ethical or passionate or intelligent, they simply have the biggest egos or they've got nothing to lose or they are shameless. Of course, one has to be a realist too, right?

Like everything, it depends on individual circumstances, but in the end, I believe that being a bit unrealistic--building that castle in the clouds--is the way to go. And as long as my family remains the most important thing to me, I think I'll be just fine.