Gunpowder, Treason, Plot

This week has been interesting, to say the least. Everyone that I have talked to has been asking a lot of existential questions,

Why am I here?

What if I only go back to my previous job?

Why can't we get free cookies in the business school?

On a positive note, I think the fact that we are comfortable sharing our insecurities with each other shows that we have bonded and that those important relationships are starting to form.

But it has been making me wonder why we're all collectively questioning our choices, abilities, and arguably self-worth...at the same time.

Looking at my own path that led me to Cambridge, I couldn't have predicted it. In undergrad, I was adamantly against getting an MBA. Every engineer gets an MBA, and I wanted to be different (lol). At the same time, 20-year-old Christine knew that being a female engineer meant I would need more qualifications to be taken as seriously as my male peers. So I did get a master's degree. It wasn't enough. My age, my gender, and even the fact that I look young, all work against me - at least according to some. 

Will the MBA be enough?

There's no way to know. But in the conversations I've had with companies I've stressed my desire to find the right job. I could easily, comfortably go back to being a program manager, but is that a good use of my skills and newly gained knowledge? 

It's hard when you don't know what the next step is, or what the 'right' job is. How do you plan, how do you measure success, and how do you even know what to apply for? Looking at my classmates I think we're all struggling with that. 

I do think it'll get better - as we progress through this program, we will determine the answers to these questions. But like anything it is a process and takes more time than we feel like we have.

Time will tell...

This week started off with a bang. There was a murder in the library on Halloween and we had to solve the murder. I'm overly proud to say that I was one of the students to successfully do this and I won some chocolate! Big highlight.

Had another formal at Peterhouse and got to watch my first debate at the Cambridge Union. The debate this week was 'This House Would Vote Blue, No Matter Who'. The debate brought Republicans and Democrats across the pond to debate this topic. The opposition won this one.

The week ended with some surprisingly delicious quesadilla's and even better company.

 

Saturday, November 5th hit, and I got to learn about Guy Fawkes - Remember, Remember the 5th of November. The city of Cambridge set off fireworks and had a big bonfire night - can't compare to the Aggie Bonfire though. 

This week I found out that I was voted co-social chair for the MBA program - a surprise and honor to say the least. In my first act as social chair, I gathered a group to enjoy a fun night out!

 

Sunday scaries were mitigated with a tour of King's College - which might actually be Hogwarts - but is filled with some weird statues in random hallways. Oh and lots of studying too.

What is wild is that two years ago, I received an offer to go work at a company in Denver, Colorado to live somewhere other than Texas for the first time. Here I am, in another country. Life is wild and unpredictable.