My Journey…

This past summer was perhaps the longest period of doing nothing in my life. So here is how i spent my summer in Columbus, before joining D.  So i graduated on 14th of June. The first week of doing nothing was fun, going to sleep at 4 AM, waking up at 1 PM, watching movies the whole day(well what ever remained for the day). On the first couple of weekends managed to squeeze in bd’s and oh yes, a five guys opened up near my apartment. The five guys fever lasted for a couple of weeks, when was then surpassed by MadMex.  In the meanwhile, i thought i might as well do something productive and paid the annual membership for PMI and start preparing for CAPM (Certiified Associate in Project Management) certification. This i thought would keep me occupied for at least a month. It is not that CAPM certification will add anything exceptional to my resume by i thought it would compliment my Lean Six Sigma Certification well and would be inline with my aim of appearing for PMP(Project Management Professional) certification in  mid 2010.

So, began July. Early in July my roommate and me made road trips to Atlanta and Pittsburgh, where we are going to be posted in our jobs. We finalized our apartments and signed out leases. It was fun driving across US, a total of 1,700 miles in a span of 5 days. It was spring time, the weather was great, but it rained for a few hours during our travel as we passed through Virginia(oh, beautiful Virginia). It was at this time as i drove on the freeway that i began to think, that it is this, this infrastructure, this intricate lattice work of roads, a seamless movement of men, machines and goods that India needs. It is the proverbial sustainable competitive advantage. But it is not easy or quick. It takes time, money and that all important political will and commitment to achieve the foundation that US built through the 1900s. Enough said about that. By the way, the aim of the road trip was to finalize the apartment to stay in and so i did. My apartment is right in downtown Pittsburgh. It has a beautiful view of the city from the 10th floor, it is a bit pricey , but it is close to office and near anything that matters in Pittsburgh, so i guess it is worth it.

So, began August. I gave my PMI CAPM certification exam and passed with flying colors(pardon the self adulation). I made some new friends in Columbus, got hooked to Counter Strike, tried out hookah at the local Egyptian restaurant and visited a couple of local clubs. All in all, August was fun.

And so it ends, a three month vacation between my MBA and first post MBA job. This was perhaps the largest vacation since the 3 month vacation between BE and Infy. Now that it is over, time to change gear, real life beckons!