Master of Bipolarity & Alcoholism

What a busy Saturday I had today. After my public speaking seminar through LEAD, meeting and greeting students during Fall Preview weekend activities for DSAC, and attending an industry panel on VC/PE in Biotech and Pharma at Gleacher, I thought I'd be done for the evening. But no, I just came back from a nightclub. Sometimes, you just need a drink. Or two.

No cause for concern though, there will be no raveningly hammered blogging tonight. Only further reflection on this all-encompassing MBA experience fueled by a few drinks. Speaking with prospective students today, I was reminded of my applications travail from a year ago. It was a grueling process, one that I was very relieved to have completed. I determined last year that the MBA experience makes people bipolar. I kid you not, dear reader. One day, you feel like you're on top of the world - one of the shining stars that belongs in the crème de la crème of the candidates applying to the top schools. You're utterly confident of your abilities to rock the world of Adcom with your accomplishments and winning personality. The next day, you're down in the dumps, second-guessing everything that you've ever written in your applications or communicated to Adcom. No chance in hell of acceptance to the top schools - you just hope that you get into the MBA program at Oatmeal State.

It wasn't just me - I knew quite a few other applicants going through the same ups and downs, confident one day and dejected the next. Perhaps its time for pharma companies to look into the mood stabilizer market for MBA applicants.

There would likely be another segment of this market - the 1st year MBA students, recently matriculated, going through the utter chaos of their first quarter. (Um, can you tell that my Marketing Strategy course has started to kick in?) Remember how relaxed I was a few days ago? Yah, not quite as relaxed on Thursday, the night before my Microeconomics midterm. Rather than rehash the carnage, suffice it to say that the euphoria of my epiphany wore off quickly enough. And today, I'm feelin' okay once again. Perhaps its the drink (or two) that I consumed a little while ago (alcohol is the only substance that has been effective in helping me relax as of late). But more likely its the cyclic nature of the bipolar disorder that kicked in during MBA applications, and just continued on as school started. When you're on a high, you can see the big picture clearly and relax about the insignificant little tasks - piddly nuisances that serve no purpose in your grand scheme to become a rock star and rule the world. When you're on a low, you just feel like you're being shit on left, right, and center with no hope of digging yourself out. With the insanity of classes and company presentations, I'm AFRAID to imagine the level of stress in store for us next quarter during recruitment/interview season for summer internships.

So, we'll end up a bunch of bald, bipolar MBA students with drinking problems. But hey, let's look at the bright side here my friends. At we'll have spring quarter and the summer to catch up on our meds, rogaine, and AA meetings.

*Sigh* At least I can still gain some measure of catharsis by blogging. Speaking of which, I finally added Huckle Cat to my list of links - a longtime Chicago dweller and fellow GSB student who has countless recommendations on places to eat and check out in Chicago. I also recently discovered another very creative and often off-the-wall fellow GSB blogger. Welcome to the jungle!