And . . . . We’re Back: How I Spent My Time Away from Darden

Alright so what do the following have in common:

·         New York City;

·         Austin, TX;

·         Princeton, NJ;

·         Jeddah, Saudi Arabia;

·         Blacksburg, VA;

·         Washington, DC;

·         Las Vegas, NV;

·         Johannesburg, South Africa;

·         Atlantic City, NJ

·         Annapolis, MD;

·         San Diego, CA;

·         Stone Harbor, NJ;

·         Lexington, VA;

·         San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Yea, those are all the places that I’ve been since classes ended in Charlottesville a mere 13 weeks ago (you read that correctly: separate trips to Saudi Arabia AND South Africa in one summer; I’ve got some serious airline miles, don’t worry about it). Now the real challenge for you is to figure out whether each of those was for a:

1.       Wedding;

2.       Weekend getaway;

3.       My internship;

4.       Vacation;

5.       hA holiday (4^th of July or Memorial Day);

6.       Bachelor party.

I guarantee the answers will really confuse you.

 

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, it was awesome. I had an incredible summer that included an extremely challenging but rewarding internship, chances to catch up with friends and family, and a lot of travelling. I felt like I was a boxcar Hobo, never knowing where I was going to be heading next. But not one of those trampy Hobos with the stick and bundle; I was one of those very classy, dignified ones (ok really the only difference was I had a small backpack instead of a bundle).  

But there are tradeoffs. Now, I don’t want to speak for all B-school students, but I feel like this is just kind of the life of anyone getting a full-time MBA. In the year since I’ve moved to Charlottesville, between job treks, spring break trips, winter break, interviews, weekend ski trips, and everything in between, I’ve always felt like I was on the move. Which is good and bad. Good because it’s interesting, exciting, and life-changing; bad because you never really feel settled. That’s why I think it is important to get yourself anchored before you really get on the move.

Personally, I had no idea that I had anchored myself in Charlottesville. But while I was out and about this summer, I realized that as great as all of the places I was visiting were, not one of them was here. So while I was enjoying every minute of my travels, at the same time I couldn’t wait to get back here. I mean to me, what’s the point of travelling if you don’t have somewhere great to go back to at the end of it? I guess all I am trying to say is, it’s good to be home.

If you would like to contact the author, he can be reached at david.a.miller4@gmail.com.