Thursday, March 29, 2007

Two Laziest Dog in the World...

and of course both of them happen to live with me at the moment..
okay the one in the front is not only lazy but also always camera-ready..

Anyway.. congrats on everyone who just hear good news ( katrina, of course miss agirlsmba, and others.. )
Okay for those who didn't hear good news.. it's okay!!! seriously!! just get a couple drinks ( don't drive ), get wasted, and you'll be fine.. HAH okay i'm not helping..
but yeah seriously for guys : get drunk, for gals: go shopping..
and then once the mourning ends, start all over again for next year :)

Let's see any update for me... I'm still going for MBA.. despite my colleagues' attempt to collect bets on whether I will return to US or stay in Indonesia ( and get married.. so they say )

AND OF COURSE... ALL OF THEM say I will NOT return to US

GEEZ.. thanks for your support guys!

But yeah I'm still here doing mba.. more Indonesians are accepted to the Anderson..
This will be an exciting journey

Alrigty then.. update me on what you guys are planning to do before school starts!
As for me.. I'm still scouting for upcoming internship opportunity in Indonesia..

Saturday, March 24, 2007

my poor CFA


I have NOT BEEN STUDYING FOR CFA! I'm supposed to be studying right at this moment but instead I'm blogging..

I'm 2.5 weeks behind according to my personal SCHWESER calendar so anyone out there doing CFA this june : STOP BROWSING THE NET AND START STUDYING!

and that's exactly what I'm gonna do right now...

ENROLLED IN UCLA ( Did I tell u guys this before .. herm )


It's been 3 days and I haven't changed my mind about going to MBA... HIP HIP HOORAY!!!

I want to thank Lindy, Natasha, my baby, Paris, my mom, and everyone else whom I have been bothering the past month about my dilemma of going to B school or not.. I'm very happy to say that I have NOT changed my mind for THREE DAYS!!!

ThANK you THank You..

HAHAHA okay I'm over-reacting....

but anyway

I HAVE PAID my deposit to UCLA $1000 ( aka one Paris Biarritz bag .. SIGH )..

Yai.. I'm officially going to UCLA Anderson class of 2009!

And I actually might have found an internship with KIVA to do microfinance in Yogyakarta, Indonesia... I had the chance to talk to a friend's friend who is involved in micofinance organization, KIVA, in Indonesia. He's heading to Indonesia in June to head up a microfinance project and he invited me to join the group.. Okay.. I haven't heard back from him.. but still yai..

OH did I tell you guys : I'm interested in doing microfinance in Indonesia in the future ( that's my LT goal in the essay )

Okay I had the chance to chat with another Indonesian current Anderson student yesterday.. What a mind-boggling experience!!! THIS GUY is sooo darnnn talented..
Okay so he told me he did double major in his undergrad at Purdue I believe in Finance and Computer Science. Then he worked in Singapore, did his GMAT and scored 750.. Got contacted by MIT to do a Master in Engineering for Supply Chain something... He was offered admission with tuition for MIT.. did that.. and then work at a consulting company for a while... and joined Anderson 2 yrs ago ON FULL SCHOLARSHIP ( yes meaning two years full scholarship )

KILL ME... He's going to join AMGEN corporate finance upon graduation.. and was offered a position at BCG Singapore. He did summer internship at JP Morgan , Hong Kong to test the water but didn't like IB.

Okay so yeah I feel small ...

Tralalala but oh okay I also found a sublessee ( did I spell it right?) to take over my apt from June-August.. Now I'm thinking of bringing my dog, Paris to Indonesia for vacation for 3 months.. ANyone with similar experience of bringing your dog abroad???

See everything is clearer now.. One step at a time...

I also want to CONGRATULATE sa_ir, a fellow Indonesian, who's been accepted to Indiana Kelley School of Business.... CONGRATS.. And I believe, One-Toe, another Indonesian guy is going to MIT Sloan.. Am I right?

Craig Hubble, the admission directer for Anderson had also informed me there's another Indonesian gal who just got accepted to Anderson.. hahaha wow oka I should stop mentioning about the Indonesiansss....

happy spring break holiday!!!

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

the baby polar bear

Okay this is so totally unrelated to B school.. but oh so cute!!

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Ipoel Has a Plan ( to take over the world.. )


So here's my plan.. I'm going home in May for a long vacation til August. I'm currently trying to find a summer internship oportunity in either Jakarta or Singapore ( Anyone?? Hook me up, please ) It'll be in either consulting or Global Consumer Products
My plan for now is to return to US in early September to go to school. Now let's hope I don't change my mind in my 4 months there. Part of the reason I'm going home and work in Jakarta is to find out if I do like it there and if I can find opportunities in Indonesia.

I'll be quitting my job in end of April ( anyone interested shoot me an email at little_cute_one@yahoo.com ) It'll be an entry level job.
I'm gonna be bringing Paris to Indonesia. I'll be subleasing my apartment from May til August ( I'm thinking whether I should just break the contract so I have no obligation to return here if I do like it in Indonesia ) HERM..
But YUP that's my plan..

I really do want to thank all the readers and the new contacts I have made through this website :)
DO BOMBARD ME WITH QUESTIONS IF I DECIDE TO NOT GO FOR MBA !!!

On a more serious note, I've been talking to current students, alumni, professors and friends, and most of them would tell me that I don't need an MBA to be an entrepreneur.
If you want to work as a professional ( in a corporate world ), by all means yes take an MBA..
If you want to work in US, any job, YES Take the MBA
If you want to be an entrpreneur in US, I'd say take MBA because it helps you to get funding and learn the structured way to get funding/meet VCs
But if you want to be an entrepreneur not in US.. most people tell me : go home, work and find your niche..

Okay so maybe other international students who aspire to return to their home country and be entrepreneurs can tell me why they're doing the MBA..

but there it it

Ipoel has a plan

OH did I tell you I get rejected by Berkeley...
and ipoel is going to be heart-broken when she returns to Indo in May ( this has easily turned to be a once a year thing.. shucks )

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Vacuum

After being gone for so long.. okay a week or so.. i'm back .. Congrats to people who have received good news.. ( agirlsmba, Katrina, and others whom I have missed... )

Sorry to people who have not heard the news that they had expected.. just like how I'm expecting a Ding from Berkeley pretty soon :)

But now the journey is nearing the end for me.. and I refuse to say which decision I'm going to take ( home or here ) but I hope everyone who is struggling with his/her decision too can get the answer pretty soon as well...

SO.. I'm deciding whether I should maybe postpone my CFA test.. I don't even know if I can do that.. hahaha and maybe I should quit my job earlier.. I'm thinking of Hawai, since I can't go outside of US..

WELL let me know how you guys are doing!!

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Withdrawing my candidacy from USC

Okay so any USC waitlist or hopeful applicants, REJOICE!!! I've told the school that I won't be attending USC for Fall 2007.. Feel kinda bad coz today I received an email from a current USC student who congratulates me on my acceptance and invites me to a gathering event for Marshall candidates.. but oh well... life goes on..

Okay So I'm pretty sure I'll be rejected by Berkeley.. No interview invite at all... SIGH SIGH SIGH.. okayyy Berkeley I accept your rejection :)

All the best for others who are still waiting for answers..

I'm scramming to study CFA for this June 2nd test.. Kinda thinking what did I get myself into :)

Saturday, March 3, 2007

Hello, Call my name..

Okay so that's the ring tone for my best friend's here in Indo.. I called her so often that the song gets stucked in me :

Hello call my name.. so much stories you shared with me.. that I.. bla bla bla

but anyway NOW MY MOM IS requesting me to consider going back for good and work in Indo instead of doing MBA.. thanks to my brother who always doubt B School and its usefullness...

Hate being indecisive.. hate hate hate hate...

:) BUt oh well.. I'm returning to LA tomorrow morning.. you guys will see more posts about this b school process.. and hopefully news from Berkeley as well so I can decide soon..

And I'll be withdrawing my position from USC..

okie dokie

Friday, March 2, 2007

Re-Affirmation

Okay so yesterday was the PMS- ipoel talking.. now it's the almost normal ipoel writing...

My thoughts on why I may not want to do an MBA :
1. wasting my time ( 2 yrs )
2. I could have just started my own business if I want to be an entrepreneur in Indonesia
3. I could have helped my parents' business now instead of 2 years later down the road
4. so many opportunities in Indonesia.. maybe I'm missing something if I don't start right away
5. peer pressure.. looking at fellow friends who are my age but are busy preparing/opening their start up business in Jakarta
6. it's nice to be w family
7. I may have been blinded by the American culture in deciding that I need an MBA to succeed in Indonesia
8. I'm having my PMS and thus I worry a lot

So for now I have decided that I WILL STILL do my MBA :
1. talked to parents, esp mom and somehow now she suports my going to B School
2. I want to finish what I have set out to do two years ago
3. one of my goals in life : MBA
4. I've promised myself not to live in the fast lane.. age is but a number
5. let me take a chance .. for once/twice/thrice

okay.. so.. wish me luck and I hope myself luck too..

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Why MBA?

It's too late I know.. but I now start to ponder why am I doing MBA.. The steps I had thought would be the right ones to take do not appear so anymore.. While vacationing in Indonesia, I see people who are successful without MBAs, I see people with mights and guts that an MBA would not prepare me for..

What I also see is a network of people in Jakarta.

And being an indecisive Libra, I start to question my life : Why MBA? Do I really need it? Having been away from home for so long distant myself from my obligations and my parents/ society's expectations on me...

WHy am I wasting my youth in B school, why am I wasting my opportunities in Jakarta for 2 years..

and then all the what ifs.. what if I take the wrong decisions, what if I lose those opportunties..

This is so me.. to impulsively make a decision ( apply to MBA ) without thinking the consequences thoroughly and then worry just before plunging into the decision..

In the past, all I do is just push myself to take the first step to plunge myself over the hill and close my eyes off all other options..

WHY...