Year Two.

Oh, summer break. I hardly knew ye.

This week (and the one before that, and the one before that...) has been a flurry of activity, given that the second year of my MBA program kicks off in a matter of mere days. In just the past week, I squeezed in one last mini vacation with a quick trip up to Maine with my Mom, I banged out as many daunting reports as I could for workplace before my out of the office message goes up, and I generally tried to enjoy every single moment of freedom before I am back to the world of two jobs – work job #1 and school job #2.

As one is often inclined to do when hitting an anniversary of sorts, I’ve been reflecting a lot lately on life one year ago, as I loaded up my car and took a drive to Ithaca, ready to dive off that high pier into the complete unknown. Exactly a year ago I was actually already at Cornell, a few days into the thick of it, still trying to remember my teammate’s names, never mind the other 60+ classmates I had just met. I find it fascinating all that can change in just one year, a mere 365 days, a spin around the sun. My circle of friends and my network has expanded exponentially since I took my leap last July. I’ve got a core group of classmates whom I adore, who keep me laughing with their ridiculous texts and emails even when we’re not in school together; I will continue my role as class rep/social coordinator of my class for year two and I’m already cooking up plenty of ideas, and I have even nurtured a completely unexpected but pleasant surprise of a relationship that began to unfold as year one began to wind down last May.

Now, here I am, about to return as part of the “senior class” in this two year program. This year I am carpooling with two classmates, I know what to expect when I arrive on campus, I’ve got friends I’m looking forward to seeing after our brief hiatus, I know where the b. school is and what the layout looks like, and I even have restaurants in town and on campus that I’m looking forward to eating at again. While I wouldn’t say that I’m necessarily looking forward to the crazy work load resuming (goodbye social life! It was fun while it lasted!) I am, in fact, excited about the courses we’ll be taking this summer and into the fall semester. I learned last year how much I enjoy being a student again, and how invigorating learning new things and pushing myself in areas I have never been before can be. It is an exhausting nutty roller coaster of a ride but I would not trade it. I’m a girl who has always loved a challenge, after all.

I like to think I’ve learned a thing or two beyond all of the courses I took last year too but of course, some things never change. Naturally I’m behind on the pre-assigned work. Obviously I’m over packing due to my desire to plan an outfit for each and every occasion that just MIGHT come up during our residency session. Throughout the coming semester I am sure I’ll have plenty of panicked and freaked out moments wondering why I self-inflicted this torture upon myself, and I’ll probably moan and groan a bit any time I have to decline a fun social invitation due to school responsibilities.

But we only have ten months left on this roller coaster, if you can believe it. If last year taught me nothing else it is how fast time can fly by, how quickly days unfold with the blink of an eye.  And while I’m not so naïve as to think I’ll actually have time to soak it all in and reflect on each and every moment as they happen, I plan to try and do my very best. Because it’s about the journey after all. And I quite like this road that I’m currently on.