The obvious title choice: Half Way

Its unbelievable that this journey is midway, and yet there are so many times that it feels I have just started.  I can clearly remember going through marketing and beginning new initiatives with that knowledge... Economics, Leadership of Self, Critical Thinking, Org Behavior and Change, Accounting, Finance, Leadership of Others, Org. Ethics- Can it really be that I have completed all of these courses?

I have friends in Cohort 2 and Cohort 3.  We got together for lunch yesterday to sell our books down the line to one another (fyi- the university frowns on this, as they say we should keep our books), and it was so much fun swapping stories, hearing about the different dynamics of each group, and already how classes have morphed and transitioned as each group takes them.  The dynamics of a brand new program are getting all ironed out, and its really interesting to see how being only a semester a part, each of our experiences will each be a little different.

My books are purchased for next semester, but I can tell that I'm suffering with a little burnout.  I really couldn't even tell you the names of the courses I'll begin in a week and a half.  I thought when I hit the midway point that there would be this illustrious moment- a mountain top high.... Instead I find myself in a similar state after I finished my first 5K earlier this year.  Coming through the finish line with a trot that was a sorry excuse for a run, cheeks flush, resembling a glazed doughnut in my glean of sweat...crossing the line and looking for water and shade. I needed to sit before I could really take it all in.  I'm not sure when I'm going to feel I'm really on the downhill from here, but some suggest perhaps when the months left hit the single digits.  We wait and see...

There's talk  about whether there will be a graduation ceremony next August when we complete this journey, as currently Concordia only has ceremonies in December and May.  Its strange to me to begin a program that will graduate when there is nothing planned... Its makes me question why they didn't start the program a semester later and give themselves a year to figure out what to do in this case.  There are others that are upset, and I guess the significance of graduation for many is the true finish line, a critical right of passage, and it is currently a mirage.  I emailed the Program Director and offered to assist in anyway possible.  I even suggested a private reception that could be tailored to the very first cohort coming through the program.  I'm envisioning an opportunity for immediate family, professors and administration to come together and share special words for each student.  The Director said they would consider it, and would let me know if they will proceed with an alternative or graduation program for August of next year.  So for now, like the capstone project it's wait and see.  But we signed up for part of this.  Being the first class to go through, there would be bumps and ambiguity.  Some handle it better than others.  Some make greater leniency for it than others.  Sometimes the bumps seem foreseeable and avoidable, and sometimes its hard to avoid them for the sheer capacity it takes to get something like this off the ground.  Its something I appreciate getting to be aware of- all the intricacies without being solely responsible for a new program.

This last Saturday I went for my first run in a while.  I waited until 10 AM and it was much too late for this Texas heat.  I made it about 20 minutes... and about half the distance of a normal 5K.  The last quarter of a mile was pretty brutal, and I was yearning for that double rocker on my front porch.  I never walked... there may have been a pathetic case of jogging, but I kept it up.  I sat in that rocker enjoying every breeze that came my way.  For days now, my sore muscles remind me of that run.  While there were times in the process that it was struggle to say at the least, I remember the pride I had for weeks after completing my 5K.  This gives me hope as I head into semester 4.  The weeks really are numbered.  At one point this will all come to an end, and I won't have a professor next week to ask a question of in class.  I won't get to laugh at Terry and AJ's jabs at one another in class.  I won't have Kevin to save me from the cockroach that ran under my chair, or Charles to bring his farm fresh peaches.  We will all be bonded together, and see each other on occasion I am sure, but there will be a time when we will no longer be a part of each other's routine.  So while I may be sore from group projects, and sick of another power point or another 100 pages of reading... I'm going to enjoy the journey.  I'm going to bring my notebook to class and keep a log of the funny comments my classmates say.  I'm going to find ways to cherish these relationships that God has placed in my life, and in a short 3 months, there will only be 9 months of the program left.  we'll wonder where the time has flown, and it will be the beginning of then end of this journey and we'll have our MBA's one way or the other.