The MBA Student Voice

Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

My apologies to all for yet another writing hiatus.  Those midterms took a lot out of me and the rehab from the exam related injuries took longer than expected.  First, there was some carpal tunnel as a result of using some Excel functions too much, and then I tore my ACL walking to a printer in the computer lab to collect an accounting problem set that I printed out.  All kidding aside, there's not much of an excuse except to say things have been busy.

So, what have I been busy with?  Well, as I've eluded to before, I'm trying to balance the holy trinity of academics, job search, and a social life.  Of late, I've been attempting to focus on the job search and the related requirement of networking.  Since I want to get back into the entertainment world post-MBA, albeit on the business side this time around, I joined Anderson's Entertainment Management Association.  The organization regularly puts on panels to educate its members about various portions of the industry, be it film, TV, videogames, and music.  These presentations are led, more often than not, by alumni within said fields and they've proven rather informative.  Additionally, the EMA organizes Days on Jobs (DOJ), where we have an onsite visit with a particular company and executives talk to us about their various functions.  We had one such DOJ last week at Fox. 

Long story short, classes take up your mornings and afternoons and then there's plenty more activities to gobble up the rest of your day.  The key, it seems, is to choose the right events and not spread yourself too thin, especially this first semester.  Maybe if I do that, you'll hear from me a wee bit more.  But for now, I gotta go ice my ACL. 

The Ander-flu Strikes Again!

It's going around again. 

The Ander-flu, the nasty virus that isn't really the flu but still makes us Andersonians sick, is making a second pass around campus and decided to stick on me.  For a change, I've decided to fight back early: I took the day off from school (ok, so there's no classes because of Veterans Day, but I'm still taking credit), doused myself in Theraflu and Gatorade already.  And I slept very soundly for 10 hours.  

Poor Mrs. V. was up half the night, however.  Funny how that works. 

* * * * *

As I mentioned in my last post, entertainment industry titan David Geffen came to speak to us here on campus last week.  It was a massive opportunity for us to hear from someone so accomplished in music, film, television, and theatre.  The Dean of the Anderson school moderated the session.  

What I found most impressive was that Mr. Geffen took opportunities as they came, rather than having a clear goal in mind.  He started in the mail room of a talent agency, getting that job only because he lied on his resume about having graduated from UCLA.  (The Dean was quick to point out that (a) it was never too late to do his degree, and (b) that lying about graduating was not a path that she would advocate.)  He got into theatre because a friend of his recommended an opportunity.  

He donated $200 million to the UCLA Medical Center because he was tired of going to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for his constant back problems.  (You know, for $200 million, I think the Dean can let some or even all of the credits slide and just give him the degree.  Although if he was in my section, I would definitely vote for him for social chair.)  

Most interesting for me, though, was his response to the question I got the opportunity to ask him: what is one thing that you would change in the entertainment industry today?  His response: "I wish there was no digital."  

That really surprised me.  I appreciate that digital content has been and will continue to be a massive driver for change in the entertainment industry, but I would have thought that Mr. Geffen would be in the camp of promoting the opportunities that come with it.  To be fair, I had the last question of the session before the Dean took back the reigns and asked more of her own questions, so maybe he didn't get a chance to elaborate.  But I definitely didn't expect that answer. 

But then that's the point with these events -- we get the first-hand experience and insights of some of the most respected captains of industry, across many different sectors, and in my experience, these insights have been genuine and unfiltered.  It's these insights that are such a big part of the MBA experience, especially at Anderson.  

* * * * *

If you ever surf onto this board and don't see any updates from me, you should definitely check out what my fellow blogeteers are up to.  I thought my buddy Simon Jaud's post on video games and brand management was insightful (especially as, for a change, he didn't mention DaVita!).  

My interest in video games is on the brand management of sports titles.  John Madden may have retired from broadcasting, but his video game sponsor, Electronic Arts, still hosts "Sundays with John" where EA clients can watch football with Madden in his office, which EA has kitted out with multiple HD LCD big screens.  Tony Hawk became legendary after his video games -- now an Activision property -- took off outside of X-games enthusiasts.  I found the Activision presentation equally as exciting as Simon did for that reason. 

Simon failed to mention a crucial detail though: he mentioned that at their corporate presentation on campus, Activision gave us free video games, including their massive hit "Band Hero".  But Simon didn't tell you about the raffle: they held a raffle whereby a few lucky winners won various prizes.  The big prize was a free Band Hero set.  And, for the first time that I can remember, my ticket was drawn!  So I got to walk away from the presentation with such a big video game hit.  It was very thrilling and exciting.  I can't wait to crack it open out of the box!  

* * * * *

Capitals update: 10-3-4.  Am very happy with the win over Florida on Saturday especially because the goals we scored were the grinding, banging in front of the net type goals that we will need in the playoffs.  And to score seven goals with Ovechkin hurt and Semin a non-factor is a HUGE plus.  Check out the highlights here!

Till next time! 

-- Sreesha

Anderson is in the House - Get Going on Your Career

Hey Everyone,

Hope all of you out there in cyberspace are doing well. It is getting harder to come up with a catchy article title - hopefully I didn't disappoint. I have been getting emails from some of you (you really like me, you really really like me! .......sorry, I just had to pull a Sally Field). Okay, what was my point? Ah yes....I have been getting emails about my blog and general questions about the application and MBA environment; I am glad some of you got some use out of this. Feel free to contact about me about anything like the application process or why the heck you should even care about an MBA or whatever else is on your mind.

My week has been has been a little less hectic, although I am still writing this blog at 10pm, so not sure what that means. I'm a night owl I guess. I have been spending a lot of time working on my resume these days. The Parker CMC and my lovely ACTgroup have given me some good tips and pretty much inundated me with comments and revisions - but it's all good. It's amazing how much you improve with a little constructive feedback. My resume has gone through three revisions and will be seen another two times before I submit my final version to the career management center. Company recruiting has been picking up lately too. It's getting near that time when we will be applying for upcoming summer internships - oooh scary! I have also been practicing my 30-second pitch in the shower - hey! practice makes perfect - don't judge. FYI:  a 30-second pitch is a succinct and memorable way of describing yourself (in 30 seconds) to recruiters at company events. Now comes the next hard thing - coming up with a list of companies I am interested in working for. Yikes. Again, my ACT teamcomes to the rescue. They gave me some templates for how to evaluate companies and how best to pitch to to them. For those of you who haven't been reading my previous posts (I shudder at the thought), the ACT group is led by two second year students who have been there and done that when it comes to first year recruiting. They lead a session every week or every two weeks and basically keep you on track. With all the fun college times to be had, we definitely need people to keep us in check. The ACT coaches, which are the 2nd year students, guide you through all the elements of recruiting from learning to handle yourself at company presentations, preparing a rockin' resume, marketing yourself, to grabbing an interview, among so many other delicious things. I am part of the Strategic Ops and Management ACT team. There are also a gazillion databases available to Anderson students (including our large and helpful alumni database). These databases contain every company known to man (or woman) based on industry or location or whatever other manner of search criteria you choose.

Okay, some of you may be wondering what this poor blogger does for fun. Is she all about resumes and internships? I must dispel that opinion at once! Aside from getting some exercise on the weekends and checking out the town, I joined Riordan Scholars on campus where I will be mentoring high school students. I've also attended so many fantastic workshops offered through many campus clubs. One in particular that I just attended yesterday was titled "Launching an Internet Business in One Hour." How awesome is that? The speaker had launched several of his own companies and basically gave us an insiders look at some of the most common pitfalls to avoid and some of the great resources to take advantage of.

I am also itching to try the indoor rock wall at the John Wooden campus gym. It looks awesome. I just need to carve out some time and go.

Alright folks. It's been a pleasure as usual. Until next time!

Anderson Guide to MBA

Hi Everybody!

I'm back again for yet another delightful post - okay, I'm a little bit chipper today even though it's 11:37pm and I am catching up on some homework and also writing this blog. Now for those of you who are freaking out as to why I am up so late, let me tell you now that this is not unusual - well not for me. You see, as most of you might have read in my previous posts, I am a little unsure of what my career focus should be. Therefore, I ended up joining a ton of clubs to learn a little bit more about various industries and job functions. So, instead of having some nice quiet afternoons with my books, I've been in one company presentation after another. Don't get me wrong - I have enjoyed each and every meeting and only wish it were humanly possible to attend all of them. But the art to being successful in anything is having a good balance. So today, I decided to forgoe my club events and company meetings in order to catch up on homework.

There are still more events to come so I don't think I missed out too much. So, I'm feeling good because I have a better handle on my classes and ALSO because I just finished my ACT group meeting. ACT stands for Anderson Career Teams and is a small group that every student is assigned to based on their interests. I picked the strategic operations ACT group because I have an interest in operations and figure that this group paired with all my other clubs will nicely round out my plethora of informational sources. We just practiced our 30-second elevator pitches for potential recruiters. It was a really great session in that we discussed the pros and cons of different approaches and I received some valuable takeaways.

So back to the main goal. I laughed when I read my earlier posts because I sounded utterly lost. But surprisingly, due to the lack of time, I have quickly narrowed down my focus. There is simply no time to manage classes and eight different professional clubs. So, I've had to pick and choose which club sponsored events were more important to attend. It's amazing what you learn about yourself when you don't have a lot of time to waste making a decision. So here it is - the career options I am interested in: Strategic operations, finance, and business development (entrepreneurship). The industry I am most excited about is renewable energy - simply because it is cool to be part of the future (I got inspired during a recent club event). But I am also happy with high tech, manufacturing, or bio tech. Pretty much any industry will do.

My next task is to reach out to 2nd years and alumni for their take on the internship experience as well as any advice they might have. The great thing about Anderson is that the student body and alumni have been extremely helpful. I have not come across this degree of helpfulness in any other place - it really feels like family out here. Alright.....I'm getting a littly mushy. That means it's time to go to bed.

Until next time!

Mad Crazy Biz

I have never been this busy.  Crazy enough, business school is busy.  Who knew and why didn't they tell me?  Why have I been so busy?  Well, first off, contrary to the fun and games and camp-like atmosphere of Orientation, school itself is time consuming.  But let me back up a bit.  I am striving to make my posts especially helpful to two kinds of prospective students:  creative types and New Yorkers.  This post relates more to the former.  You know, a person who probably studied History or English in college and can actually express him or herself using the written word, but doesn't know a thing about Excel (ie. you think it simply puts words and numbers in tidy rows and columns) or equity research ("You research how to make things equal?  That's really great!  We should allocate more resources to that wonderful goal!").

Needless to say, I'm that guy.  And if you're that guy or gal too, you're probably a bit apprehensive about using a part of your brain that's remained dormant for years.  Well, turns out, you should be.  But not too much.  You see, Anderson starts you off with four core classes, three of which are Accounting, Managerial Economics, and Data and Decisions (statistics).  You know how you'd have maybe one really hard class each semester in college?  Try taking four of them at once.  These courses are challenging even if you've been exposed to the material before, and especially if you nearly wrote an undergraduate thesis on the naval campaign in the Pacific during WWII and subsequently interviewed bands and actors for a living before attending business school.  And they are also time consuming.  Beyond my own personal study time, there's plenty of learning team meetings where group projects are completed (I spent about 10 hours with my group this weekend, at least).  However, despite this perhaps dour sounding scene, I believe my head is above water.  So, if there's some hope for me, there is probably some for you as well.  Of course, this could all change at the drop of a hat.

Back to the busy-ness.  In addition to classes, there are clubs.  I've joined my fair share and they are consistently having meetings about something and I want to be there.  That means that after class, I'm sticking around school for several hours for any number of reasons, be it a section meeting, a speaker series, a presentation, or a discussion panel.   

Making matters worse, but really better actually, people around here like to have fun.  And they go out.  There are opportunities to go out almost everyday, and it's tough to say no.  For instance, this past Saturday, I went to UCLA/Oregon game at the Rose Bowl.  As a graduate of Columbia, I have no concept of attending a school that actually cares about its sports program.  Even though there was a Marketing project due tomorrow morning, I had to go.  It was a moral imperative.  And it was awesome, except for the part where we gave up two touchdowns in 26 seconds at the start of the second half.  We were up 3-0 at the half, I went to the restroom, ate some macho nachos, and was a bit late getting back to my seat, but I thought the guy who said we were down 11 as I was walking back was making a horrible joke.  That kinda killed the buzz, but odds are I'll be there next week for the Cal game. 

The main point is, it's intense here.  I'm trying to walk the fine line between boning up on the subjects I never learned in college (but not so much that I'm in the library constantly), participating in clubs to help with the networking process (ie. getting a job), and having fun.  It's a tough equilibrium to establish.  Not sure I've succeeded yet.  And let's not forget about my comprehensive television watching schedule.  Sundays and Thursdays are killer.  Those nights alone add 10 hours to my DVR.  That's like 3 classes!  Something might have to give.  Or the day must be lengthened to 36 hours (I'm gonna work on that one for now).

Orientation: A Response/A Recap/A Retrospective

So I've been slacking on this blog over the past few weeks.  Not for a lack of noteworthy inclusions, but rather that during my precious spare moments my body demands sleep, food, and the occasionally high-velocity impact with my surfboard (yeah, Jordy Smith I'm not).  Sorry, faceless internet readers, but this ode to summation will have to suffice.

Lots of my fellow blogateers (think musketeers but more prone to sunburn and spontaneous games of Risk) have touched on some of the more outstanding elements of UCLA Anderson's Orientation Program. We took metaphors to the extreme with the Odyssey Ropes Course and left with a better appreciation for our own capabilities and the strength of our peers.  We also spent a good portion of our adult lives orientation learning about the substantial career, academic, social resources available to us at Anderson.  At times, my brain screamed "uncle" and tried to crawl out my ear, but I can say with confidence that the information overload was of tremendous benefit.  While still slightly daunting, the prospect of achieving academic excellence, building a robust life-long network, and crafting a successful career path seems much more feasible thanks to the Orientation Program.  I owe a "slap/bump" (when you get here, this will become clear) to Susan Corley, the 2Y Orientation Leaders, and the wonderful folks over at the Parker CMC.

However, my personal favorite takeaways were the efforts of the rhythmically-challenged to learn the nuances of the UCLA 8-Clap (next: shoulder dancing!) and the wallflowers who were forced to exit their comfort zone and improv about robots.  Why robots?  Why not?  Lastly, the skits performed by each section showed that while many of us were Excel jockeys, pitchbook wizards, and masters of mgmt. consulting synergistic optimetrics in a past life, we do have the ability to bring the funny when it counts. Ultimately, orientation was an incredible opportunity to see that we are not just a collection of undergraduate degrees and job titles, but a dynamic set of individuals ready to take the reins at a moment's notice.

I'll admit that I had a healthy amount of skepticism towards this Orientation after the first day.  I thought some of activities were more inline with summer camp rather than preparation for an MBA.  This is serious stuff!  We have business cards (eggshell with romalian type) and well-pressed suits!  However, I quickly realized the benefit of building a cohesive team.  By stripping down our pretenses and forcing us to think and react quickly, often in an unnatural setting, we built the foundations of trust and respect that will carry us through this experience.  While this may sound like your cue to bust out the acoustic guitars, I'm being entirely sincere.  Even after a few short weeks, strong bonds have been developed and the collective success of the Class of 2011 is everyone's priority.

Our Fall courses started last week and I'm waist-deep in acronyms, demand curves, and T-accounts.  The clubs and recruiting are also starting to ramp-up quickly.  While it may feel overwhelming, I remain calm knowing that I have a tremendous faculty and peer group ready to pick me up when I need a lift.  Check back soon for some insight on the core curriculum, the career search, and where to find a burrito the size of a football.  

Another Adventure in the MBA Career Search

Hi Everyone,

As you all know, I am a first year MBA student and already riddled with questions regarding what career I should focus on. If any of you read my previous post, you'll know that I am still in the process of deciding - sigh. Yes, I am a bit overwhelmed. But like all those before me, somehow I will manage to get through this, especially with support from my fellow students and faculty at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Yes, that was a plug for my school, but hey, when it's the truth what does it matter?

Okay, let's get real. With my background in accounting, I could fair reasonably well in consulting (would be like working for the Big 4 - long hours but a variety of interesting projects and clients), finance (but then why did I come to MBA school when I could have found a finance job on my own), entreprenuership (not exactly sure what this is but it sounds cool), and a whole assortment of other areas. I think the areas that would instantly get me labeled a career switcher if I chose them are Marketing, Investment Banking, Human Resources, or say, Sports Management. Nothing against these avenues, but I decided that I need to pursue a field where I can leverage off of some of my skills. That's not to say I couldn't switch completely if I wanted to, but quite honestly I enjoyed being an accountant - at least parts of it. So why go off on a completely different course?

So, I just completed my second week of orientation. There were so many fun events! We did a ropes course where you have to basically compete with yourself the whole time and learn to trust your team members. You learn a lot about your determination and courage and also learn that your class is comprised of many awesome individuals. I came over my fear of the dreaded 40 foot log (or however high it was) and stood on top of it. Then I jumped off of it and sucessful grabbed a trapeeze bar several feet away - my legs were shaking the whole time. Sheer determination kept me from falling I think. Okay, enough sap. For the readers who are still with me, thanks for hanging in there. Back to business. Suffice it to say that I met a lot of people because Anderson put together these amazing events that just naturally made you bond with members of your team. After talking with several of them, I realized that I am not the only one confused about which career path to take.

I attended a one-on-one Parker Career Management Center (CMC) meeting last week and had the chance to talk to a counselor about my career options. It was really helpful. She gave me a guide as to how to do some introspection and see where my skills and desires align. The Parker CMC also put together this really comprehensive and insightful package explaining all the different career options, tips/tricks for recruiting and resumes, and quiz sheets and assessment tests to help me figure out what types of careers migh be suited to my interests and skills. I have my work cut out for me.

This coming week is going to be fun as well. After doing some community service with Junior Achievement we all get chance to pick our Anderson Career Team (ACT). This team will provide all sorts of career guidance throughout the MBA experience. Will let you know how that goes.

Until next time!

UCLA Anderson - Choosing a MBA Focus

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to my first official blog. I am a first year MBA student at the Anderson School of Management. School has not yet begun, but I just attended a one-hour Q&A session at the Parker Career Management Center, which is a group that helps MBA students find internships as well as choose a career specialty (for those of us, like me, who are still not sure in which direction they want to go). The information session was informative to say the least. The discussion touched upon things like recruiting timelines, recruiting tips and tricks, and research tools and people that might help students decide on a MBA focus.

So, yes, the session was informative. Do I feel completely overwhelmed now? The answer is YES. You've heard it before, but I will say it again, students who know what they want to do with their careers have an easier time in MBA school. What the Q&A session reminded me is that B-school moves fast and decisions like career focus (and by extension the clubs you want to join) must be made within the first few weeks of starting school. The reason being that the summer internship recruiting process starts in the fall/winter.

So what am I to do? Some might call me a career-switcher, but I like to think of myself as an explorer - which still doesn't make it any easier but sounds cooler. I am not sure what I want to do, and I came to B-school to, dare-I-say-it, explore my options. Well, hope is not lost. I am not the first MBA student to feel this way, as the folks at the Q&A session reminded me, and I won't be the last. Countless students like me have made it work, so why can't I? The one great thing was that UCLA Anderson made me feel like they were there to support me in any way possible through one-on-one counseling sessions and other events. They also have second-years and a huge alumni network who are there to share their experiences and advice regarding summer internships and careers.  

I invite you all to join me on my quest in determining which career direction I should go. Will it be finance, entrepreneurship, marketing, strategic operations, consulting, or back to my previous career in accounting? I will describe the events I attend, the people I talk to, and the research I do to help me make a decision.

Until the next blog fellow explorers!

The New York State of Mind Meets California Dreaming

Well, I've left New York and arrived safely in Los Angeles.  The transition to student at UCLA's Anderson School of Management is officially upon me!  While I didn't immediately go to my apartment because it lacked a bed, I had already visited Westwood and found an apartment a few weeks prior to the move.  I determined early on that after ten years of living in New York and embracing its pedestrian culture, I'd probably go insane dealing with a commute in LA traffic every day, so I was motivated to live within walking distance of campus.  I achieved that goal, but I still plan to get a car because, hey, it's LA - if you want to get anywhere, you need a vehicle.  I'm not that much of a walker.  You won't see me speed walking in London in 2012 or anything (side note:  how softball, for instance, is not an Olympic event, yet the IOC will hand out medals in speed walking a few years from now boggles the mind).  But anyway, I highly recommend coming a few weeks early to find a place; it made my move incredibly easy.

Regarding finding an apartment, I got some recommendations to try Westside Rentals, but I'm not one for spending any money, no matter how little, unless it's absolutely necessary, so I used your good friend and mine, Craigslist.  I'm a recent convert to the site.  That whole don't talk to strangers thing that my parents taught me stuck real good, but as it turns out, strangers offer some great deals, so I will now trust them implicitly.  Except for the woman from the roommate ad I answered who wanted a UCLA student to move in and claimed she was 31 (she offered her age, I did not ask) even though she looked like she was at least 50.  No offense to the 50 year old people out there, but I'm not very interested in living with you.

In fact, Craigslist proved to be a real boon to me even before the apartment search.  After taking the GMAT, I never wanted to see any of my prep books again, so I used the site to sell them.  The first person I sold some to has since become a friend and has introduced me to people out here in LA too.  Moral of the story:  trust strangers.  Trust me.  I'm a stranger.

So, besides taking care of my new apartment, the most important thing I've done is get a California driver's license.  Another obvious tip:  make an appointment.  I made this mistake in July in New York and waited for hours.  I was probably in and out here in LA in about an hour.  If you already have a license from another state, you have to take a vision and written test.  I passed both, but embarrassingly or not, I missed 3 questions on the written exam.  What I found odd, though, was that the proctor didn't go over the incorrect questions with me.  For one, I'm curious about what I missed.  But more disturbing is that apparently knowing 91.6% of California's laws is good enough for the DMV.  What if I missed the blood/alcohol content question?  That's kind of important to know out here, I presume.  "I'm sorry officer, I just passed the written test last week and I'm fairly certain I can legally blow a .5% and drive just fine."  

My other concern was whether I could keep my New York license.  You see, I was not working the last few months before school (meaning I had little reason to care about my appearance) and I grew one of the coolest handlebar mustaches you've ever seen.  My friends dubbed it the "Jondlebar Sternstache" and I did not shave it for my license photo.  You should've seen the looks I got at the DMV.  New York certainly has a lot of weirdos in the city, but I was up there with them that day, I tell you.  My apologies, but I do not possess a digital copy, otherwise I'd link to it.  If you're really curious, I suggest photoshopping a mustache on my profile picture and you'll get the idea.  Feel free to send me your handy work if you do.  Thankfully, California only pokes a hole in your old license.  Otherwise, if they tried to take it away from me, the DMV would've seen some road rage.   

Now that I'm settled, I partook in weekly drinks with some of my future classmates the other night.  I think I've already met some great people.  Apologies, though, to my fellow Anderson-ite (you know who you are if you're reading) about my strong feelings regarding marathons.  I just simply think that humans in general should refrain from activities that could conceivably cause death, bleeding from strange areas, and involuntary bowel movements.  People should not be expected to get up early on a Sunday morning and pay for that privilege.  Nor should their friends be asked to observe it.  

Tomorrow, I head out on one of the many pre-orientation trips Anderson offers.  I will be rock climbing in Sequoia forest.  I'm quite excited.  More details about that and the rest of this crazy thing called graduate school to come, presuming I survive the rock. 

Moving On Up to the West Side at UCLA Anderson

Well, I'm less than 48 hours from my official move from New York to Los Angeles to begin my two-year journey at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.  It’s a pretty big change for this guy.  I’ve been living in New York for almost exactly ten years now (four for college and six as an “adult”). 

But this past decade doesn’t really begin to explain my affinity for New York.  It started far earlier.  My parents grew up in New York, and even though I was born and raised in Florida, we went north to the city a few times a year.  Broadway shows.  Museums.  Mets games (don’t get me started).  It was my second home.  And when I got into Columbia University, it really became my primary home.  My folks would rib me that it never seemed like I wanted to return to Clearwater to visit them.  It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see them – I just had little desire to return to the land of the early bird special when New York was so great.  Florida, I would tell them, was where old people go to die.  It’s ingrained in them the same way homing pigeons know how to travel.  That’s why your grandparents live there.  Admit it.  They do.  Plus, my parents came up to New York a lot during my college years.  So much, in fact, my sophomore year roommate saw them more often than his own folks, and he lived an hour’s drive from Manhattan.   

Needless to say, it’s been really strange packing up not for a move to a new apartment across town, but for a trip clear across the country to a city I never imagined calling home.  I admit it, I’m a New York snob.  I think it’s the greatest city in the world.  Even if I take to Los Angeles, I will probably never admit that it stands up to New York.  I’m that delusional about this town and simply that stubborn.  I thought I’d never leave.  However, when it came time to evaluate my future, Los Angeles just made sense.  I’m a media and entertainment maven and LA is at the epicenter of the field.  I already have New York contacts, so why not make some left coast inroads?  And quite frankly, if I stayed in New York, it just felt like my life wouldn’t change all that much.  I wouldn’t be fully testing my mettle.  There’d be no inner challenge.  

And that’s what I need right now.  I want to challenge myself.  I want to learn about facets of the biz I’ve never encountered before.  I want to meet a new and diverse group of people to call friends and colleagues.  I want to enjoy In N Out Burger.  I want to embrace perennially gorgeous weather.  But most of all, I want to determine if Los Angeles is really like how it’s depicted in Swingers or Entourage.  Because if things turn out even remotely similar to Mikey or Turtle for this transplant, maybe leaving New York isn’t going to be so bad.  See you next time in Westwood.