Image from another.point.in.time(is moving - 365 on hold) (Flickr)

I finally had the teensiest amount of downtime today.  Well, kind of.  I had stuff to do, but it wasn’t urgent, so I decided to take a little break and pick up the old guitars.  It feels like I haven’t played them in ages.  I still remember the days of college when I would pick them up every day and force myself to practice for at least an hour.  I taught myself so many songs back then…  Unfortunately, life got in the way of me being able to keep up with it.

However, when I do get the chance to play them, something pretty amazing happens.  People that play an instrument will know what I’m talking about when I say this – but when I pick up my old Ibanez and my acoustic-electric Jasmine and start strumming the old songs that I taught myself, I get into a different state of mind.

It’s hard to explain exactly what it’s like… I call it getting into a “zone.”  It’s a state of being where nothing but the guitar and the music really matter.  I get completely focused on the instrument and the emotions that it evokes.  Those emotions strengthen that focus, which in turn evokes additional emotions, leading to a pretty intense cycle of rocking out.

When I really get into a “jam session,” it’s like I’m at peace with everything.  I’m pretty sure that the science behind it all would explain it by saying endorphins and adrenaline are rushing through my body, but regardless of the cause, the effect turns out to be a fairly euphoric state of being.

The flow and “zen” are strongest when I play the guitar after a tough day.  For some reason, the tension that I build up during the day comes out naturally in the guitar.  That’s when I’m able to play my best.  That makes playing the guitar a great stress-reliever.

After every time I have a good session, I always feel much more enthused and motivated.  It’s really a great feeling, and I’d strongly recommend it to anyone out there that has (or can make) the time to practice consistently for a few months, there are few things like it.

Image from ♥Adriënne (Flickr)

I’ve been here since August 16 – a little under a month.  It feels like it has been half a year.  Each day here is like a week.  Many nights I wouldn’t be able to tell you if it’s 10 PM or 3 AM.  I’ve already gotten used to the subway system here and would find it reprehensible if I had to drive somewhere within a 10 mile radius.  I can’t say I’m a New Yorker yet, but the feeling is definitely growing.

I was recently back in DC for a bit and it felt weird to be on the Metro.  The time I spent living in Arlington seems like a lifetime away.  I still keep in touch with my roommates, but it’s hard for me to truly recall the places I went while I was there, the apartment I had, and my life in the area.

The life I have now is completely different.  I wouldn’t say it has turned me into a new person – in fact, to do so would be a complete falsity.  But what it has done is given me a newfound appreciation for who I am, what I value, and where I want to go.  I feel renewed, reborn, in a sense.

In DC I always felt like I had very little purpose.  The lifestyle was enjoyable, but it wasn’t for me.  In New York, I can’t say that I’m in love with everything here, but there’s just something right about Stern, and the city itself complements that.  I feel like I have a reason for actually going through the daily tasks that I would have otherwise found pointless.  I have a new sense of motivation towards the things that I want to be doing.  I’ve met some incredible people, and the potential for getting to know them, plus the potential for seeing just what I can make of myself, is surprisingly uplifting.  There’s a lot of hope, here.

On top of that, living here is very much like a new beginning.  There’s no chance of me passing by an old location that evokes memories, whether good or bad.  There are no prior associations with people and memories here.  There’s only potential, possibilities.  It’s extremely exciting.

I no longer associate who I am with DC.  It will always be my hometown, where I grew up, but it has become more of a place that helped me shape who I am, rather than a place where I can realize my future potential.  I’ll look back on it the same way someone looks back on a long lost childhood friend – fondly, with good memories, but with no real drive to reconnect.  And I’m truly happy with that.  I like not having to pass by old locations where I had previous experiences.

In the past 5 years, I’ve really come to embrace change.  I live off it, probably because I know it’s unavoidable and I see no sense in trying to fight it.

The sense of possibility and potential here are overwhelming, and I’m looking forward to seeing just where it will take me.  I’m not going to lose touch with where I came from and the people in my life that made an impact on me, but I am going to go forward with all of the drive and energy I have to make the most of this new life, this new opportunity, this new “Shanif.”

Image from thephotographymuse (Flickr)

So my business school has this week of activity before classes start.  They call it “Pre-Term.”  It’s intense.  There are more happy hours in a single day than I went to during my entire time at Booz.  There are incredibly motivational and inspirational guest speakers.  I’m meeting tons of new people.  I’m taking a couple of preparatory classes.  There are diagnostic and proficiency exams.  There are math prep courses.  On top of all that, I have yet to assemble all of my furniture and I still have to fully unpack.  I’m starting to lose my voice, I haven’t had the energy to go to the gym in the mornings, and I’m unbelievably exhausted.  Every day, I have to get up and do it all again.

I’m in love with it.  It’s unbelievably fun, and some of the academic topics and speakers are incredibly motivational.

The funny thing is, I’ve only been through three days of it.  Yesterday, the entire class of 392 got tickets to a Mets game.  Even though a lot of people bailed, there were still enough of us there to  make it a blast.  Tomorrow, we have a scavenger hunt around New York.  Next Thursday, we have a harbor cruise.  On top of all that, we have a lot of opportunity to meet some really cool and fun people.

I’m inspired, too.  There are a lot of opportunities to find exactly what I want to do.  Even though I’m pretty set on trading, I now realize there’s a huge world out there and I can find something that I’d really be crazy about.  It’s incredible.

Once the work starts, that’ll all change.  I think I’m busy and exhausted now…

Image from Pensiero (Flickr)

So I just finished my first day of what’s affectionately deemed “pre-term”.  It consisted of meeting my new block of 60 people with who I’ll be taking my core classes, a few lectures by the Dean and a panel of students, and lots of happy hours.

The funny thing is, though, that I had already met these people.  I met them at a happy hour the night before.  That’s right.  Before any classes started.  Before any activities whatsoever had started.

Our “block” had a happy hour on Monday night.  That turned into a joint happy hour with another block later Monday night, followed by both blocks moving to yet another block’s happy hour even later on Monday night.  Pretty much the same thing happened last night.  There’s a lot of networking in business school, but sometimes, if you’re not in a big city, that networking can be cut short by nightfall.  That’s not so in Manhattan.

Business school is intense as it is.  I’m already incredibly busy.  My entire day is scheduled.  New York is intense, too.  It’s always moving, there’s always something to do.  Business school in New York… well, you can basically forget about having down time unless you break a bone and end up in the hospital.

The best thing about it all, though, is that you’ll love it.  I’ve already met so many cool people.  Everyone in my class is awesome – lots of fun to talk to, very down to earth, incredibly accomplished and intelligent, and they love to have fun.  Growing up, it’s funny to think that we never really realized that this is what business is all about.

Of course, it does mean I have to make some compromises.  I can say that in the two days I’ve been out with everyone, I’ve already become familiar with 8-10 (no exaggeration) of Greenwich Village’s finest liquid courage establishments.  I still have a ton of stuff in my room that I need to unpack, and furniture that needs to be built.  As for watching and monitoring the market, forget about it.

I’m going to have to come up with a new trading strategy – one that will allow me to make slightly longer-term moves without the need to constantly monitor my positions.  Because that’s just not possible.  Amid all of the “networking,” classes, lectures, clubs, extracurriculars, and everything else, it’s impossible to keep an eye on the market all day and react accordingly.

Right now, though, I don’t care.  I’m having a blast.  I’ve met a lot of cool people.  It’s all about taking the initiative to make the most of your experience here.  If you’re a hardcore Type A personality, enjoy socializing at the local watering hole, live off coffee, are nowhere near close to being shy, love to put yourself out there, don’t care a thing about your health (I’m going to have to figure out how to counteract this one), and you like to take risks, you’ll be fine.  As for the Big Apple, I have yet to determine my fate on this one, but I have a feeling it’ll be a good one.

Image from Jösé (Flickr)

Coming from DC, I’m used to taking the subway to wherever I need to go.  Well, almost.  In DC, the Metro didn’t really go everywhere.  Heck, when you really think about it, it barely went anywhere.  It was always crowded, since the seats were set up four to a row, with a small aisle between each set of two seats for people to stand and walk through.  There’s no eating or drinking allowed – anywhere.  On top of that, it closed early.  It’s sufficient for what it is, but it’s hardly ideal.

One pleasant surprise with New York is that their subway system addresses these issues.  Seats in their trains are set up alongside the walls of the train, allowing for more space.  You can eat and drink – heck, they even have mini-convenience stores that sell food and water in the stations themselves.  They run 24 hours, and their are subway stations everywhere.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there are a couple of problems with their subway system.  For one, their stations aren’t air conditioned.  In fact, they’re probably twice as hot and humid as the temperature on the street, so walking around in them will leave you drenched in sweat (gross).  On top of that, you never really know when a train is coming, you just have to wait and hope your smart phone’s battery will last long enough for you to finish a game of Solitaire.  They’re dirty.  Very dirty.  But then again, that could go for the rest of New York too.

In any case, the convenience of the New York subway system is really the key factor.  After all, that’s what public transportation is really good for.  I’ve taken the trains quite a bit now, and I’m starting to get more and more familiar with their operations, as time goes on, I’m hoping to get to the level of some of my native New Yorker friends and memorize where the major stations are and what lines pass through them.

Image from sweethardt (Flickr)

So, remember that 24 hour Subway I talked about in my first “Life In New York” post?  Yeah, I’ve already been there twice in two days.  This does not bode well.

I’ve been here for a few days and nights so far, and the apartment is starting to feel pretty cozy.  I’ve gotten to know the couch pretty well, considering I had to sleep on it since I got here.  Some of my furniture finally started coming in – of course, one of them was defective and I couldn’t assemble it.  But the good thing is that my bed finally got in, so I’ll no longer have to sleep out in the living room (or what passes for a living room in a Greenwich Village apartment).

Activities start on Monday.  Fantasy football drafts start on Sunday.  I need to start getting back to the gym and eating right yesterday.  Hopefully, this weekend I’ll be able to find a grocery store that has a majority of the foods that I need, and I’ll be able to get up early enough to get myself to the gym – a gym which happens to be in the basement of the Palladium, an NYU student housing building.

Overall, it’ll probably take some time to get used to life here.  I’ve been fairly nostalgic recently and have been reminiscing about a few things here and there.  Hopefully I’ll get into a new routine quickly.  But it’ll be tough, I’ve had to leave behind a lot of good things and great people, that’s not easy to replace.  I am glad that I’m still talking to a lot of the people I had really recently started to get to know (Chris, Alain, holla, I know you’re reading this), as well as a lot of my old friends (Anjali, Daniela, Leo, everyone else that reads this blog but I don’t know about).

The rest of the weekend will be filled with finishing off some work and building furniture.  I have a renewed motivation to really make something of myself, and I’m going to ride that.  There’s a really strong desire to work like crazy and make something out of my life.  That’s what I’m here for.  I’m going to spend the next two years completely exhausting myself with fitness, academics, business, networking, socializing, and everything else that comes my way.

My goal is to sleep for 5 hours a night – that’ll be tough, I love sleep.

Let’s make it happen.

Image from Rob Inh00d (Flickr)

I am now officially a New Yorker.  I left last night after unfortunately having to say goodbye to someone special, hopped on the Metro in DC, jumped on the Bolt Bus, and 4 hours later, exited into a world of huge billboards, lights, and people.

Having lived most of my life in a suburban area, I know that I’m in for a culture shock.  But I’m looking forward to it.  I haven’t even been here 24 hours and I’ve already had a first – I finally tried bubble tea.

There’s a 24 hour Subway right next door to my apartment (which, itself, is already feeling pretty homely and is fairly spacious for living in The Village).  I walked through Chinatown and Little Italy tonight, got some real Chinese food (and the guy at the counter called me out by asking if I really know how to use chopsticks), and explored the area.

I’m going to spend the rest of the week assembling furniture, unpacking, and, of course, monitoring the market – it’s options expiration week.

This is going to be a roller coaster ride.

Image from mira_foto (Flickr)

You taught me everything I know.

Image from Rambis (Flickr)

I’m doing my best to keep an updated running list of expenses (and hopefully, income, one day…) that arise from my venture into the world of business school.  Every so often, I’ll post an update of all of the costs that I’ve incurred in hopes that others that are preparing to go into b-school can know what to expect and plan accordingly.  Here are my total costs as of August 16, 2010.

Last updated: 8/16/2010

Image from Thomas Hawk (Flickr)

You know, I’ve seen way too many South Asian parents that have had a little bit of trouble adjusting to life in the Western world.  I suppose, more specifically, I’ve seen (or at least had some sort of indirect experience with) parents that have trouble with their children’s dating lives.  A lot of times, they’re overly marriage-oriented, are way off-base with their reactions, value a lot of the things that their kids don’t value, and/or their mindsets are just not aligned with the way people date in the US.

That’s one of the reasons why my parents are so cool.  They’ve been able to adjust well to life in the States without giving up their heritage, and one of the ways they’ve done so is by making themselves available for me to tell them anything without them judging.  I feel like I can talk to them about such things in a very reasonable and rational way.  They let me live my life, particularly when it comes to relationships, and provide their input and advice in a sound and reasonable way.

My mom does get extremely curious when I tell her about what’s happening in that area of my life.  But it’s in a good way.  She wants to know, and even meet, someone that’s in my life – even if it has only been for a short amount of time!  She (along with my entire extended family) wants me to get married ASAP.  In that sense, she’s much more traditional than not.  But ultimately, I’d much rather have parents that I can talk to about virtually anything of importance than parents that I feel I have to hide things from.  After all, why hide what’s important to you?

My parents are awesome.