The MBA Tryouts

After YEARS of procrastinating, I finally took the plunge and tried my hand at the DLSU Grad School entrance exam for my MBA last saturday.

Just to be sure, I took out the dusty GMAT reviewer I purchased FOUR years ago and reviewed it the night before the exam.

GMAT for dummies: GMAT is a combination of tests on math and verbal intelligence. The score you get here can determine your eligibility for entering US-based graduate schools.

1. It was over 7 years since I last did any mathematical computations MANUALLY. (Damn you Microsoft Excel!!!) I had trouble multiplying by hand and forgot how to DIVIDE.

2. It was over 7 years since I last wrote an essay. By hand. I was hanging out in hospitals the past month and I was starting to envy the penmanship I saw in doctors' prescriptions after I was done with my review.

3. I did not remember how to solve for mathematical problems like "If Peter can do this much work in 20 days, and Paul can do this much work in 10 days, how fast can they do it if they work together?". My brain simply rejected it. Answering this stuff usually copied Peter's manager so Peter would work faster.

4. Questions with "Choose the BEST answer" is evil. Too many brain cells will die in vain trying to solve for it.

5. I make a few mistakes. Diagnostic test puts my GMAT equivalent at... Hmm... Not bad :) Alcohol has not killed off everything in this brain hehe

6. After taking the diagnostic test, I read the next chapter of the book "How to plan to take the test". Hehehehe I check the time. I have six hours before my exam. And I have to sleep.

7. There are three types of plans, depending on the time--- More than 4 weeks, More than 2 weeks But less than 4 weeks, AND Less than 2weeks. Nothing about six hours. I wonder why? hehe Oh well. Minor detail.

8. I try 1 or 2 other excercies. Then I sleep. hehe 90% of the GMAT reviewer was never meant to be read anyway :) If im meant to ace it, then i will (i hope hehe).

___________________

What I was thinking while taking the actual exam (In actual order of realization):

1. Woohoo! Over 80% of the examinees are female. Some are actually cute. None have rings.

2. Everyone has at least 2 pencils on their desk. Some geeks have 5 all neatly laid out in front of them. I look at mine. I have ONE and the tip is broken. And I dont have a sharpener.

3. My seatmate has a sharpener. But shes not cute.

4. For the first time in my life I waste a pickup line to get a sharpener. A sharpener! The end is near!!

5. Of the 20% male populace, at least 30% were gay. Less competition for the girls. Hehehehe

6. Even the proctor is gay. No threat there.

7. Essay begins. Writing by hand is soooo... slow...

8. The pencil is an instrument of pure torture. My hand is getting tired and I havent even written down half of what I was thinking.

9. I should have had breakfast. My stomach is growling already...

10. Damn pencil breaks. Lucky for me I now have a sharpener hehe. Pickup line not wasted after all.

11. Pencil broke again. I sharpen again. Pencil shavings start to decorate my desk. I miss my Thinkpad already.

12. Essay is over. 15 minute break.

13. I have 12 texts in my inbox. I reply only to the pretty one (And I'm not only saying she's pretty because she reads this blog hehehe) I grab a quick breakfast at the cafe and silence my stomach.

14. I check the expressions of the cute examinees. Not good. Oh well, lets see who I end up with classmates. Maybe luck will be on my side this time.

15. 2nd part of the test begins. I realize I have not gone to the bathroom. Spider sense tingling.

16. The test is a walk the park. I'm glad im this smart. And high on caffeine.

17. Hmmm mental math. 3 classes per term, 20 students each, mostly girls. All of which have FRIENDS. If I dont like the class, I can drop the class and a new batch of girls will be available the next term... What a hunting ground!!! hehehe

18. After 15 minutes into the 2hr 30 minute test... I realize with horror that I HAVE to go to the bathroom. And the doors are closed.

19. Math is surprisingly easy. 3429/8903X + 2132109/994532Y = 9431241. Solve for... what the heck, I HAVE to go to the bathroom. F@ck it! C sounds like the right answer. C it is.

20. "I HAVE to go to the bathroom!" becomes a mantra.

21. "F@ck it! C sounds good. " also becomes a mantra.

22. My mental fortitude reaches the breaking point. I pass my papers and go for the bathroom. Oh well, theres always next term :)

Life in 24x7

Insomnia + Writers Block = This post

Time. Who knows how long its been?

Seems I've been living almost 24x7 for the past few months. I am stressed, I am relaxed. My weight fluctuates by + or - 5lbs every week. And no, I'm not in the best of health.

Life has given me a rude awakening, worked me hard and partied me harder, kicked me down and picked me up, slapped me around and kissed me goodnight.

And now it gives me Insomnia.

So here I am... Tired, confused and waiting for the next day it would bring.

But there wont be a ray of sunshine just waking me up tomorrow...

I am out here tonight, eyes wide open, forcing the day to dawn myself.

Apparently... I'm not a Koala

You're a Raccoon in the wild world of love.

Aren't you a crafty creature, Raccoon?

There's a reason for that mask on your face — it makes it easier to sneak out the back door unnoticed after a late-night prank or two. You're a nocturnal prowler and a fun-loving jokester with a definite social streak. There's never a dull moment when you're up for a party or a wild night on the town. After all, who can resist a free-spirited flirt with a great sense of humor? Your abundance of charm doesn't hurt your act either. You subtly move in on your prey, sneaking out of the shadows where you plot your next punch line. Before they even know what hit them, you've left them howling with laughter and disappeared off again into the night.It's a wonder people never tire of your rabble-rousing antics, you tease. It must be something about your mysterious allure that keeps you so fiendishly intriguing. Or maybe it's your approach to living in the moment. Life's a party and you live it and that's what makes you so irresistible!


What's Your Animal Magnetism?

Brought to you by Tickle

Random Koala Thoughts

"I'm sleepy. Let me just grab this branch and... ZzzzzzZ"

Why you might consider becoming koala in your next life:

1. Their whole mission in life is to eat, sleep and be role models for stuffed toys everywhere. They sleep 20 hours a day, and while awake, do nothing but eat and have sex.
2. Look at the picture... even if they look like drunk little bastards out from another late night drinking binge... they still look cute!
3. Despite being useless members of society, their government even encourages their existence, makes them a national treasures and prosecutes anyone trying to smuggle them out of the country.

Yup. We humans are missing out on a lot of things...

The List

Yes. It's confirmed. I'm running out of single buddies who will be hanging out with me and performing various vital roles in my single life such as the spotter, pointman, wingman and co-conspirators.

The past year, I've almost lost my whole circle of close buddies to marriage. This year, the rest will get hitched. Sigh. When it rains, it pours right?

Well, people have been asking me... When is yours gonna happen? There are two main things that I need to do before getting there. The first reason, and obviously very important... is i haven't found The One yet. Its always the wrong place or the wrong time. Or someone beat me to her.

Second, is that I'm still a long way off from finishing The List.

_____________

The List is of course that list of things you have to do before marriage, usually unspoken, unwritten or even consciously thought of. Everyone has it. And especially if the significant other would not support most of the items there, they really need to do it. Or live to regret about.

These are things that people will never admit to their significant others. Some would be confidential (like having a last fling), financial (like getting a Ferrari) or just really hard to do once you get married (like skydiving). Some are really just wants, some are actually achievable given enough time. But as these are all "impractical" compared to the upcoming wedding, many of these items remain un-ticked even in their wedding day.

That's when the problems happen. Some years after getting married, after all the initial euphoria about making babies and raising kids start fading away (because the kids are now bigger and demand less attention... just more money) all these "What if i..." and "Maybe i should have..." questions start to pop up. Made vulnerable by not achieving certain dreams and aspirations, the marriage faces the greatest of its greatest tests.

All because they didn't do The List.

Of course, The List will only help if the items in there are achievable. If you look like Gollum on a bad day, then maybe, just maybe, it isn't realistic to hope that Cosmo would put you in a full-featured Bachelor of the Month article. So just don't stress yourself over not achieving that particular one...

__________________

Actually, I have a friend, whose name, gender, age and race I will not divulge, who is only now filling up that list of lists. For the simple purpose of being grammatically correct in this post, I shall refer to this friend of mine as a HE... but just so we keep it neutral, lets call him "GIRL."

Now GIRL has a problem. Like me, he's got this list of things to do before getting hitched, and unlike me, he really is gonna get hitched. VERY SOON.

So he asks me for help in some of them...

most of the list (Editors note: at this point, to liven up the discussion a bit, i have included items from other peoples lists as well) is actually doable...

• drive my own car
• drive a motorcycle
• have my own pad
• make good in my career
• start a club
• learn 3 new sports
• finish a masteral degree
• go to 3 other countries outside the Philippines
• go to 2 other continents outside Asia
• get my brothers and sisters through college
• Get my name in some random bar's drinking hall of famers
• start a bar room brawl
• get a tattoo
• Get arrested... but not convicted
• Go backpacking in Bohol
• Roro the whole Philippines
• Have my 5 minutes of TV fame

...and some not so doable (Hereafter referred to as the "not-so-doable" list)...

• drive my own Ferrari
• pilot my own jet
• buy my own yacht
• found a new scholarship foundation
• build 100 houses for the homeless
• own an island
• raise my own private army
• start my own magazine/newspaper
• go to every continent in the world
• Publish a book. Any book.
• Win a Pulitzer prize
• Survive an angry mob
• hunt down a wild animal with my bare hands
• Skydive
• Be the latest trendy female mag's "Bachelor of the Month"
• Get a planet named after me
• Master 2 new languages
• Go backpacking in Europe
• Climb Mt Everest
• Master 5 different martial arts and weapon techniques
• Compete in a national tournament and win

and of course things that have to do with do-ing (Hereafter referred to as the "do" list):

• do it with a foreign girlfriend
• do it with a colleague
• do it with a flight attendant
• do it with a dance instructor
• do it with a famous celebrity
• do it outside manila
• do it outside the Philippines
• do it outside Asia
• do it outer space
• do it in a car
• do it in a car while driving
• do it in a car while racing
• do it 10,000 feet above sea level
• do it 10,000 feet below sea level
• do it online
• do it on the phone
• do it with a close female friend
• do it with two close female friends
• do it with three close female friends
• do it with two sisters
• do it to a lesbian
• turn the lesbian straight. then do her
• turn her back into a lesbian. then do her again

...well you get the point. The List is there and woe to the guy who hasn't even filled up even half of it! (Like me, haha, but i have a looong list)

GIRL, though, is pressured. He got engaged just as he finished his doable list, but in the final quarter of his single life, he's still halfway through his "not-so-doable" list and barely ticked off anything in the "do" list.

Over a few beers (okay, maybe a lot of beers) he kept asking me if he should still try to do all the stuff in his list.

GIRL, I tell him. Lets split it into the not-so-doable and the do list.

For the not-so-doable, will the wifey support you when you go and start your own private army? Will she help you choose which island to buy? Will she sign for your insurance when you go skydiving or start pissing off an angry mob? If she says yes to all these things, then you really are meant for each other and there is no need to finish this list now.

Then comes the harder aspect... The do list... Do you really want to do this and get it off your mind NOW or would you rather spend the next 5-20 years planning out how to do it without getting caught by the wifey? This is harder as the items here compose around 60% of Girl's The List. GIRL, you should have started earlier... now the challenge is upon you.

Of course, I'm not the one getting married, and given the amount of alcohol we imbibed the advise just sounded right :)

Anyway, GIRL is now prioritizing which items to still finish and which to scratch out entirely (Like going to each continent in the world. No direct flights to Antarctica for some reason.) and which to just move to the "Things to do before I die" list.

Will he finish The List in time? We'll see. But he's making progress... He's touching base with old female friends and trying to hook up with potential lesbians*. And just survived an angry mob.

You can do it GIRL!! :P

*Interested Lesbians, flight attendants, colleagues, dance instructors and celebrities may send me a resume at solo_flite@yahoo.com