the week from hell

is almost over.
recruiting has become such a rollercoaster ride in the condo that sven said "peace. i need a bahamavention" and fled to a race in the caribbean. i don't blame him. i've been a wreck lately.
since this week has been so up-and-down, my emotions are running a little closer to the surface than normal. today in management communications when jordan told a story about the aftermath of katrina and how his company didn't abandon its policyholders; i teared up. i'm not sure he saw me. but that hurricane has become symbolic of that time in my life. i was in turmoil, too. so seriously that i didn't even know the katrina had made landfall until 2 days later. i remember how awful i felt for letting the trivial things in my life overshadow a national disaster. not having a tv, i never saw most of the images of the destruction, so even now when i see them i choke up. i stopped driving my car and rode my bike to work with a sign on my back asking motorists to think twice before driving needlessly. please let the gulf coast have the oil; we don't really need to take that extra trip to walgreen's. at the bottom of my sign i put "peace and love". maybe people thought i was a hippie. i'm not sure i cared. it was all i could do to show that i shared sorrow with the people of louisianna. it was one of those periods in a long string since then that has connected me to a greater humanity and i'm grateful. it helped steer me to business school, in fact.
but that story is for another day.
along the lines of getting choked up: meet pep.
i am delighted to be engaging in an activity that comes from my heart. as a business advisor, i'll never meet the people i help, but it means so much to me that i share with those who aren't as lucky as i am. i may be paying darden $43,000 per year, but it pales in comparison to the time lost in their lives while in prison. it's the least i can do to ensure that someone who wants a fresh start after incarceration can have one.
and now i fall into bed, too tired from yet another day of cramming information into my head (decision trees! strategy! storytelling to convey meaning as a leader! interviewing! the list goes on!)...