Out of Austin, New Blog

Off to Barcelona (BCN). I won't be updating this blog anymore. Check out alleninbcn.

I got up this morning at 4:30am to throw everything out, pack up, and catch a 7:40am flight. I put together a video of all the places I used to regularly haunt while in Austin. This is more for me to remember than for anyone else.

Goodbye, Austin.

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ESADE Ch. 1: Down the Rabbit Hole

When I was at lunch today, I was talking to one of the MOT students about ESADE. He casually mentioned that he didn't want to apply there because it was run by Opus Dei, which in his opinion was a cult. He may be thinking about IESE, because from what I can see, ESADE was established by Jesuits. If you crawl esade.edu, there are no references to Opus Dei. ESADE is pretty open about it being a Jesuit school.

Still, it sounds like the whole business school ethos is not going to be that popular in Barcelona, which might have been part of my friend's complaint. If you look at the forums online, a lot of Spainiards are concerned with the fact that ESADE is a private institution devoted to business (rather than a public university). The derision of the "ESADE snobs" is pretty funny.

ESADE Wikipedia entry

ESADE Law School's vision of the future is one in which multi-stakeholder dialogues and responsible self-regulation by business will usurp government functions and the welfare state - a nightmarish prospect for many.

I'm guessing that the "many" here refers to "many Europeans". Actually, I think they culled the above from the Texas state moto.

As far as I can tell looking at other sites online, there is a pretty clear separation of academia and religion, although several sites do claim that the program emphasizes Christian values. The only thing I've found that was a little unexpected is their onsight religious guidance, ominously acronymed SAR. So far, nothing I've read about Opus Dei, the Jesuits, or ESADE really bothers me. In fact, I support their idea of using business to make a positive impact and would like to do the same myself. As afraid my European counterpart was of ESADE, after reading about the religious connection I'm actually more intrigued than anything else.

...to be sure, this generally happens when one eats cake, but I had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but out-of-the-way things to happen, that it seemed quite dull and stupid for life to go on in the common way.

Dinner and Lunch with the MOT Students

On Tuesday night I had dinner with the class at the Clay Pit (great Indian food). Today I gave my final presentation (my last official act at UT) and meet with the class at Scholz's afterwards. Both outings can be seen here.

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Pictures from the Clay Pit:
Swapna
Moreno, Alex, Peter
Keyvan, Michael, Christian
Sung, Sylvie, Allen
Alex, Moreno, Julie, Mar

Moises' wife, Moises, Keyvan
Serge, Pierre
Didier, Tilo
Swapna, Sylvie, Giselle, Mar, Julie
Julie, Moreno, Alex
Didier, Julie, Mar, Sylvie

Acceptance Letter In, Tuition Paid

I sent my acceptance letter into ESADE today. I finally got the tuition issue straightened out. For those playing at home, or anyone else applying to ESADE, I did the following:

1. I went to Sallie Mae and signed up for the MBA loans
2. The funds were disbursed directly to ESADE
3. On the acceptance form, I ticked off the "Proof of Payment" section and wrote in a note that the funds had been disbursed

This was actually easier than wiring the money (fewer steps). The down side is that I can't pick up the rest of my cash until I get to Spain in September.

20 Days in Vegas

The trip back home to visit Lisa. It's about 3.5 minutes of video. I transferred the President's office of my nonprofit to a Director on my Board, so I am no longer running Nevada NETS. Now I'm going back to Austin to finish out my MBA. I also have to work with the Spanish consulate in Houston to get a student visa. I got my internship back, so in July I'm going out to San Fran to work for a month. After that, I've got a month to get ready for the move to Spain.

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SLYFF Fellowship Award

I have been awarded a fellowship that will cover about 1/3rd of my tuition at ESADE. Great news.

Generally known as SYLFF (pronounced as "sylph"), The Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund Program was launched in 1987 by The Nippon Foundation (formerly, The Japan Shipbuilding Industry Foundation or The Sasakawa Foundation). The goal of the SYLFF Program is to nurture future leaders who will transcend the geopolitical, religious, ethnic, and cultural boundaries and actively participate in the world community for peace and the well-being of humankind. Under the SYLFF Program, The Nippon Foundation donates an endowment of one-million U.S. dollars each to institutions of higher learning, from which fellowships are awarded to graduate students enrolled in social sciences and humanities fields at the respective endowed institutions.

Now I need to send out a letter thanking the foundation. The funny thing is that the acceptance letter from McCombs asks me to send a "Thank You Letter to Japan". I'm sure the intent of that statement is to send a thank you letter to the foundation in Japan, but just in case, I send my heartfelt appreciation to the entire island-nation of Japan.

Website.

Officially Accepted at ESADE

I just got word that I was officially accepted at ESADE. I had to give up my internship to accept my nomination from UT Austin, so the last month has been high stress for me. At this point, it is more relief than elation. For posterity:

I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to ESADE’s Double Degree MBA programme beginning in September 2006. Congratulations!

You have been admitted to a rigorous, demanding and innovative programme, designed to provide you with thorough management knowledge as well as to develop the managerial competencies that will be most useful for you in the future.

You will become part of a community of people who share a strong desire for personal and professional growth via the exchange of diverse ideas and values among each and every member, comprised of students from all over the world creating an international atmosphere of learning, fostering an ongoing exchange of personal experiences and enriching the course content.

You will shortly receive written notification of your acceptance to the programme as well as information about the matriculation process. Meanwhile, I invite you to visit our site where you will find plenty of information about the MBA community, ESADE and Barcelona.

Congratulations on your acceptance! All the people in the MBA team are looking forward to welcoming you to ESADE next spring.

Now, I just need to find a job.

Nominated for ESADE

I just got word from McCombs that they have nominated me for the ESADE program in Barcelona. This is the culmination of about a year and a half of work. This means that I probably will be in Austin over the summer, and after that I will spend the next year in Barcelona. At the end of that I would have an MBA from McCombs (top 20 school in the US) and an MBA from ESADE (top 5 school in Europe).

Website.

ESADE Celebration

Thursday night, after learning about my ESADE nomination, I went out to a Think & Drink with some friends. Fittingly, we started at "Barcelona", then "Six". That's not my cookie by the way.

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