Why I'm Going To Wharton--And Not Booth or Sloan

“Pulling a Lebron” I Was Not

So, I’m sitting at my desk at work yesterday eating lunch when I get a random skype message from Cheetarah1980. “Dude”, she says, “what’s up with you trying to pull a Lebron??”

“Whaaa?” I said, with a bewildered screw face, mouthed gaped open and chuck full of unchewed fish and brown rice. I was completely caught of guard.

She continued somewhat frantically, “Someone just messaged me and was like ‘who da hell does mbaover30 think he is? This negro is trying to pull a Lebron!’ “

I guess that alluded to the countdown to my “decision” that I posted on the blog before publishing this post. I guess it makes sense; and I’d like to apologize to anyone who might have been offended by how that move might have been perceived (apparently an attention hungry air of self importance, which is impossible because I’m an introvert who doesn’t care to be bothered or paid much attention to by most people, most of the time).

That being said, let me explain to you the same thing that I explained to my good friend Cheetarah1980. I love sports, but I don’t follow athletes–or celebrities in general, for that matter. I don’t care about what is happening in their dysfunctional, often unfulfilled lives, or who their baby mama is (and I meant to say it just like that), or whether they are hated for fighting roosters or dogs, or which of the “basketball wives” (almost none of whom have actually scored a wedding ring from these guys apparently) they are attached to, or who they might be going to jail for stabbing, shooting, or throwing their dead body in the back of a car, or whatever other crazy, ghetto, housing project nonsense these people are up to, et al.

After 12 years of living in Los Angeles, I’ve come to the conclusion that media whore entertainers and athletes are silly and idiotic. Once they leave the field or stage or screen, I have little to no interest in them. I don’t follow these people because I don’t find them interesting. I find Zuckerberg interesting. I find Gates and Khan and Larry Page interesting. I had no earthly idea that Lebron had pulled such a stunt. I only watch him in games. Besides, my Facebook celebrity look alike was Michael Jordan(minus about 6 inches of height).

So no, I was not pulling “a Lebron”, but I WAS:

Trying to avoid talking about the issue – I kept getting pinged on Beat the GMAT and GMAT Club about my decision. It was like that Shell radio commercial of the family’s road trip and the kids in the back seat asking (rapid-fire style) “are we there yet? are we there yet? are we there yet? are we there yet? are we there yet? are we there yet? are we there yet? “ I wanted the questions to stop because I didn’t want to talk about it and was still deciding. My countdown stopped people from asking, which stopped me from having suicidal thoughts.
Tired as hell of writing and in need of a break – after posting nearly each week for about 9 months straight, I felt the need to take a breaky break from writing. In the meantime, I did not want to frustrate any readers who may have been wondering when the next post was coming (I hate going to blogs that I really like to read day after day and finding no new posts for days or weeks because the author is busy – READ: Cheetarah1980); thus, I posted the count down so that anyone out there who is like me would not return again and again and become frustrated; they’d know when I was posting next.
Stressed out at work – I have a crazy as cat you-know-what co-worker that has had me at my wits end recently. Working with this person has taught me a lot about a certain kind of person to avoid hiring into a tech company…the one with great technical knowledge but poorly developed interpersonal skills who is borderline (if not over the line) socially inept. This will definitely be a Maccallan 18 weekend!

THE BOTTOM LINE: Wharton closes the widest gap between where I am/what I need and what I would stand to gain from the overall experience of being a part of that network over my lifetime. DECISION FINALIZED.

Thanks again to Ankur, Tiffany and the entire Wharton MBA admissions staff for choosing me. I neither take lightly nor for granted the significance of being chosen from such a talented and qualified pool of applicants from around the world; and too my Wharton classmates, I’ll see you in August for Pre-Term!

MBAOver30 offers the perspective of a 30-something, California-based entrepreneur who is applied to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Chicago, and MIT Sloan. He has been offered admission into Class of 2015 from Wharton, Chicago and MIT Sloan. He blogs at MBAOver30.com. Previous posts on Poets&Quants:

How I Totally Overestimated The MBA Admissions Process

Musings on MBA Failophobia

Letting Go Of An MBA Safety School

When A Campus Visit Turns Off An MBA Applicant

Yale, Tuck and Booth: The Next Leg of My Pre- MBA Research

My Countdown: Less Than 30 Days To The GMAT

From Suits To Startups: Why MBA Programs Are Changing

Why I’m Not Getting Either A Part-Time MBA or An Executive MBA

Preparing To Sit For The GMAT Exam

Falls Short of GMAT Goal, But The 700 Is A Big Improvement

A 2012-2013 MBA Application Strategy

Celebrating A 35th Birthday & Still Wanting A Full-Time MBA