Study Abroad Blog

ESADE! That’s who! Our second year in a row atop the Wall Street Journal International rankings, and we are all pretty happy! In fact, we just got word we will be having wine to kick off lunch with a little celebration, so that should be nice.

For those interested, the following is a quick excerpt from http://online.wsj.com discussing ESADE and one of the reasons they are still number one:

This year, ESADE was rated highest for students’ personal integrity, their teamwork abilities and the career-services office. “I like recruiting ESADE students because they have true internationalism and a teamwork orientation that are invaluable at my company and so difficult and time-consuming to develop,” says Sanae Parra, a survey respondent and business management associate for Adidas AG in Herzogenaurach, Germany. “The school does not promote cutthroat competition among peers.”

At any rate, I’m still working on my next post (or rather, trying to keep up with my pre-term classes and occassionally thinking about my next post) so hopefully we will be seeing that sometime this week. That is all for now!

Tags: ESADE | international student | Wall Street Journal

I have to admit that I’ve lagged on making this post. I originally began writing after my first official “meet-n-greet” with a group of my fellow ESADE classmates, but suddenly the momentum just picked me up and here I am not only past introduction week, but one week into the pre-term! I apologize for this delay, but allow me a second to try to bring you up to speed.

First off, I have had to initiate very few introductions since my arrival, as I have lost count of the great number of not only classmates, but also faculty who have approached me and said, “Hey! You’re that guy from the video!” Oh dear, what have I done? Haha, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like the attention, but man, I never expected such a response. At least everyone who has approached me has really liked it, so I suppose it’s a good thing.

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Blanca!!! That’s right, she’s finally here with me in Barcelona. She left California Saturday afternoon and arrived here Sunday evening. I met her at the airport and had trouble holding back my tears of joy when I finally saw her. Thankfully she wasn’t too exhausted when we got into town so I was able to take her out a little before we turned in for the evening.

The bus dropped us off at the Plaza España, so she got to see that briefly before we dropped her things off at the apartment and headed out to Plaza Catalunya to find dinner on La Rambla. We settled for a small tapas spot somewhere in the middle of La Rambla and enjoyed a nice combination of interesting food and adult beverages.

I look forward to updating this post with pictures of us together, but will need a little time before I can pull that off. At any rate, Blanca is here and will be here for nearly two months before she has to go get her visa and she’ll be back for good! Guess that’s all my good news for now…

“I ran up the door, closed the stairs, said my pajamas and put on my prayers, turned off my bed and jumped into the light….all because you kissed me goodnight!” Anonymous

I just wanted to make a special shout out and give a big thank you to Stefan for thinking of me when he wound up with an extra ticket to the FC Barcelona vs Milan game the other day! By convenient timing everything worked out and I got to see, in person, BCN whoop on Milan in the presence of some 100,000 enthusiastic fans. The energy was excellent and it was everything I hoped it would be…and more…much like everything else has been since I’ve arrived here. So, thank you again Stefan, looking forward to meeting up with you again sometime soon – I still owe you a drink or two! Oh, and by the way, big thank you also to Keith, InternationalStudent.com president, for giving me the heads up on Stefan’s offer! Would have been clueless had you not stepped up and shot me an email, so thank you for being proactive!

Ok, now to change the subject, I need to provide a quick update. Blanca became a citizen two weeks ago and applied immediately for her passport. Some of you (not sure who makes up most of the audience here) may know about the mess/joke that the US passport process has become as of late. If you’re not familiar, basically homeland security decided to implement new laws affecting US citizens that require us to have a passport when traveling to areas that previously hadn’t required one. They decided to push this new law without ever taking the time to calculate the increased demand (which has nearly doubled) and see if they even had the staff in place to absorb such an increase. Heaven forbid they take such petty thoughts into consideration, but alas, the result has produced tens of thousands of horror stories, no doubt.

What happened was, as passport applications picked up speed, the people processing couldn’t keep up. This created a backlog, pushing normal processing times back from 1-2 months, to 2-3 months. Seeing this, most people then began applying for an expedited passport, which used to take only 1-2 weeks. Now that everyone essentially stopped applying the traditional way and has begun to only apply expedited, that process has also slowed to an average of 2-6 weeks…additionally pushing traditional processing back even further to 3-4 months. And all this just in time to catch Blanca when she needs her passport processed ASAP.

So, just what is my “New Quick Update?” Well, I don’t know if I need to attribute this to divine intervention or what (much like Blanca being allowed to take her oath of citizenship the day she took the test) but her passport processed, amid all this mess, in eleven days and she received it on Tuesday! How that happened, again, I don’t know, but we are oh so grateful that it did and now it is time for her to apply for her Spanish visa. I will provide another update after her appointment Friday, hope it will be a happy one!

Ok, thus concludes my “quick” update!

The Departure

I’m starting this post while wasting time in the Dublin International Airport during my seven-hour layover – only four hours to go! Yeah, so my trip started with a teary-eyed parting from my family at the Fresno airport, but I quickly grew concerned that I’d be seeing them much sooner than expected. I don’t know why, but it seems the last few planes I’ve gotten on have been delayed because they had to perform maintenance of some sort…well, this first leg from Fresno to Los Angeles was no exception and I prayed that they’d get done in time to allow me to catch my next flight to Dublin. Assuming you’ve been paying attention, I obviously made it in time, since I’m writing from Dublin.

What have I to say so far? I don’t understand luggage weight requirements, nor do I understand a lot of the procedures at airports. I arrived at FAT (Fresno, for those not in the know…or those in the ‘no who think they’re in the know by saying they’re in the ‘no, but really you’re just annoying) about two hours early to check in with United. When I mentioned my end destination was Barcelona I was told if I wanted United to forward my luggage all the way through to BCN it would cost me $381…or, I could check my bags when I got to LAX and only pay $50 – I would just have to deal with Aer Lingus when I arrived and potentially have to pay additional fees to them. I opted for the $50 and chose to take my chances at LAX.

Not sure how the fees work exactly, I always thought with an international end destination you were allotted more luggage (I had read up about Aer Lingus’ requirements, but hadn’t thought to check United’s!), but apparently it is cheaper to have overweight bags on a one-hour continental flight than a transatlantic flight with connections…may make sense, but didn’t really at the time, who knows?
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During the last few days before I left, Blanca and I decided to get a few documents together that she will need for her Spanish visa whenever she gets her passport. The only reason I have decided to post about this is because we encountered a problem while getting the letter of clearance that I wrote so thoroughly about in my “So You Want A Student Visa…” post. Well, in light of the situation we encountered, I added to that post to hopefully help others out in the future, but I’ll discuss what went down here too.

When we got to the step where we go to the county clerks office for a certification of the notarized letter, we were told the notary needed to do more than simply stamp the document, we needed a full acknowledgement because according to the girl I spoke with they have no way to verify she is a real notary…because I guess it would be too hard to look at her number on the stamp and look it up herself, what with the county clerk and county recorder sharing the same office space, but really, what would I know? Anyway, when she told me I needed this acknowledgement I whipped out my document that had been completed months prior and went over it with her, just to clarify what she was telling me.

In my frustrated state, I asked her if she was telling me this document I had, which was notarized by a woman who has been a notary probably longer than I have been alive, had made it through the sheriffs department, her own clerks office, the secretary of the state’s office, and finally the Spanish consulate…all the while it was incorrect? She stared at my document for a few seconds, stumbled over her words a little and quickly walked to the back of the room. She came back a minute later and explained that yes, my document was wrong and she informed the approver not to do it again…then she gave me back my apparently incorrect document that somehow made it through four government agencies, yet was never caught…

Anywho, so we had to call the notary back and arranged to meet with her again so she could get us the acknowledgement form and she explained that for every employee in the clerks office you will get a different answer on how the document needs to be done. I wasn’t surprised, but we jumped through the extra hoop and got it done.

I just wanted to give a heads up to anyone else who may encounter a similar situation, so just to be safe, if you’re Sheriff’s department does as ours did and gave us two letters of clearance, have the notary do one with and one without an acknowledgement and just let the county clerk tell you which one they want to certify.

Oh, one last thing I’d like to mention, Blanca became a citizen on Wednesday the 15th! So, we applied for her passport the next day and now we are just waiting and praying that makes it through that mess relatively quickly so she can apply for her visa soon and come join lonely ol me over here in Barcelona! Can’t wait!!

That is all for now, will post again soon about the trip!

Adios

On Sunday, August 5, 2007 my father, Tom Brattin, passed away. The following was his obituary as it appeared in one of the papers:

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Thomas M. Brattin, 53, formerly of San Luis Obispo County passed away Sunday, Aug. 5, 2007, in Fresno, Calif.Tom graduated from San Luis Obispo High School in 1972 and quickly began his career in maintenance mechanics at the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. His most recent position was as maintenance supervisor for California State University, Fresno Association. Tom loved building and flying radio controlled airplanes and was a member of the Fresno Radio Modelers Club for many years.He is survived by his wife of 32 years, Patty; children April (Josh), Matthew (Blanca) and Ashlynn; granddaughter, Cailyn; grandson due in September, Calvin Thomas; brothers Ken (Leslie) Brattin and Bob Brattin; sister, Sara (Burt) Johnson; father in-law Bill (Gloria) Smith; nephews Jason Smith and Burt Johnson, Jr.; nieces Rebecca Pallmann, Angela Smalley, Hailey Johnson, and Shawna Johnson.He was preceeded in death by his father, Melvin Haile Brattin; mother, Edith Anne Brattin-Nervo; mother in-law, Frances Smith; brother in-law, Barry Smith.

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In the last two years it seems I’ve lost a number of loved ones in my life. Just over a year ago while I was in New York I lost my uncle, Barry Smith, to a mindless act of violence. The best way I could describe my relationship with him was always kinda like a second father. He is the reason I got into martial arts and he was always the one I loved to discuss my training with. I looked up to him in many ways and it was, until just recently, the most painful news I ever received when I learned that his life had been taken …just three months after retiring from the CHP with over 30 years of service and just six months from receiving his degree in criminal justice. I think about him often and will never forget him.Now, my own father, has also been taken from me unexpectedly. We never really saw any signs that he had any health problems, so when I learned of his heart attack it came as a great shock. We were all extremely hopeful that he would be able to make some sort of recovery, but after being deprived of oxygen for an unknown amount of time and later suffering seizures, he was left essentially with very little brain function in only his cerebral cortex. After over a week of emotionally draining observation and praying, he was taken off life support and passed peacefully Sunday morning…My dad was a loving, caring, hard-working, funny, and very smart man and I should be so lucky to have not only known him for 25 years, but to have been raised by him and to have had him as a role model throughout my life. He treated my mother so well, and I can only hope to be half the husband to Blanca that he was to my mom. Additionally, his work ethic and common sense approach to problem solving is something I also aspire to develop even more within myself as I continue to mature.He had a tool for everything, as I often used to say to friends, and if something presented itself where it didn’t seem as though he had the right tool…he would just make his own.  It never ceased to amaze me the number of times I would begin working on something on one of my old cars where his mechanical prowess would just put my efforts to shame.For instance, the time I spent nearly two hours trying to replace a damaged hose from under the hood of my old ’79 Ranchero. After finally convincing myself there was no way to get the job done, I awoke my dad from his nap and said I needed his help. He followed me to the garage and as I handed him the tools I’d been using he simply walked back to his toolbox and returned with a screwdriver. A tad confused, I kept watching and just before he made his move he said to me, “you’re replacing that one right?” Still unsure what his plans were, I said, “yeah…got the new one right over there.” With that, he jabbed the hose with the screwdriver and gave it a yank and what-do-ya-know, he accomplished in about 1.3 seconds what I had been working on for nearly two hours.That’s just how he operated, and I like to think I picked up some of his creativity over the years, but I know I’ll never, ever reach the levels he was at. I don’t really know what else to say, other than I loved my father greatly…still do…He will be missed, but absolutely never forgotten.Rest in peace dad…until we meet again…

Last weekend I was in Las Vegas for a last hurrah with a small group of friends. We had a good time, and when we returned Sunday Blanca and I had a quick family barbecue at my parents’ home.  We were in a hurry, however, to get home and do laundry, as we had to wake up Monday morning and drive to Long Beach to catch a quick four-day cruise to celebrate our first anniversary. 

 The cruise was relaxing - we both just ate, read, and slept a lot.  On the drive home I got a phone call I could never have prepared for.  My father, who is only 53, wasn’t feeling well at work.  He knew something was wrong, but instead of telling anyone, he jumped in his truck and headed toward his doctor’s office…he didn’t make it.  Off-duty EMTs found him in his truck in the middle of an intersection.  They began CPR, but by the time an ambulance arrived he had no pulse and wasn’t breathing.  They shocked him with the paddles and managed to get his heart started again and they brought him to the hospital. 

 Somewhere about this time was when I got the call, my mom and sisters didn’t know what was going on, just that my dad was heading to the hospital.  It was a long and painful four-hour drive to the hospital.  My dad underwent emergency heart surgery to remove the block from his artery.  His heart is now semi-normal, but there are apparently a couple more blocks they are worried about if he pulls through this.  He has been unconscious now for two days, and we still don’t know much.  The main concern is that no one knows how long he went without oxygen, so they are going to test for brain activity today. 

I don’t know what this all means.  My family is my first priority at this point and I apologize for not keeping up with the comment activity (which has been great) lately, but as you can see I have other things to tend to at the moment.  I wrote a lot of notes on the cruise so I could make my next post when we returned, things just didn’t turn out as planned. 

I don’t know who out there are the praying type, but I am, and we could sure use all the thoughts and prayers anyone can find the time to send out.  I will post again as soon as I can manage when I have anything new to say. 

-Matt 

Well, I never lost hope, and while I still cannot say it is “official,” it is pretty darn close. I haven’t received a letter from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation yet, but I’ve been pathologically checking their site to see if by chance they would update the list of scholarship winners…and it looks like they did tonight. I didn’t make the cut. I don’t know how many applicants there were overall, but 34 have been granted this prestigious scholarship and I wish them all the best.

From what I can gather, I faced some very stiff competition with applicants that, quite frankly, seemed to have profiles very different from that of my own. I knew this going in, but still wanted to give it a shot. Most of the winners come from lower income homes and have devoted a great deal of their lives to community service, all while gaining stellar academic records and often working for the less fortunate. I, on the other hand, seem to earn a decent wage for my age, did community service during college, but not to the degree many of these people have and do, and I work in corporate America. While I may have a pretty decent academic profile, this clearly wasn’t going to save me from (*edit* site originally said 17 years old…) 20 year olds with 4.0s going for their Masters…

I won’t lie, I am a little down after discovering the news, but I am not bitter. I am certain those who will be awarded these scholarships truly deserve them and, as my wife said, my pursuit of an MBA was never contingent on getting this scholarship. I’m still heading to ESADE, Jack Kent Cooke scholarship or not…and really folks, at least I was nominated by my alumni university – that was cool for me at least! Plus, let’s not forget my 20% ESADE scholarship. So you see, in the end I think this result has helped me see how much I have to be proud of, and come August 12th I’m still flying to Barcelona to pursue my MBA!

Thank you to everyone who has offered encouragement thus far…I promise there’s lot’s more excitement to come!

*Update* Got my letter informing me that I was not chosen to receive a scholarship.  Just for the end record, there were 977 applicants and 34 individuals (or 3.5%) were chosen…stiff competition indeed!

“Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.” – Anonymous

Thursday, June 7th it finally came. The letter Blanca had been waiting for for nearly a year now – her interview appointment with the INS. We were excited beyond words…granted it was about two months later than we had hoped, but it finally arrived and we knew July 3rd was the day. According to what we had been told, she would take the test, and assuming she passed, she’d take her oath on the 9th of July. We thought we had it all figured out. We’d expedite her passport application the 9th right after taking the oath, hopefully have the passport by month’s end, then immediately apply for the visa. I’d head to Spain mid-August, and she’d join me as soon as she got her visa, sometime around the end of August…not too shabby…except for one minor detail – the INS happiness spies.

They must be everywhere, these spies. We had already been through so much torment, so naturally the feelings of elation were nearly inexplicable when the appointment date was finally handed down. I rushed home from work that night and we dusted off the study materials and went over the 96 practice questions gleefully – she’s got them down. We could hardly sleep that night as all we could do was think and discuss our next steps to prepare for the journey ahead. All the while what we should have been doing was bracing ourselves for the blow that was to come.

It started with a phone call from the house of reps office just following up on a call I made a few days prior. While sharing the good news with the woman, I was blindsided when I started rambling about our plans. She started with, “Oh, you know what, the courts actually decided to cancel the July oath…so Blanca will have to wait until August to do that…” My initial reaction was silence, as I tried to stomach what I just heard, but quickly I fired back “can we just drive somewhere else, anywhere, to take the oath?” The response, “No, Fresno is where she applied and where she lives, she has to do it there…I really don’t know why they cancelled, it isn’t normal.” Well, I couldn’t talk much more, but I hung up and tried to pull myself together to make the call to Blanca. Don’t forget though, this is only where it started…

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