Study Abroad Blog

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…

A little later, after sharing the bad news with Blanca, I began to settle down. As I was absorbing our new situation, I got a text from Blanca that said simply, “They cancelled my appointment.” Confused, I immediately called her and she answered fighting back tears explaining she just received a letter, the day after the appointment letter. This new letter had only two lines that essentially said, “We regret to inform you that your appointment dated July 3 has been cancelled. We will update you with changes to your status as they become available.” No explanation, no new date…nothing. So, this is what leads me to believe there are INS happiness spies all around – because they must have heard our elation the day before and decided to put an end to it ASAP…can’t go making people happy or anything, that would just be wrong.

My immediate response to this news was to call everyone I could think of – The governor, my senator, the department of homeland security, etc. But as usual, after calling all these places I was left with no answers and basically a bunch of fingers pointing nowhere. The general response from everyone was that I’d already done all I could do and ultimately the INS pretty much only answers to themselves. So much for checks and balances.

So here we are, almost a week from getting all the news, and we don’t know where we stand anymore. I finally purchased my ticket today (Compliments of the InternationalStudent.com video travel contest!), I’m flying out of LAX on Sunday, August 12th and will arrive in Barcelona on Monday the 13th at 10:40am. I would be lying if I said this didn’t make me happy, because it does, but it comes with mixed emotions…it was a single, one-way ticket. I’m going alone and will be alone for who knows how long.

It is hard to stay optimistic in a situation like this – being essentially at the mercy of a government agency who holds so much in the palm of their hands. Do they really understand the influence they have on people’s lives? Do they even understand that they’re dealing with human lives? Do they understand that because of their actions, they have the power to keep my wife, the woman I married, apart from me for what looks like at least three months at this point? Do they understand that the days that followed their letter my wife was sick, vomiting and unable to move from the bedroom? Do they have the slightest inkling that this is just one person’s story, and I’m confident there are thousands upon thousands more in the same situation?

Anyway, I apologize if this post was a downer, but it would be difficult to make it otherwise. I remain hopeful that things will work out for the best in the long run. If I really want to start my positive thinking now, I could say at least in this situation I’ll have the opportunity to get settled into my new learning environment without any distractions (not like my wife is a distraction, but you understand). I’ll be able to learn a little about my surroundings while picking up a little Spanish so I can be a good tour guide and impress Blanca when she finally joins me in Barcelona.

As before, I’m still waiting for word from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and expect a response sometime in the next two weeks. Win, lose, or draw, I’ll make a post as soon as I hear anything. Additionally, as things change with Blanca’s status, I’ll likely come here to vent or share the good news. Until then, it’s now two months until the day I set foot in Spain and one month til I’m done with my job…things are happening, so stay tuned!

“Too bad the only people who know how to run the country are busy driving cabs and cutting hair.” – George Burns

When I finished up the “So You Want A Student Visa” post I had just completed one of the most stressful obstacles standing between me and my timely voyage to Barcelona. Once I submitted my application at the Spanish Consulate in San Francisco, Blanca and I officially began our short, final vacation before we plan to leave our present jobs for good. We spent the rest of our day voyaging around South San Francisco trying to find our hotel and the nearest BART station so we could minimize our struggle heading back into town later that evening.

We had been invited to have dinner with two ESADE alumni and the wonderful admissions woman who interviewed me (who is also my future landlord), so I was quite excited. We all met up at the Grand Hyatt and walked to a charming Italian restaurant and opted to eat inside, as it was raining quite nicely. The conversation flowed, as did the red wine, and we had a wonderful time hearing the alumni catch up with one another, as I imagine someday I will hopefully do with members of my cohort.

After our four-hour dinner came to an end we bid each other adieu and parted ways. Blanca and I made it back to our hotel just past midnight and did our best to get to sleep quickly, as we had an 8:30 flight to catch the next morning! We were heading to Minneapolis to visit my cousin and his fiancé, as we will unfortunately have to miss the wedding. Considering my cousin was a groomsman at my wedding, I felt it the least I could do to at least pay them a visit before we head off across the Atlantic.

Now where was I? Oh yes, trying to sleep. So, after a little less than five hours of sleep the alarms awoke us from our deep slumber and nearly provoked my heart to retire from duty. After composing myself, I showered and packed and we caught the earliest bus to the airport. Our flight was uneventful, just how I like them, and we landed in Minneapolis around 2pm their time. My cousin picked us up and we made our way to his place and had little time to settle down before we had to head off to watch the Red Sox beat the home team Twins in a low scoring game. I slept well that night…wish I could say the same about Blanca, I think she consumed a tainted jumbo dog at the game.

The next two days were great, despite the weather (darn rain followed us all the way from San Francisco) and we had a good time at the horse races, among other things, and just catching up with my cousin. Monday came too quickly and it was time to head back to the airport and make our way back home.

After another uneventful flight, we were back at SFO and spent a good hour waiting for the complimentary hotel bus that supposedly comes every 20 minutes. We finally made it back to the hotel, picked up the car, and got back on the road on our way back to Fresno. The ride was going smoothly, until I got a phone call from my mother.

About a week prior to this trip my mother was informed by a doctor that they spotted a small growth on her right lung that they wanted to investigate. They noted she is not a typical candidate for lung cancer, as she has never smoked (although my grandmother passed away from lung cancer after smoking for about 50 years), nonetheless, they still wanted to investigate. She had a biopsy the day we arrived in San Francisco and my mom was calling with the results the day we were heading home: The growth was cancerous.

The only good news during the phone call was that the growth was deemed a “low grade cancer,” and was present on only the middle lobe of her right lung. The doctor was confident he could remove this lobe and she should be good to go in no time, so the surgery was scheduled for Friday, May 18th in San Luis Obispo. By the way, this particular doctor was chosen by my mother because he is the same doctor who removed one of my grandmother’s lungs during the initial phases of her bout with cancer.

We all made the late-night voyage to the coast on Thursday the 17th and slept little the night before the surgery. The morning came and soon enough my mom was under the knife and all we could do was wait. About three hours later the doctor came in and informed us all that he “couldn’t have been happier with the way the surgery went.” We all released a sigh of relief in unison, however it would be another week before they got the results of the pathology report back to determine whether or not the growth had been malignant or benign, which would also determine the level of concern for ongoing forms of treatment.

As of Tuesday evening on the 22nd I am oh so happy to announce all of the non-malignant cancer had been removed and the doctor sees no need for further treatments at this time. My mom will have some regular follow-ups scheduled simply for monitoring purposes, however this is very manageable and we are all extremely thankful everything turned out so well, so quickly. I’m heading back to San Luis to see my mom again tomorrow, and she should be allowed to head back to Fresno later next week.

So, there you have it, I’m now back to work and on the home stretch before it is time to get packing for Spain. We have no new news about Blanca’s application with the INS other than we were told that it is still in Nebraska for whatever reason. In lieu of her status, we are backing up our estimated date of departure to sometime in August and hopefully this additional time will be just what we need to get her documents, or at least most of them, squared away as painlessly as possible.

As I prepare to purchase my tickets and more news comes I will be sure to post, but in the meantime I really don’t have a whole lot else to report at the moment. I am happy to see some people posting comments and will continue to encourage that sort of activity!

“Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.” – Anonymous

At about 6:26 this morning I stumbled out of the shower and made my way to the kitchen to start boiling water for my oatmeal. Once I got the water on, I meandered on over to my laptop and gave the mouse a wiggle to awake the machine from its slumber. I continued my morning routine by double clicking the Internet Explorer icon and immediately logging in to check my email. Just as I maneuvered the mouse to view my inbox, I saw it. An email from ESADE’s Financial Aid Department with the subject heading “Congratulations.” My gut dropped and I felt my face get flush with anticipation. Licking my lips I hovered the curser over the link to open the message when suddenly…I get a pop-up letting me know “All automatic updates are complete and your computer will now reboot.”

Nooooo!!! Must…read…congratulatory message of some kind!! But my pleas were of no use. My squeamish response did no good and finally I gave up and accepted my short-term fate as I realized I had no choice but to wait for my computer to shut down and reboot so I could start the whole process over again.

It felt like a good fifteen-minute boot up, which likely only took two, but finally, the moment arrived and I got to open this email I waited so patiently to receive. It read as follows:

Dear Matt,

Congratulations!

We have decided to award you one of our scholarships reserved for exceptional candidates!

ESADE would like to emphasize the honour associated with the granting of this scholarship representing 20 % of the tuition expenses associated with the MBA Program, and at this time we inform you that it will be duly renewed for the second year of the Program, if your academic record is found to be satisfactory.

We are hoping to count on your presence for the 2007 Full Time MBA cohort!

Regards from Barcelona and see you soon!

Yessssss!!! After reading this I was absolutely ecstatic and could hardly stand still (meanwhile, my oatmeal burned in the distance). I couldn’t wait to share the good news with my family, friends and co-workers, but didn’t want to bother anyone so early in the morning. Naturally, they were all quite happy to hear my announcement, but at a more reasonable hour!

From here, all I have left to wait on are the results of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarship, so I’ll have to sit tight about another three weeks for that. I just wanted to share this news, as I’m still absolutely thrilled and have gone back to read the email probably fifteen times today. Guess that is all I have to update at the moment. My next “real” post should come soon. That is all.

“Smile, it makes people wonder what you’re up to….” – Anonymous

I mentioned before I was going to take some time to write about the visa application process I’ve been going through the last few months, so that is what this post is all about. I initially wrote a lot of side information about my INS-esque experience with the Spanish consulate, but I have opted to omit this information for the time being. I will merely mention it has been extremely difficult (borderline impossible) to contact the consulate in any way other than in person if you have questions, and if by chance you do manage to get someone on the phone, you have about two seconds to spill your guts before you are transferred to a machine and subsequently hung up on.

What is the result of this sort of customer service? Try this one on for size: The four individuals applying for visas with appointments before mine were turned away by the officer for not having the appropriate documentation and copies of said documents. When the would-be applicants stated there was no evidence the consulate would need this information they were told “It is written on the wall in the lobby! You need to learn these things ahead of time because we are very busy and you are making our jobs difficult!” Right…should have known that one, what with this consulate having jurisdiction through Alaska, a student in Juneau applying for a visa should have no problem moseying on down to San Francisco to read what is written on the wall before gathering their documents…but I digress…

The following is a pretty descriptive to-do list including various tidbits I have learned as I’ve rounded up my documents. I will offer this disclaimer: This list I am about to provide is what was requested of me by the Spanish consulate in San Francisco, specifically for a student visa. What this means is that these particular documents may or may not be required by other consulates (Spanish or otherwise) for a student visa, as it seems each consulate sets its own rules. If you are also going through the student visa application process, your best bet is to do as much research ahead of time and bring multiple copies of anything you think they may want. Lastly, please, if you will need a visa in the near future, begin to research what you will need as early as possible to allow for extra time in case things go array! Either way, hopefully this will prove helpful for future visa applicants.

1) Schengen Visa Application
First things first, if you’re heading to any of the Schengen states (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, or Sweden) for longer than your passport allows (up to 90 days with US passport) you need to fill out a Schengen visa application.

Application instructions were found online, but a lot of the instructions didn’t make complete sense to me. Additionally, I write incredibly small, and even for me squeezing some of the information they wanted into the boxes provided became quite a chore, so be forewarned and get used to making a few rough drafts of the application before you go in for a final with a pen. You’ll need an original and two additional copies of your finished product, but make an additional copy for your own records.

2) A passport valid for a minimum of six months from your expected return date
Ask yourself when you are planning on returning from your voyage. Know the answer? Great, now add six months to that date. Got the new date? Ok, now go grab your passport, open it up and look at the expiration date. If your passport expires before that date you’ll need to get it renewed before you apply for your visa. When I first saw this requirement, it was poorly translated and I misinterpreted it to mean you need to have had your passport for at least six months in order to be issued a visa, which would have been bad news for my wife. Luckily this proved to be untrue after further research. Once your passport is good to go, make three copies of it (to be safe) and while you’re at it, make three copies of your driver’s license or other identification card and put these in your pile of docs to bring.

3) Three passport photos
I needed only three – one per application copy. These should be taken in front of a white backdrop and you will later staple them to the front of each of your applications in the notated position. Some places ask you to write your name on the backs as well, but I didn’t need to. I’ve heard some consulates ask for four photos, which is just as easy to get as three because most places that take these pictures sell them in sets of two, so you’ll likely end up with four anyway. Costco has the cheapest (and best quality) I’ve found at $4.99 per pair.

4) Original acceptance letters from the programs involved
If you are an American student going on exchange, you’ll need an original letter from both your current school, and the exchange school. For me, I just needed the letters ESADE mailed me. I ended up with four documents with official language and stamping that I brought to the appointment. One of the papers says I’m in the program, another says I will have housing arranged upon my arrival (another required document, evidence of housing). The other papers explain the length of the program and show proof it is a recognized university by the Spanish government. I made about four copies of these just to be safe and only needed the originals.

5) Evidence of funds
This needs to be provided by way of any of the following:

• A statement from the school explaining they assume full financial responsibility. I will not find out about scholarships until June, so in the interim I will be using my letters from Sallie Mae showing I just took out a whopping $65k in loans…ouch.
• A notarized letter from your parents explaining they will assume full financial responsibility of you, which means they need evidence that they have $1,000 available for every one month you will be in the country. (ie, if you’re going for 18 months like me, you’ll need a bank statement from them showing they have at least $18k in there, plus a notarized letter explaining they will provide you with at least $1,000 per month throughout the duration of your stay).
• I had also read I needed to provide bank and credit card statements, but what bothered me was that it notated they will only accept the kind that come in the mail, not printed from the computer…well, I only get online statements for all my accounts, so I don’t even get these things in the mail. Either way, I printed up my most recent online statements and current balances for everything, and it was all accepted.
• Additionally, I included my 06 tax returns and two most recent pay stubs and they took these as well. I don’t know if it really matters, because my loans more than cover me, but I still included these things just in case and had multiple copies of each on hand.

6) Evidence of health insurance with a minimum of 30,000 euros coverage
I thought surely this document would be my downfall. On the document list it indicates they need an “original letter” from my insurance provider. Silly me, thinking this would be no big deal, I started the process two months before my appointment date. ESADE has a relationship with insurance brokers in Spain and I’ve been going back and forth with a representative now for the last two months trying to simply get coverage.

The problems I have had were that the company absolutely refused to allow my coverage to start in August. I was told that if I want evidence of coverage now, the policy has to start now and I have to pay now. Well, I certainly didn’t mind paying now, but why does my policy need to start now? Why can’t I prepay three months in advance? The answer, “That is not our normative.” Ok, so I sucked it up, as the cost was considerably less than other prices I’ve seen, and wired $120 to them for coverage in May and June…despite the fact that I’m arriving the end of July. Well, what they did after they got the money was email an electronic copy of my temporary card and a letter stating I’m covered. The problem, it’s not original, nor does it state the coverage amount.

From there I tried repeatedly to contact the company and request they mail the original ASAP, but I got no response. Finally I contacted the school, who contacted them, and finally someone brought the original to the school (I have no idea why they didn’t just send it themselves) where it was sent FedEx to me three business days before I had to leave to San Francisco. The tracking showed the package arriving the day of my appointment, which was one day too late, but by divine intervention the package arrive literally one hour before I left for San Francisco, a full day ahead of an already tight schedule…it was incredible, to say the least!

I presented this document with a copy of the form I filled out to get coverage (which showed I selected 30,000 euros of coverage) and they accepted it without question.

7) Visa Fee: Money order or Cash only
I ended up just giving them five, crisp $20 bills and that worked out fine. I guess if I wasn’t using a US passport the fee is $79.20. Definitely check with the individual consulate you’re going to to verify the correct fee.

8 ) Self-addressed USPS Express Mail envelope
It says you need the envelope with postage for $14.40 or $18.80 so they can mail you back your passport. I guess the price range is dependant on the type of envelope you get, I just got the $14.40 one.

9)Evidence of Immigration Status in the US (Non-US passport holders)
This means, in my wife’s case if she was using her Mexican passport, she’d need her Alien Registration Card or a US visa with I-20 / IAP-66…this doesn’t apply to me.

10) Certification of “absence of police record” (for stays over 180 days)
This one didn’t seem like much, but it turned out to be a doozy! Thankfully I’ve lived in the same city for the last five years, otherwise I would have had to do a lot more running around. Basically, in California and I would assume other states as well, the following is the order of operations I would recommend to get this document:

• Contact a mobile notary! If you know a notary, buy them lunch and have them help you out for the day. I wish I had known this step when I first embarked on my journey, but hey, you live and learn. I found a nice lady who charged a flat $25 fee and she did great. First place to head to is your local sheriffs department (don’t do what I did and go to the local jailhouse…I almost got detained for being on a cell phone in the building and they looked at me crazy when I asked for an “absence of police record” document…maybe because they were about to give me a record). What you are looking for is actually called a “letter of clearance.” It cost me $20 and I got two official copies. Have your notary ready to do his/her thing and notarize the deputy’s signature.

  ***Updated Info*** In light of a situation we encountered while getting Blanca’s letter of clarance, I would highly recommend you see if your notary can do an acknowledgement of the letter, if possible in addition to just a stamped version. If you tell the notary this is what you want, they will know what you’re talking about and it shouldn’t be a problem, nor would I imagine it will cost more money, but honestly I don’t know what other notaries charge. If you want to try to spare yourself the headache, call the county clerk’s office first, ask if an acknowledgement is necessary for them to certify this document, and depending on their response you can fill the notary in when they go to work their magic. Hope this new information makes sense! When this is all done, pay the notary and you’re ready to take the next step.

• Take your freshly notarized letter of clearance and head to your local county clerks office. Once there, they need to “certify’ the notarized document. This cost a whopping $2.25, but it is a necessary step in order to get the icing on the cake…
• Certified and notarized letter in hand, head now to the nearest Secretary of State office (call ahead of time to find out if they do Apostille certifications, I was set to go to Sacramento and learned just in time that we have an office in Fresno). What you need to do here is ask for them to give an Apostille certification of the now certified and notarized letter. They will only give this certification if you’ve taken the first two steps, so do it properly and this should go smoothly. The Apostille certification validates the document for use by another country’s government, and without it the consulate will not accept it. You can get the Apostille certification by mail for $20 and it will take about three weeks, or you can get it done in about five minutes in person for $26, so pick your poison! Once you’ve got this done, make three photocopies of all the pages and you should be good to go!

At the consulate, they stamped the original in about four places and gave it back to me. This is one of the documents I will need to present in Spain when I apply for my student card, which gives me the right to stay in Spain for the first year of the program. I’ll have to renew it at the start of the second year.

11) Medical Certificate (for stays over 180 days)
This is a document that is written and signed by an MD, within two months of your appointment, that says basically you are in good physical and mental health to travel and study abroad and are free of contagious diseases. Make three copies of this, just to be safe.

For this, I made an appointment with my doctor for a standard check-up. I told him I needed the letter, he called someone who knows international travel laws and instructed that I needed to be free from Hep A & B and TB. He checked my records and I really wish I had saved my vaccine records from college, but I didn’t. I had to get a blood test to check for the Hep antibodies and such, and get a TB skin test. 48 hours later I walked in and picked up my letter. The consulate also gave this original document back so I can present it when I apply for my student card.

12) If you’re under 18 years of age, you’ll need a notarized letter of authorization from your parents allowing you to go on your trip.

13) Round trip airline reservations
This one bothered me for the longest time. It says in many places on the website that they do not recommend you purchase your airline tickets before you apply for the visa. However, you are expected to provide proof of “reservations.” I didn’t know how to make reservations on a flight without paying, but I still called (at random) Delta to ask how this could be done. At first I was told this is silly and airlines don’t work this way…then after some further discussion, here is what happened:

I mentioned I was going to be an international student and merely needed proof that I had a reservation for a flight. The woman asked for my email address, asked the day I was going to go, and badda-bing, she said to check my email. I opened it up and there it was, a seat reservation good through my appointment date on a flight to Spain. I was in shock, but I got it and the consulate accepted it without question – so it can be done! Given the duration of my trip, they did not need evidence of return tickets.

As an aside, I was going to just buy my tickets and get the insurance just in case, but moments before I finalized a transaction on Orbitz I called to ask if I would be covered under their insurance if I didn’t get my visa in time. I was told no, late travel documents is not grounds for coverage of a cancelled flight…which really isn’t cool, but now that I know I’m going to wait just a bit longer before I buy my tickets…even if it costs more.

14) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS MAY APPLY
Translation: we may decide to send you packing and have you come back some other time if we don’t like the cut of your jib. Thankfully, I was extremely organized and was actually thanked for having all the necessary documents, in order, ready to go. The woman was very kind to me and even commented that ESADE is a very good school and that I should be proud having gotten in, which made me all tingly.

So, my two months of working on this finally paid off and I wasn’t turned away and all my documents were accepted on my first try. One last thing to note ahead of time is that the consulate says you may only apply “not more than 90 days, nor less than 60 days from your expected date of departure.” That left me a 30-day window to successfully apply around my expected date of departure, which is July 23rd.

In the end, it was an incredibly stressful and frustrating experience, and at times I almost wanted to give up. But after really thinking about it, and telling myself I am not the first American student to get a student visa to study in Spain, I knew there was hope for me yet. Granted, I don’t have my visa yet, but the hard part is over and now all I can do is wait and hope for the best…until it comes time to apply for my wife’s visa…but we have bigger fish to fry before I’m ready to worry about that.

“Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.” – Fred Brooks

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I don’t feel like I followed the most traditional path when I applied to ESADE. Nonetheless, a co-worker of mine who received his MBA from Duke gave me some excellent advice during the application process which I found immensely helpful. He said to me that he had received the same advice from former MBA grads when he went through the process, so to continue the chain of advice he encouraged me to help others out in the future should the opportunity present itself. Well, for what it’s worth, the following is an explanation of essentially the advice I received and hopefully whoever reads this will find it useful should you find yourself applying to B-School someday (and I’d like to think some of this advice carries weight for other Master’s programs as well).

Step 1: The GMAT (or GRE or LSAT or whatever other test you may have to take)
I decided to put the GMAT as step number one, because I think you should get this out of the way up front. When you’re working on application essays later on, you really don’t want to be worrying about your upcoming GMAT appointment. Also, I fully believe I would have done much better on this test fresh out of high school or fresh out of undergrad, but I had the wrongful impression the test wouldn’t include content like geometry, algebra, etc that I haven’t seen in over six years. Bear in mind the scores are only good for up to five years, but still, try to get it done early if you have even the slightest inclination to pursue your MBA.

As far as the test itself goes, there are plenty of books and study materials written on the subject, so I would certainly advise you start with that. I purchased the GMAC’s “Official Guide to the GMAT” and a co-worker lent me a copy of the Princeton Review’s “Cracking the GMAT.” The PR book had some good strategy advice, while the GMAC guide had a lot of problems to practice with. If you need more help than what these books offer, look into tutors for material you want additional guidance on. I feel most study courses are overpriced, but if you really just can’t bring yourself to study on your own, or it has been so long you really need a refresher in the fundamentals, this may be a good bet for you.

Step 2: Work Experience (for prospective MBAs, other Masters’ may not apply)
Some may not like this, but I would advise you start your quest for an MBA with at least two years of full-time, post undergrad work experience. Now, when I first heard this bit of advice during my senior year of college, my initial reaction was, “pshh, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” But please, hear me out.

The idea behind an MBA is to help people either accelerate their career, or switch from a non-business career into a traditionally business related position. In the classroom, you will likely be surrounded by experienced, high-achieving individuals and what you get out of the experience is largely influenced by what you and your classmates put in. If you head straight into an MBA program fresh out of your undergrad, you are essentially piling business theory onto more business theory. Without having applied any of these theories in the real world, you have little to no working knowledge as to how what you’re learning relates to the real world. You, and your classmates, will get much more out of the program if you have at least some work experience.

Additionally, you will surely be more competitive to even get into programs if you have at least some work experience. Most schools state a minimum of two years of full time experience in order to even apply, but if you look at the applicant pools, most MBAs actually have 4-5 years under their belts. It is certainly not impossible to get into an MBA program without experience, just bear in mind the things I’ve said. Also, know that you will be more competitive in the job market post-MBA with work experience as well, so don’t forget that! So, go get your work experience, and meet me at Step 3.

Step 3: Research, Research, Research!
So, you’ve got your work experience and you’ve decided you’re ready to pursue an MBA. Fantastic! What do you want to do? Who do you want to work for? Hoping to figure that out in B-School? That is fine, but these are things you should definitely ask yourself as you begin researching different programs. For me, I made a list of what I wanted to get out of the experience and it looked like this:

• Learn Spanish
• Study abroad (if not already abroad)
• Attend a school that doesn’t just use the case study method of teaching
• Find a program with at least a general management focus available, with the option to pursue Finance, Marketing, or any other area of specialty that meets my fancy
• Strong international reputation with at least AACSB accreditation
• Draws big named recruiters to campus

Once I made this list, I began scanning rankings like the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and the Financial Times and took note of high profile programs that looked promising in desirable locations. Eventually, I whittled my way down to ESADE as my top choice, as it met all of my criteria and more, but compiling a list of 3-5 schools is pretty normal.

Step 4: Make Appearances!
This is one area that is often overlooked by applicants, so if you have the opportunity to attend MBA fairs and visit campuses, do it! Especially in the case of visiting campuses, go, be seen, meet people, students, alumni, anyone to help you really get a feel for what the culture of the school is like. Sit in on classes if you get the chance. You may hear the term “fit” thrown around, and until you start to really meet people involved with the school, you will have a difficult time gauging whether or not you’re going to be a good fit for the program. Be prepared to write out notes shortly after your encounters, or even during, whatever makes you happy. This is important as it will provide content you will use later in your essays to show you made an effort to get to know more than just what a school says about itself on its website.

Additionally noted, if you meet people, get a card or email address and be sure to follow up with them and thank them for taking the time to meet and speak with you. Don’t bother these people by asking a ton of questions or badgering them about your application later, but definitely follow up and try to at least touch bases to keep yourself fresh in their mind. These individuals meet hundreds, maybe thousands of people just like you every year, so anything to help them remember you (in a good way) will be a plus.

Step 5: The Application
All applications are not created equally, nor should they be treated as such. Every school’s application is different, and while some may ask very similar essay questions, you should never completely recycle one essay from one school for use in another. That said, here are some things to keep in mind while writing your application essays.

You may know how great you are, your mom may know how great you are, your pet turtle may know how great you are, but never, ever expect the admissions folks at the schools you’re applying to to know how great you are; that’s why you’re applying. This means you and your entire being need to essentially be reduced to a few sheets of paper, a few paragraphs, upon which you’re trying to convince these schools why you will make a nice addition to their program. Are you up to the task?

First things first, you need a story. Before you even begin writing your first essay, you need to know what is it that makes you so unique, so special, that the schools you’re considering should even bother reading anything you write. This is a time for self-reflection. You need to really take a look at yourself and your accomplishments and decide what is the shining theme that has been running through your life. Listen to your heart moreso than your head and absolutely do not try to get inside the brain of the admissions reps and spew answers you think they want to hear…because they want to learn about you, not what you think they want you to be.

My approach to the essays was to take things I feel make me who I am and keep them as running themes throughout each essay. I wanted the admissions folks to pick up my application, read it, and come away feeling like they got to know me and what I am all about. I wanted each essay to build on the other and contribute to the overall effectiveness of the whole package. It has been said that the application is like the meat and bones of your candidature, and the interview is like your soul. Well, I tried to squeeze a little of my soul into my essays, and I’d like to think I accomplished that.

Other things to keep in mind and work into your essays include your experiences with the school and efforts to get to know what they are about. This doesn’t mean you should just start name-dropping, but if you could relate a story about a class you sat in on or some alumni you met that really made an impact on you, do it! Also, be sure to prove your case as to why you will make a good addition to the program. The reader should come away knowing who you are, what you’re about, what efforts you’ve made to get to know them and why you will be a good fit for their school. If you can do all that, you might just find yourself at Step 6.

Step 6: The Interview
So, you got called for an interview, congratulations, you’re almost there! Here is where you fill in the gaps. Your application, no matter how pristine, still leaves gaping holes into your being. Now is the time where you need to remain consistent with your application (know what you said in your essays and don’t you dare contradict yourself now!) and just be honest and act like yourself, not who you think they want you to be. By all means, prepare yourself for the various questions they may ask, but at the same time, be true to yourself and you can’t go wrong. If it turns out after the interview that perhaps you weren’t the right fit, take it as a blessing that you found out now and not a year into the program while you’re wondering, “what am I doing here?”

Step 7: Are You In?
The last step may leave you with a tough decision to make, or really no decision at all. You may get into more than one program, or just one…or perhaps none, it happens. At this point, if you have multiple offers to consider, know that only you can decide where you will ultimately go, and only you will have to live with that decision. Take this time to reflect on your experiences and what you’ve learned about the programs to this point and make the best decision for yourself. If it comes down to a money issue, like you don’t want to spend $X to go to a school, but you really want to go to the school, consider this; your education is arguably the largest investment you will ever make in yourself. So, don’t let money be too big of a factor in your end decision, because ultimately this investment is going to pay dividends for the rest of your life!

I hope this proves helpful to any future applicants who read this, and while I know it is certainly not all encompassing, I was just trying to give a quick breakdown of the process and some steps to take along the way. I also feel I should mention I’ve spent a fair amount of time on varous MBA forums (gmatclub.com & BusinessWeek.com) where I felt there was a pretty good network of people helping eachother out and sharing their knowledge on the admissions process; so I would definitely encourage anyone looking for a community of helpful individuals to try these great resources out! If you have questions or comments about any of this, please share and I will do my best to respond.

“Practice doesn’t make perfect, nor is it supposed to. Practice is about increasing your repertoire of ways to recover from your mistakes.” – Anonymous

It would be unfair of me to say that I fully grasp the immense emotional and mental strain the naturalization process puts on people, but I am pretty darn close. I feel the need to discuss this issue because to be quite honest, dealing with the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Services) has been far and away the most important aspect of my wife’s preparation to go abroad with me. I admit, this may not hold universal applicability to typical international students reading this, nonetheless, I still feel the need to speak up about our experiences.

I luckily do not need to completely re-tell our whole story, as I can simply pull excerpts from a letter I recently wrote to my local congressman’s office (George Radanovich) to help illustrate just what we have gone through over the last seven months or so. Bear in mind that while I may be new to this, Blanca has been dealing with the INS for over 13 years now. Most of the letter’s contents are as follows:

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On July 29, 2006 I married the woman of my dreams, Blanca Mendoza, who is a Resident Alien. Blanca was born 24 years ago in Michoacán, Mexico, and like me, has lived in the central valley for the past 13 years. She also graduated with honors from Fresno State in 2006 with degrees in both Criminology and Psychology. Blanca currently works as a Behavior Consultant with Learning Arts, an organization that offers personalized treatment for children with Autism.

During my undergraduate studies I developed a love for international business and decided, after three years of full-time work experience in commercial banking, to pursue my MBA. I have recently been accepted to ESADE, one of the premier MBA programs in the world, located in Barcelona, Spain. I will begin my studies in August of this year, and my wife and I have been diligently working to arrange our documents to prepare for the voyage since before I was even accepted.

This brings me to our current situation. As a US citizen, I have admittedly been oblivious to the hardships that befall non-citizens in this country seeking to obtain citizenship. My wife, a clearly accomplished and hard working contributor to society, has helped open my eyes as of late.

Shortly after Blanca and I were married, her younger sister managed to find her way through the gauntlet that is the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) to obtain her citizenship. She had applied nearly a year prior, and finally had her interview scheduled. When she arrived at the INS office for the interview, it was then the interviewer discovered that she had filled out the incorrect application form. At this point, she was told she needed to fill out a new application and wait again for it to be processed.

Two months after this incident my sister-in-law had her meeting and was granted her certificate of citizenship. This brings us to September of 2006. My wife, observing the struggles her sister endured, called the INS to ensure she would fill out the appropriate application. She mentioned the hardship her sister encountered, and was assured this would not be a problem.

After completing the forms, my wife sent off her application package in late October, and the enclosed check for $255 was cashed within three days. Meanwhile, I had just been accepted to the aforementioned MBA program and we crossed our fingers that her citizenship application would be processed in time to allow for her to apply for her passport, and then her visa to accompany me in Spain for the duration of the 18-month program.

Flash forward to January 2007. Blanca scheduled an appointment with the INS to check the status of her application and learned that they are currently backlogged one year. This news devastated us, however, she was informed she could schedule another appointment to petition for an expedited application, given our situation. We gathered all the information we could think of – my acceptance letter listing the date I need to arrive, a copy of the receipt for the $8,000 deposit I made to hold my place in the program, etc. After presenting the documents to the INS to petition, Blanca was told she would need to schedule another appointment in the future if she wished to find out if the petition was granted, as they do not answer questions over the phone.

This brings us to the events that transpired over the last week. Time is running out, the petition to expedite was granted, and Blanca had her appointment scheduled for Thursday, March 22nd to receive her certificate of citizenship. We experienced a rollercoaster of emotions after receiving notification that her appointment was granted, but this excitement was short-lived.

On Tuesday, March 20th, Blanca received a phone call from the officer in charge of her case at the INS. He informed her that he had just taken a look at her application and realized she had filled out the wrong form. Not only that, but the form she should have filled out is a petition for citizenship, as she achieved resident status just after turning 18 and thus is not considered a citizen, as was her younger sister. This was a blow we were not prepared to take.

So here we are, just over one month from our appointments to acquire our Spanish visas and we have this bomb dropped on us. I must ask, why did it take over six months for the INS workers to look at this application and realize it was incorrect? Why, two days before the appointment to obtain this dangling carrot called citizenship, were we told that the INS employee who ensured us six months ago we had the correct application was wrong? Why?

This has been the most degrading, insulting, and frustrating experience of my life and I would like to know what accountability these workers at the INS have? Who follows up? Who do they answer to? Is this story of two sisters receiving nearly identical treatment an anomaly or merely the norm? What is the solution? I feel as though we have been stolen from, and not simply in a monetary sense, but also of time, time that I will not have to spend with my wife when I relocate to Spain.

So, here we are now, Monday, March 26, 2007, and Blanca just had the appointment at the INS last Thursday where she was originally supposed to receive her certificate of citizenship. What did she walk away with instead? A new application to submit, this time that must be sent to Nebraska for processing – of course with another check enclosed, this one for $400.00 (Application was shown received on Saturday, March 24th at the INS in Nebraska, according to USPS tracking number). She learned that the process typically takes four months, which means had they instructed her to complete the proper application in the first place she would have already gained her citizenship by now. We also learned that it is going to be unlikely that Blanca will be able to come to Spain with me, her husband, for the entire duration of my studies and that we will now have to fund multiple return flights to accommodate for her continued efforts to get her Spanish visa.

I could go into more details about the actual application process by discussing the incorrect and out-of-date instruction “guides” that accompany the application, but that would be too tedious. I will just say we are uncertain what these checks we have been sending to the INS have been contributing to, but we feel it is safe to presume it is not being put toward updating forms or customer service training.

In the end, I feel it is a sad realization I have come to as of late, seeing the struggles of ordinary contributors to our society, like my wife, who simply want to become naturalized citizens of this country they have been living in for some time now. It is no wonder in my mind why we have so many “illegals” in this country, as it is clear to me that they simply don’t want the troubles of dealing with our system. It is also sad to me that I have strongly considered the prospect of permanently relocating to Europe after my MBA, as I have grown bitter knowing that a portion of my tax dollars have been funding the ongoing, ridiculous practices at the INS.

In closing I must say I feel helpless at this point and have decided this is the last place I can turn. I do not know what, if anything, can be done to remedy our problems. Nevertheless, I am willing to give anything a try at this point, as I struggle to find answers to the poor treatment my wife and I have received.

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When I hand delivered this letter to Radanovich’s office it was read immediately by a woman who deals specifically with these issues. The initial response was what I can only describe as defensiveness, however when I made it clear I simply wanted to find a reasonable solution to our problem the tide seemed to change.

In the weeks that followed Blanca’s application was processed and she has her appointment next week to get her fingerprinting and background check. After this is done, she will have to wait for an appointment to have her interview/test. From here, assuming she passes, she can take her oath of citizenship and may apply for her US passport.

We are convinced that there simply isn’t enough time for her to get through all this in addition to applying for her visa, so our objective at the present is to simply get her passport so she can travel with me to Barcelona as originally planned, but just before classes begin she will return to Fresno and apply for her visa. It will likely be a two-month process, however once it is complete she can return to Barcelona and we will be able to be together for the remainder of the 18-month program. We have only been apart one other time, and that was for just over three months while I attended Credit College in New York. It is a painful prospect to have to do it again, but I’m confident we can handle it and will come out stronger than ever when all is said and done.

I’ll make my next post soon and provide a description of the process I have gone through to prepare for my visa appointment with the Spanish consulate.

“God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.” – Reinhold Niebuhr

My first draft of this 4th chapter of my bio was twice as long as it is now. After much contemplation, I decided to hack out over half of it, as I felt the detail was just too much. Hopefully I did the right thing, now please enjoy!

Chapter 4: Closure, and a New Beginning!

Re-Entry
Upon my return to the US I underwent a slight re-adjustment period. I felt like I had so much to tell everyone I hadn’t seen in eight months, yet, I was often disappointed because I continuously found myself ending stories with the much dreaded, “I guess you had to be there.” I was offered a warm welcome home, don’t get me wrong, it was just that I found difficulty relating to my friends and family right away. Eventually school found it’s way back into session and I began to get back into the swing of things, but even then I knew I was a changed person.

Senior Year and Graduation
Two notable incidents occurred during my senior year and include my being elected President of the Craig Scholars and, most importantly, meeting the woman who would later become my wife, Blanca. Graduation came in May of 2004 and I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 3.97 GPA (got one stinkin’ B…but I’m not bitter) and was awarded the Outstanding Graduate in the Department of Finance. I thought I had a job lined up after graduation, but when that fell through I scrambled to find something new and stumbled into a Loan Analyst position at a local Farm Credit office.

My First and Second Full-Time Jobs
Let me just say I knew next to nothing about agricultural lending, and after a few months of rotating around the various departments within the office, I settled into my position and got into a groove similar to that which I felt around the time I started investigating studying abroad opportunities in school. My job wasn’t complex, I didn’t feel like I was being challenged or given much responsibility, and after some contemplation I began considering making a change.

I used my contacts I had made during school to get some names at local commercial lending offices where I might be able to find a new position. I wanted to get in with a bigger bank with more resources where I would hopefully find better training opportunities while being exposed to different types of credits. I managed to land an interview at Citibank, and after being offered a position I left Farm Credit after ten months. I have been at Citi now for just over two years and will have just over three years of full time work experience as I start my MBA.

Credit College
During my time at Citi I have had some wonderful experiences. Worth noting among them was my participation in Credit College, which was held mostly at the Citigroup Center in New York. During this intensive, seven-month Credit boot camp I got to spend four months living in lower Manhattan while working alongside some awesome people. Many of my co-workers/classmates had MBAs from top US programs, and I used this time to pick their brains to help me strategize for when I decided I was ready to pursue my MBA. A lot of these co-workers encouraged me to pursue my MBA as soon as possible, so I took this advice and began discussing this prospect with Blanca.

Support System
Blanca has been astoundingly supportive through all of this and I know I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for her. When I told her of my plans to apply to pursue my MBA for the Fall of 2007, she was behind me. Even when I began to fantasize about studying in Spain where I could learn Spanish and still attend a top MBA program, she believed in me. I graduated from Credit College in the middle of July of 2006 and Blanca and I were married July 29th, about two weeks after I returned from New York. We had a beautiful wedding and afterward took an amazing honeymoon cruise to Alaska. Upon our return to the real world I had a whole new mindset and all I could think about was fulfilling my vision from my semester abroad and pursuing my MBA in Spain.

The Ill-Advised Method of Getting Into a Top MBA Program
After researching all the top Spanish MBA programs, I ultimately decided ESADE would be the best fit for me. I liked the alumni I had met, the admissions reps, the teaching methodology, the language school, and just the prospect of spending 18-months in Barcelona…well, you get the picture. Once I had made this my target school, I decided to put all my eggs in one basket and only apply there. This isn’t necessarily the most advisable approach to prospective MBAs, but the way I saw it was that I didn’t want to go anywhere else, so why spend a lot of money on application fees if I didn’t have to?

In addition to my narrow application focus, another unadvisable practice I employed during the MBA application process was my sorry excuse for studying for the GMAT. I ordered the GMAC’s “Official Guide to the GMAT” and basically reviewed problems for about 45 minutes a day, 4-5 times a week for the four weeks leading up to the test. I had no strategy…well, I did, I just didn’t employ it, and when the big day came I about cried during my break after the math section of the test. I managed to pull myself together and somehow squeaked out a total score in the 80th percentile, which hardly gives me bragging rights, nevertheless I know I should thank my lucky stars that it didn’t turn out worse!

Shortly after I took the GMAT I scored an admissions interview in Los Angeles the day before ESADE officially began taking first round applications. This meant I was fortuitous to have the opportunity to hand my application package to the admissions representative personally. The interview was unique, as I was asked a number of questions I’d never been asked on an interview before, but I felt as though I fielded them all honestly and did pretty well. I found out for sure on October 23rd when I received my acceptance letter, and I was ecstatic!

Since gaining admission I’ve undergone a potpourri of emotional states including, but not limited to disbelief, shock, giddiness, pride, fear, and probably a dozen other states I’m not even aware of. A lot of emotion has been caught up in the seemingly never-ending process that has consumed Blanca and I with regard to her attempting to gain US citizenship, but I’ll get into this more in the next post as I discuss all the logistics behind getting my Visa and all that jazz. I will say my family and friends have all been extremely supportive, and thankfully my co-workers have been as well when they learned I will soon be leaving.

Little More About Me
All that said, I do believe I have covered a number of important events in my life that have led me to where I am presently – waiting in eager anticipation for the start of my MBA program! To add a little more context to my character beyond the classroom and work realm, here are a few little additional tidbits I might as well share about myself:

In my spare time, I enjoy reading, traveling, spending time with family and friends, and martial arts. When reading, I typically stick to business related books, so getting into that would likely bore most people. Traveling and spending time with family and friends, well, those are fairly self-explanatory, but I will add that I love cruises! Martial arts, well, I’ll start a new paragraph for that!

I have had the wonderful opportunity to have trained, off and on, in various martial arts since I was five years old. I have about eight years of experience in Shito-Ryu Karate, about a year in Kenpo Karate, a little over four years in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and most recently, about six months in Boxing. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is probably my favorite art I’ve trained in to-date, however after tearing my meniscus and having knee surgery a year ago, I haven’t had the courage to get back on the mat. So, I’ve been Boxing for the past six months or so, and have really taken a liking to that. Martial arts provides my stress relief in life. It’s one of the only things I do where I can remain focused on one thing and keep my mind off whatever else is going on elsewhere, and I love that! I’m hoping to find a place to train some art in Barcelona, but I guess I’ll have to wait and see…I do know Robin Gracie has a Jiu Jitsu gym somewhere around town, so maybe I’ll check that out.

That’s All Folks
So, there you have it, my biography in a rather verbose nutshell. Hopefully it was at least an enjoyable read and will provide context for my posts to come. I’m looking forward now to getting into the meat of this blog and hopefully some of the upcoming topics will prove to be a valuable resource for future international students. I guess that is all for now, and thus concludes my bio!

“From the moment I picked your book up until I put it down I was convulsed with laughter. Some day I intend to read it.” – Groucho Marx

I was confident that I would be able to finish up my biography in this third installment, however, I don’t think it would be a good idea to skimp on anything at this point. This “third chapter” will possibly prove to be one of my longest posts, but also one of the most important in laying the foundation of what has brought me to where I am now in my life. I know I couldn’t possibly articulate the immense personal change or incredible experiences I had during my time abroad, but I’m willing to give it my best shot! I’ll try to add some structure to this to make it an easier read and we will see how that goes. The next post really should be my last biographical discussion, summarizing the events since my semester abroad, but for now, I must bring forth the third installment of my biography:

Chapter 3: To International Experience, and Beyond!

Recap
So, when I left off, I had just decided to spend my semester abroad in Jönköping, Sweden and I mentioned the few months that followed were pretty much a blur. This is true, as I hardly recall much of anything, but I know there was a lot that got done. For starters, I had never left the country (and only the State once), so I needed my passport. I applied and had it expedited and it arrived about three weeks later. Then I had to expedite my Swedish visa, which took about a month to get and I believe I had it in hand only a couple weeks before I was set to leave.

So there I was, necessary travel documents in hand, about as ready as I was going to be to leave the continent and my world as I knew it behind for a semester. I had no idea what awaited me on the other side of the planet, but I promised myself to keep an open mind about it and just try to make the most of my experiences. Bear in mind, I had lived my whole life up until that point at home with my family. To even suggest that I truly had any idea what I was doing would be ludicrous, nevertheless, I sucked it up and moved forward.

Departure – No Turning Back
I believe it was January 12, 2003 I left little Fresno behind and headed to the San Francisco airport (SFO) where I would have about three hours to contemplate the decision I had made. I remember very clearly sitting by the gate, looking out the window at the airplane I would spend the next 11 hours in, questioning whether I should have just turned in that Honors Program application. A few deep breaths later and I accepted my fate and started trying to pump myself up for the adventure that awaited.

The Trip
It was a long trip. By the time I made it to the Stockholm airport I had been awake nearly 24 hours and I still had a five-hour layover before my flight to Jönköping was scheduled to leave. My travel agent suggested this long layover to account for the time it would take going through customs, which she claimed would absorb at least three hours. As I approached the customs section of the airport I was given a strange look from one of the airport personnel and what happened next still has me a tad perplexed.

The customs employee looked at me, and in clear English said “You don’t want to go through here…” I froze for a second, evaluated the situation, looked back at my massive entourage of luggage, and decided he was mistaken. I retorted “Are you sure? I am an interna….” I was cut off with his booming voice proclaiming “YOU DON’T WANT TO GO THROUGH HERE…GO AROUND!” A little startled, I hesitated, wondering if this was some sort of test, and quickly bustled off, but not without yelling back over my shoulder to the man, “If you say so!” I still have no idea why I was asked to go around customs in Sweden, and I often wondered if I would be tracked down one day for not having done so, but at the time all I could do was move on and try to figure out what to do with 150lbs of luggage during a five hour layover!? Not much, as you might imagine.

The next five hours I basically sat, guarding my luggage out of (a likely irrational) fear that were I to do so much as walk five feet from anything to buy a granola bar I would be robbed, arrested, or both. So, I sat, starving and hardly able to keep my eyes open, and somehow survived the layover. I finally arrived in Jönköping at midnight Swedish time and at that point had been awake for about 30 hours. When I stepped off the plane I choked on my first breathe of the Swedish air, as I had never felt a cold (-20° C) like this before. After composing myself, I trudged on through the snow-covered runway toward the airport.

When I finally got in the airport, it became apparent that I had three fellow international students on the flight with me – one French girl and two Spanish guys from the Canary Islands. We easily identified eachother, as we were the last four people in the lobby of the airport, each of us with arrival instructions in hand. We came together, struggled with introductions, but smiled and laughed freely knowing we were no longer alone in our journey. This, to me, was already an excellent indication of the excitement that was to come.

After about a half hour wait, a car picked us up and brought us to what would be our new homes for the next semester. The place was called Råslatt (pronounced Ross-let) and could be compared to a housing project set about twenty minutes from the center of town against lush, green (at the time, snow covered) rolling hills. Pretty much all of the international students lived in this area, and it was definitely a new experience for me. I went from living at home with my family, to living in a 12-story apartment building with hundreds of international students from 40 different countries. To call it exciting would be the understatement of the year!

Swedish Introduction
I was shown to my room and I think my new flatmates were a tad startled when I moseyed on in at nearly 1am. At first glance I thought I was in a flat with two other international students, but quickly learned that Sweden isn’t quite all blonde hair and blue eyes as I had once believed. One of my flatmates was named Foppa, and he was half Chinese and half Vietnamese. His family immigrated to Sweden about 20 years prior when he was two. My other flatmate, who would later become a good friend, was named Amanch and he had also lived in Sweden for about 20 years, but his family arrived after fleeing from Iraq when he was four. I had no idea Sweden had such a large immigrant population, but then again, I really knew nothing about Sweden to begin with, so this shouldn’t have come as such a big surprise.

As the semester got under way, us international students began to grow more and more comfortable with the town. We slowly mastered the local public transportation and learned all the weekend hot spots where students would gather to socialize with one another. The school held up to it’s reputation as an academically challenging institution, then again, I spent far more time coming out of my shell and making friends from around the world than I did time in the books. It didn’t take me long to come to grips with everything and decide that this was a semester for personal change. Afterall, I didn’t travel half-way around the world only to return home the same person I was when I left, that was for sure.

Silly Americans
When I stepped off the plane in Sweden, I admittedly knew little about myself – much less about world geography, politics, or languages. I was, as I would learn, a fairly typical American. There was a joke I heard early on in the semester:

Q: What do you call a person who speaks three languages?
A: Tri-lingual
Q: What do you call a person who speaks two languages?
A: Bi-lingual
Q: What do you call a person who speaks one language?
A: American!

I got a good chuckle when I first heard this, then after thinking about it, it made me a little uneasy. Not because I found it insulting, no, I was uneasy because I found it so harshly true! None of the Americans studying in Sweden that semester spoke more than one language. To put this in perspective, by the end of the semester I was no longer surprised when I met people who spoke four languages fluently. Add to that the reputation us Americans had with our lack of geographic knowledge. Want an example of this? Here you go: one day some Polish guys decided to give me a pop quiz and asked me if I knew the capitol of Poland. My correct answer of Warsaw won me befuddled looks and praise that lasted all semester – apparently this was impressive to them, coming from an American. A little sad? It was to me.

I decided from then on I didn’t want to live the stereotype. I didn’t want to be just another “ill-informed American.” I challenged myself to not hang out solely with other Americans and to really make an effort to get to know these people around me who all had so much to teach me!

My Personal Change
Once I made that decision for myself I was finally able to let loose and really enjoy my experiences with the other students. I was having the time of my life, creating memories and building friendships, but there were two memorable instances during the semester that left a lasting impression with me and really helped to open my mind and eyes more than I probably ever expected.

The first event came at the end of a rather slow evening, as I was invited up to a flat with a group of African, Polish, and Swedish students. Once there, we had a very lively discussion on world politics; specifically about oil. After a nearly three hour discussion, loaded with high emotions and elevated voices, we all got up, shook hands and called it a night. I remember walking outside afterward, looking up to the sky, closing my eyes and thinking to myself “That…was intense…” And it was, very much so, but in an amazingly refreshing way. I came away from this evening with a very new perspective on certain world issues, that previously I wouldn’t have given much thought to. I knew I learned a little something, and it wasn’t anything I would have ever gotten out of a classroom back home.

The second notable event during my stay was the day the US made it to Baghdad in Iraq and the statue of Saddam Hussein was yanked down. As I said before, one of my good friends during the semester was my Iraqi flatmate, Amanch, and I was in his room with him and one of his Iranian friends the day the statue came down. I remember feeling beside myself, not really knowing how to react, but recall quite clearly seeing my flatmate and his friend jumping up and down in celebration when the statue finally met it’s fate. This wasn’t something I would have ever experienced back home, and again, I was grateful I got to witness it.

I’ll never forget either of these moments, and when I really think hard, I feel as though the semester was loaded with similar instances that produced memories I’ll take with me forever. As one can imagine, the semester was quickly coming to a close before I knew it, and I still felt as though I had so much to learn and experience. It was about then I caught wind of an exciting summer marketing course Fresno State was working on with the École Supérieure Du Commerce Extérieur in Paris, France. When I heard they were looking for a guinea pig group to see how it would work out, I immediately jumped at the opportunity! I knew come the end of the semester I wouldn’t be ready to come home, and after all, who wouldn’t want to take summer school in Paris?

Just like that, the semester was over and my new friends began packing their things and moving back to their home countries and on with their lives. Meanwhile, I had other fish to fry, as I found myself essentially alone in Jönköping, left to twiddle my thumbs in eager anticipation of what awaited me in Paris! Oh, by the way, my semester at JIBS ended in May, and summer school was scheduled for the month of July…whatever was I to do for a whole month in Europe? Need you ask? Backpack, Of course!

Travel? You Betcha!
I had few opportunities during the semester to travel, but was grateful that my parents assisted me financially (via student loans) and helped me venture out of Sweden to visit Oslo and Bergen, Norway; Helsinki, Finland; Eindhoven, Holland; and Copenhagen, Denmark during my studies. Now that the bookwork was done, it was time to reward myself. I’ll try to break down my backpacking voyage, but first must say Ryanair.com + Hostels = Cheap, fun travel through Europe! With that said, here is basically what I did during the month of June, 2003:

I kicked off my trip by flying from Stockholm to Lubeck, Germany, enjoyed a four hour layover and saw a bit of the town before connecting on a flight to Milan, Italy. Spent four days in Milan to attend a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu seminar with Royce and Robin Gracie. Took the train from here to Rome and spent two days there. Took the train again up to Florence with a quick stop in Pisa, this took another two days. Next took an overnight train to Barcelona and immediately connected to Madrid. Spent two nights in Madrid, just in time to see the chaos that erupted after Real Madrid won the Spanish soccer championship. Finished in Madrid and returned to Barcelona for another two days before catching a flight to London. Spent two days in London and returned to Stockholm and enjoyed the bus on my way back to Jönköping…*whew*…how much adventure can you cram into a month? I thought I did pretty well, and I’ve got thousands of pictures to prove it!

So, just like that, I had seen a pretty big chunk of the major western European cities and felt like I had officially “gotten my money’s worth” for my time spent abroad. It was fast approaching time to get on to summer school, so to keep expenses low, I opted to take a 25-hour bus ride to Paris rather than fly with all my luggage. This was every bit as exciting as it sounds, but I made it to Paris and was soon back in the swing of things with a new, less diverse group of students.

Summer in Paris
The summer marketing course was composed of nine American students from Fresno State. It was nice having a chance to catch up with some of the students on their travels (few had just completed exchanges themselves), but I missed the intercultural mingling I experienced in Sweden. It was exciting, don’t get me wrong, we certainly busted our butts working hard and playing hard. But in the end, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like to throw a few more nationalities in the mix.

My month in Paris quickly came to an end and I found myself on the 25-hour return bus to Sweden (my flight left from Stockholm). I had two days to say goodbye to Jönköping and the last of my friends who awaited the next semester at JIBS. I enjoyed a two-day layover in Amsterdam where I had a “one-month reunion” with one of my classmates I met during the semester. She showed me around, and just like that I was back in the airport waiting for my flight to come home.

Return Home and Wrap-Up
It had been eight months since I sat in SFO, staring at the plane that sat there taunting me, reminding me that I was leaving everything and everyone in my life behind while playing on my insecurities. This time, I was sitting in the Amsterdam airport, head held high, reminiscing on everything I had accomplished. I knew I had taken a chance. I knew I dared to do something different with my education, but never imagined it would bring me where I sat then, feeling how I felt. I had no regrets, and it was there that the wheels began turning once again and I knew someday I would return to Europe…hopefully to get my MBA. I fantasized about this idea, and I know now it was this vision that provoked me to get where I am now in my life.

If you managed to read through all of that, I commend you and certainly hope it wasn’t too painful. It was actually quite easy to write, as my excitement on the subject is still very much alive. I trust that I’ll finish up my final installment with my next post, which will summarize my life from my return until now. Until then…that is all.

“It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.” – Epictetus

Ah yes, College! So, I left off in my bio just as I found myself entering Fresno State. I mentioned I was granted a business scholarship and was a member of the Craig Business Scholars. I believe this is where I will pick up my story.

Chapter 2: Pre-International College Experience…yeah, that works

Ok, so I decided to really devote myself to the Craig Scholars and immediately got involved. I participated in just about every community service event that came our way including Adopt-A-Highway, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and Habitat for Humanity. I was having such a great time with the other Scholars and felt it only fitting that I step up and be a leader in the group. Once I decided to do this, I ran for Treasurer for my sophomore year and landed the gig. Sophomore year came, I did a lot of the same and decided come the end of the year I would run for Vice President for my junior year. I was elected, again, and just as my junior year got under way things began to change, and little did I know I was on the verge of making one of the biggest and best decisions of my life.

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