Summer Reading

Summer reading? I thought I had seen the last of those when I graduated high school. Apparently not. The difference between my current summer reading list and the ones we all became accustomed to in jr high and high school; I am inflicting this brutal list upon myself.

Why would one do such a thing? Well, its quite simple.... to further broaden my horizons, increase my intellect, and expand my business knowledge. Ha just kidding... actually not really. I have created this reading list because, quite frankly, grad school intimidates the heck outta me and these books are my attempt to make myself smarter. I am beyond thankful for the opportunity to attend WashU's MBA program and very excited for the experience. However, anxiety and uncertainty are rearing their ugly heads as well.

I will likely be the youngest person in my MBA class (the average age is 27).

I will be a gender minority (gender breakdown of the MBA school is 28/72% female/male).

I will likely be one of the only people from the south (that is if you count Florida and Texas as the south... if you don't, then I will be THE only person from the south).

I could potentially be a "minority" as a caucasian (last years class was 34% international plus 12% underrepresented minority).

I will have significantly less work experience than my peers (the average is 4 years).

Despite all of this, I am sure that WashU is the place for me. I have felt God's hand throughout the process... applying, admission, etc... and I want the new experience and the change from what I know as "comfortable". But you can't ignore the facts. I will be starting school with a slight disadvantage... less work experience, less worldly experience, and possibly less knowledge (based on my peer's choices of undergrads such as Cornell and Brown - Roll tide!). So this reading list is my way of actively trying to bridge the gap. I am not assuming that reading these books will make me a genius or top of my class. I know that I will stumble during my first year at school. I know that some of classmates might dismiss my ideas because of my age or background. I know I will get the answer wrong ALOT. And that's fine. I need to experience that in order to grow as a person. I hope these books will give me a boost of confidence in my intellectual ability and the knowledge I already possess. I also hope they will get me excited about school and excited about business. And most of all, I hope they will start the ball rolling towards finding and creating my career path.

Just need to make sure I have a dictionary close by...