Category Archives: Partners and Family

Boothie Life, BoothMBAs, Partners and Family

Becoming a Father During my MBA

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Our daughter was born during the summer between our first and second year of MBA. In the month she was born, people often asked me how I felt being a father. Truth was, I felt immense love towards my daughter right away; but other than that, I wasn’t particularly different from the way I was before.

Just like in many other aspects of life (MBA included), change often happens through a process, not through a single event. It can take a while for us to change, and even longer for us to realize how we have changed. My daughter is now 10 months old, and I can see much more clearly three main ways in which I’ve been transformed.

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BoothMBAs, Chicago, Community, Diversity, Leadership, Outside the Classroom, Partners and Family, Student Groups

Reflections of a Booth MBA: Family, Student, and Alumni Community

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As I’m wrapping up my last quarter here at Chicago Booth, my mind is running through a whirlwind of what seems like far-off memories.  The drive from Colorado, first day of classes, investment banking recruiting, trips across the world, and the list goes on.  Contemplating what I imagine will eventually seem like a small glimpse in time, I find myself reflecting on one aspect of this experience that I feel is illustrative of the whole.

My first year at Business School was tough.  Awash with a number of competing tasks—moving to a new city, navigating the waters of recruiting, maintaining a family, nurturing lifelong friendships—it was critical that I had the right network in place to help alleviate some of the stress, so that I may successfully emerge from this experience.  More often than not, I came to find that members of the African American MBA Association (AAMBAA) were more than willing to fill this gap.  AAMBAA has served as more than just a professional resource, it has been my family. 

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Boothie Life, Community, Outside the Classroom, Partners and Family

Mother’s Day Special: Three Booth Moms Reflect on MBA Life with an Infant

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I didn’t question my decision to start my MBA with an infant – I just did it. I am almost one year into the program and can confirm that it is possible to “do Booth with a kid.” I don’t think it is significantly harder than being a working mother – if anything, the flexibility that Booth provides enables me to go to school, recruit, and socialize while coming home in time to put my son to bed.

Practically, how does one do it?

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Boothie Life, Community, Partners and Family

A Booth Story with a Surprise Ending

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Our friend Scott Rupnow was in the middle of a touching Booth Stories talk (a Moth-style series), when he asked his girlfriend Rawan Allozi to join him in front of dozens of close friends, family who we had snuck into the back of the room, and a few random students who had no idea what was going on.

Here’s what happened next:

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Boothie Life, Community, Partners and Family

Cheers to my Fiancée, Valentine, and favorite Boothie!

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When my girlfriend Melanie decided to enroll at Booth and move here to Chicago I was thrilled, mainly because we had been long distance for several years and I was excited for us to live in the same city. But honestly, I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect in terms of how busy she would be, how much homework and class she would have, how much partying there would be, and if the Turkey Drop was actually a thing (yikes!).

I had some ideas about what business school would be like for her, ranging from crazy party-school (out partying all night and drinking Monday through Saturday) to stressed out student (at the library all night, studying 100% of the time not in class). I guessed that it would be something in between, and it turns out I was right!

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