June 16, 2008 - July 25, 2010

On Wednesday as I sat in my cubicle listening to my iPod and plugging away at the never-ending pile of work, my cell phone rang. Number unavailable.

I tentatively answered it - the voice on the other end was the admissions counselor from Daniel Webster College regarding the MBA for Aviation Professionals program. He was returning my voice mail and email from earlier that day as well as another email from the week before that had gone unanswered. I was a bit nervous because I hadn't heard back yet, and when I applied in the middle of February I had been advised that it would probably be about 2-3 weeks. That would have landed us at about March 7th with a decision.

I braced for the worst. That must have been what took so long; I'm too green, not enough experience, they don't trust that I won't switch careers to marine biology or something. Maybe the worst wouldn't come, maybe my hopes would come true and I'd get in... but probably not...

And then... he said it...

"I know you're anxious because you have to get approval from your work before you register, so I thought I'd call you ahead of the letters and let you know that you have been accepted. The decision letters are going out today or tomorrow; the reason it took so long is because the start date has been moved from April 14 to June 16".

I let go of the air in my lungs and breathed a sigh of relief. I then listened to him detail that the reason the start date moved for this cycle is because they rearranged some classes for the betterment of the program based on student feedback over the last few years. He then mentioned that the program director had concern about my application because I'm so young in the industry and worry that I'd get lost in all the military and pilot-type people. The counselor told him he'd talked to me about all that, and they decided that my being so young and in a different area of work than most of the people from the industry who take the program that I'd offer a fresh set of eyes and ideas - and that I should never be afraid to speak up in the class.

Needless to say, I was ecstatic. DWC's MBA-AP program is going to own me for the next two years, starting on June 16th. It'll be a lot of work crammed into 2 years and I'm sure I'll be pretty busy - but at the end of it all, I'll have my MBA.

Sweet.

Anxiously Waiting

February 13, 2008

In December 2004 when I was finishing up my psychology degree at UMass Lowell, all I knew was that I needed a job. I had bills, wanted to move out of my parents’ house, and I wanted a better car. As most college graduates do, I formatted my resume and posted it on monster.com for the hiring world to see. Not long after that, I received a call from AMETEK Aerospace & Defense to interview for an entry-level job working in their Contracts/Customer Service area. I interviewed both via telephone and in person and was hired for the position.

On my first day there, I was skeptical. I knew virtually nothing about the aerospace industry and had only ever been in a plane once. I did not see myself in the position for longer than a year, at which point I assumed that I would move on to bigger and better things. After all, why would a woman with a B.A. in psychology and zero engineering knowledge want a long-term position in the aerospace industry?

After about three months at AMETEK, I found myself in a pleasant state of surprise. What I found was that though I knew virtually nothing about what I was doing when I started in January 2005, I was hungry to learn as much as I could. I did research on what thermocouples, flowmeters, and pyrometers do. When I heard the name of an airplane that I hadn’t heard before, I tried to find out as much as I could about it. Driven by the adages that our department goes by–“know thy customer” and “know thy product”–I continually tried to learn as much as I could with each new issue that came up. When a new term that I didn't recognize was used in a meeting, I jotted it down and asked an engineer when the meeting was over. I became fascinated with how things worked on airplanes, and I engaged in the process of learning about how the industry works.

When one year had passed and I looked back over the time I spent at AMETEK, I realized something: I love my job. I love almost everything about it. I love that there is so much to learn about the history of the industry, and I love how much the industry is growing. I was assigned to teams for new development projects and began to learn more about our customers and the aircraft that they were developing. I find myself continually amazed at all the different kinds of aircraft that exist–both commercial and military–and I am excited when I can identify them when I see them flying overhead. Working in the Contracts/Customer Service department at AMETEK, I often find that I not only enjoy what I’m doing, but I can see myself paving a career path in the aerospace world.

Last summer I had the opportunity to visit one of our customers in Wichita, Kansas. I toured the factory where their aircraft are made and saw where AMETEK’s parts are placed on the planes. Back in my hotel room that night, I thought about the day and where aerospace fits into the bigger picture of the world. I concluded that by working for a company in the aerospace industry, my small role is one in a much bigger machine that contributes to the culture of our nation and the world. Commercial airlines get people to and from vacations, family reunions, business meetings, and all sorts of other things that keep us connected to each other. Military aircraft defend our nations and are tools that help to give people freedom. Med-Evac helicopters and Air-Cranes that drop water on wildfires help save the lives of our friends and loved ones.

The reason I can see myself paving a career in this industry isn’t because I love taking orders and entering them in the computer, and it’s not because I enjoy chasing expedites and finding out why a customer’s order is delayed. I can see myself in this field because I know that on a higher level, I am helping people. I want to pursue my M.B.A. in this field because I want to continue to learn, strive to grow, move forward, and continue to use my abilities and talents to contribute to the growth of the industry.

And now I sit, anxiously waiting for that letter telling me whether or not I am worthy enough to pursue my MBA with an Aviation Profession focus.

Dear DWC, please advise status of application. Love, Danielle xoxoxox

A Couple of Quick Things

Very quickly...

- I finished the Sunshine Bunny last night (see below) for Grammy Kathy's birthday gift. As I stood back and looked at it, I decided I LOVE crocheting and I even know why. It is so cool to start with a pile of string essentially (yarn) and end up with a something after a day or two or five.



- I've also decided that my cousin Krista is my Guitar Hero Hero. She railed on the expert level last night and it was amazing. 86% on "Evenflow" her first time trying it.

- I need to start watching the clock more at night so I get more sleep.

- I found this website yesterday and was fascinated by it. It's all about gyroscopes (which AMETEK used to make for navigation purposes until about 12 years ago). Very interesting stuff.

- I am trying very hard to practice patience about waiting to hear back on whether or not I got into Daniel Webster's MBA program.

- April 14th is not that far away if I do.

Spazzy Updates

- Started Thing-A-Day last night. Thing One is a granny square afghan to donate to Soldiers' Angels, who will give it to a wounded veteran at a VA hospital. It's coming along nicely, and what's neat about it is that because I started it for a purpose I don't feel like it's mine at all. This means that no matter how nice it gets... I won't get attached to it. Of note is that I also learned how to Granny Square last night thanks to my fabulous teacher Kimberly. Here's the beginning of it; I've now finished through the blue section shown, added another cream, and started another burgundy:

Kimberly is also working on a blanket for war vets. Hers is also coming along nicely, and it'll be awesome to ship them out when they're done.

- I have no idea what I'm going to make today (read: tonight because today is busy). The themes are: War, Follow Instructions, Crossroads, and Shoot it Again. I figure, if I get to stuck on trying to be creative I can just crochet something; if I follow a pattern, that falls into Follow Instructions. I'm saying this because I'm open to suggestions. **grins**

- I've decided to apply for my MBA. I'm applying to Daniel Webster College's MBA for Aviation Professionals program, and the next round of classes starts April 14th. The good news is that I don't have to take my GMAT. The bad news is I have to write an essay that's 4000 words or less about my skills and what I can contribute to the educational process/aviation world. What I want to write: "I already work for an Aerospace company. Please let me in? Please?". But that won't work. I'm actually really excited about this and hope that I get accepted.

- On second thought, if I work on my essay - that could count as "Crossroads"...

- Crazy is when you're standing in your driveway, and a truck comes barreling out of nowhere and crashes through your landlords' fence. Crazier is when instead of sticking around to own up to it, they drive away. Even crazier is when you have the realization that if it had been a minute and a half earlier - that would have been you crashing through the fence because they would have pushed you through it since you had JUST been where they were.

- For those who are wondering... the poll results from last month (Who do you think will be the next US President?) were:
---Obama: 5 votes (27%)
---Giuliani/Clinton: 4 votes each (22% each)
---Romney/McCain/Edwards: 1 vote each
---Other: 3 votes
Be sure to vote in this month's poll!!!

Grumbles

I know it's not like me to post twice in the same day, but I feel the need to complain.

The graduate certificate program I was going to take at UMass Lowell starting this fall is only offering the prerequisite class I need for ANYTHING as an online course. I am not an online learner; I'm a classroom participant so this is not good for me. I went and began to further investigate my second option, the MBA for Aviation Professionals at Daniel Webster College. That program is only offered ENTIRELY online. Again - no good for Danielle.

What a stinker. So I've requested information from Boston College and Southern New Hampshire University for their MBA programs. Maybe I'll head for an MBA in Organizational Leadership or something. After all, in my review my boss said he could see me as a Customer Service Manager someday so I might as well start prepping myself for that sort of thing if I want to climb the corporate ladder.

Back to the drawing board....