Four. Hour. Case.

This post is going to be nothing like the last post, mostly because my opinion of the business school is temporarily not so high.  Hopefully my opinion will be very different about 7 hours from now.

Tonight is the dreaded GBA 490 four-hour written case.  Virtually every graduating senior in the business school will be in Alston 10 or 30 from 6-10 PM tonight writing until our hands are about to fall off.  (Perhaps I should do some hand stretches during the next few hours so I don't pull a muscle in my fingers.)

GBA 490 is the capstone class in Culverhouse College of Commerce & Business Administration.  To graduate with a business degree, you have to take (and pass) it.  And it is one of those classes you hear horror stories about from the moment you start taking business classes.  I feel like I was never sympathetic enough toward previous classes of poor, suffering seniors.

It has certainly been a challenging course.  It seems like there is always something due; there's no slacking off in this class.  The worst part for me was the Business Strategy Game, mostly because I was terrible at it.

But the cases have been a challenge as well, especially the written ones.  In case you don't know what a case is, it is basically where you are given pages and pages of information about a company.  You're told about the company's history, industry, competitors, strategy, etc.  And then you have to analyze the company and industry with the various "tools" we've been taught in the course.  (I am going to get back to memorizing those for tonight as soon as I'm finished with this blog post!)

Although this process is long and not easy by any means, it helps that there is not necessarily any one right answer.  If there's one thing most of us have learned in college, it's how to argue a point.  As long as you can make an intelligent argument in your analysis, you probably won't do too poorly grade-wise.

I am most scared about trying to focus for four consecutive hours.  Senioritis hit a long time ago, and I don't know the last time I really made myself work continuously for four hours.  The GRE I took in December was probably the closest I've come in a while.

And it doesn't help that it's Earth Day, Good Friday (I'll be rocking my cross earrings tonight for good karma.), and my Uncle T's birthday.  I just want to be home relaxing with my family right now; is that too much to ask, business school?!?

Alas, there is no escape from this impending doom.  I just have to be brave and face it with my classmates from the past four years.  I know I'll feel so much better when it's over.

Now I'm off to rest my hands for the next few hours!  TTYL, y'all.

P.S.  Don't tell me that business majors have it easy ever again.

#WINNING

What a week I've had!  I think the best word I can use to describe it is intense.  It was amazing at the beginning, terrrrrible in the middle, and then amazing again at the end.  (Skip to the end of this post if you don't want to read about the boring, terrible part.)

You already know about the beginning the week, the highlight of my life. Guster!  If you don't know about that, read the miniature novel in the post below.

I got back to my apartment from the concert around 1 AM.  I was on such a high, but I had to study for my math test that was at 9:30.  Icky.  I had essentially resigned myself to failure, but after far too little sleep and very little studying, I ended up making the only A I've made on a math test all semester!  Obviously I credit Guster for this.  I couldn't stop smiling throughout the test even when I didn't know what I was doing.

After math and GBA, I came back to my apartment and wrote most of my previous blog post before returning to campus for photography.  We were presenting our third critiques of the semester.  The assignment was to take pictures of a room in our home/apartment; I hadn't been especially excited about the topic, but my pictures ended up being pretty good.  What made me even more happy was that everybody's pictures were great!  It's been a long road, but I feel like everybody in that class has become an artist.  Hopefully we'll all have improved even more by our final critique (Self portraits... eek!).

Here are some of my pictures from this critique!

I finished my post that night and then studied and did homework all Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.  I even had to skip rock climbing to study for my finance test that was Wednesday evening... that I ended up getting a B on despite my best efforts.  Oh well!

After my finance test, it was time to start my written case for GBA 490 that was due Thursday morning. Procrastinating was a very bad decision.  I was glad Jonathan was at Bashinsky to keep me entertained while I worked until midnight.  But he wasn't there to keep me entertained at my apartment where I didn't finish my case until 4 AM.

Sleep deprived doesn't even begin to describe how I felt after this week!  I was exhausted.  I went home to nap for a couple hours before my mom got to town for honors week festivities.

Here is where this week rounded the final corner and came back to awesome!  Mom got into town, we all got ready, and then Mom, Kenny, Scotty, and I headed to Dr. Helms's house for the economics and finance department barbecue.

This was my third year at the barbecue, so we knew to get there early to get food and seats.  Normally the barbecue is more casual, and then there is a formal awards ceremony on Friday morning.  This year, however, they decided just to have the awards ceremony at the barbecue.

I already knew what award I was getting, the Murray Havens Award, because they had sent out letters that told us.  I was excited because it was for top senior in economics or finance (another girl also won for top senior in arts and sciences economics).  Not bad, huh?

But then things got interesting.  Dr. Helms started talking about the Austin Cup, the award given to the top senior in all of the C&BA.  Each department nominates one student, and then the faculty gets together to debate who is the top student overall.  Dr. Helms announced that I was the nominee (OMG!) for the department, and he called me to the front of this yard.

He went on to describe the process of selecting the Austin Cup winner to everybody who was in attendance.  And then, he said that I WON.

I was in absolute shock!  He pulled out this big trophy and handed it to me.  I still couldn't believe it.  I haven't won a big award like that ever.  I think the closest I've come was being valedictorian of the 5th grade. ;)

My family was very proud (and proud that I didn't cry), as was Dr. Helms.  Random people kept coming up and congratulating me.  I felt famous.

Mom and I celebrated with some Big Kahuna wine later that night.  It was fabulous.

I am a winner.  Winning.  (I swear I'm not bragging.)  The End.

It's Not Just Good. It's GUSTER Good.

Warning: This will undoubtedly be a long post.  I would say that I'll try to keep it short, but it's not going to happen.  You just have to understand that this is about Guster, and this blog is more for me than you in this case.  If you have literally never heard of Guster, we have never had an in-depth conversation about music... or about life.  This band has been my compass for the past seven years.  I am getting emotional just thinking about them.  So here we go!

Yesterday was the best day of my entire life.  I'm on such an emotional high, and I just can't stop smiling!

Let me clarify.  Last night was the best night of my life.  Admittedly, the day was not that exciting.  I had to study for my economics quiz that was last night and my math test that was this morning.  But all of that is unimportant.

My night started at 6:15.  I met Laura and Ben, my fellow concert-goers, in front of Bidgood after my econ quiz.  The weather yesterday was horrific, and the sky looked terrifying.  But come hell or high water (or tornado...), nothing was keeping me from seeing Guster.

We power walked to my car in the parking deck, I plugged in my GPS, and we were on our way to Workplay in Birmingham.

The sky was ominous, to say the least.  It was almost black with storm clouds, and there was scary lightning a few times every minute.  (I have a phobia of lightning because I was almost struck by it when I was younger... but that's another story.)

But we were rocking out to Guster the whole way, and we managed to make it to Workplay before the storm did!  Hallelujah!  Guster, as usual, was my shelter in the storm.  (Don't mind my cheesy puns.  I feel like I'm walking on sunshine, y'all.)

We found a great parking spot and managed to get inside nearly untouched by rain.  I (figuratively) picked up my ticket at will call, and we were in!  It was my first time at Workplay, and I loved how small of a venue it was.  I always heard about shows there when Live 100.5 was still on the radio, but I feel blessed that this was the first show I got to see there (I'll be back for sure!).  The only time I've seen Guster before was with Caroline at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Atlanta.  This was so much more intimate, and I knew I would love it from the moment I walked in.

Laura, Ben, and I got free nalgene bottles by pledging to decrease our water bottle use (I love that Guster loves the environment.), and then Laura got a PBR from the bar.  What a hipster!

We went back in the room where the concert was and stood in the second-ish row of people.  No complaints at all about preparing to be just a feet from my favorite band!  As the opening band was about to start, Laura suggested that I go figure out details of my meet and greet with the band.

I guess you need some background on that!  As I explained before, Guster loves the environment.  Specifically, Adam and his wife have a non-profit called Reverb that supports "green" tours.  The band has gotten into sustainability and smart energy usage as a result, and they use a website called Zimride for concert-goers to find carpools to their shows.  They randomly select one fan who set up a ride through the site, and that fan gets to join the meet and greet with the band after the show.

Well, I WAS THAT FAN.  I made Laura and Ben sign up through the site to say they were riding with me in hopes that I may have a chance to win.  I got the e-mail that I was the winner last Friday and was in complete and utter shock.  Shock, I tell you!  Here is that e-mail.

Only after I posted this picture on facebook did somebody bring up that it was April Fools Day.  I was worried for a second that it might have been a joke, but I just don't believe anybody could be that cruel.  I had entered the contest, after all.  And meeting Guster was my dream.

I asked the merchandise lady who was with Guster, and she told me my name should be on a list at will call.  I went to talk to the lady there, and my name was in fact on the list.  But then she said there wasn't an official meet and greet tonight.  I almost started crying on the spot.

But before I got too worked up, she said I was supposed to call the tour manager, Jason, to figure something out.  SHE GAVE ME GUSTER'S TOUR MANAGER'S NUMBER.  I couldn't help wondering if this was real life.  I called him, he answered, I managed to get some words out about how I was the meet and greet winner, and he assured me that I could give him a call after the show to meet the band one on one.  This really happened, I swear.

I took a few breaths to calm myself down and went back into the concert hall.  Jukebox the Ghost had started playing, so I had to wait through a song before I could tell Laura and Ben that we were really going to meet Guster.  It was hard to keep it in, but they were so excited when I told them.  Laura was especially excited for me... that's what makes a best friend, people.

Jukebox the Ghost was really good!  I literally have one song by them in iTunes called "Empire" that I've listened to a few times.  But they were great live.  I may have to buy some more of their music soon!

(There is also a keyboard player who I managed not to get in this picture...)

I loved that they were just so into their instruments.  I especially liked how the drummer kept tossing his drumstick into his basket of instruments and then started playing one of his cymbals with a maraca (Thanks, Kelly.) or other random percussion instrument.  I also loved how the keyboardist used the microphone almost as a prop throughout the show.  He kept moving his head over and under it as he played, and I just loved watching him.  Also, the guitar player talked to me from the stage!  He said they were having electric issues, and I said, "There's a tornado."  People in the crowd laughed, and he basically said, "Oh really? I thought it was just raining." It made me feel famous.

Jukebox the Ghost played for about 45 minutes, and then it was game time.  Actually, it was setup time, the worst part of the whole show because I was sick with anxiousness and so ready to see my favorite band!  I told Laura and Ben to prepare to lose their Guster virginity.  It's one thing listening to their albums; seeing them live is a whole new ballgame, but I knew they were up for it.

After what seemed like ages, they took the stage!  Ryan, Brian, Adam, and recent addition Luke!  The crowd wasn't huge, but we were pumped.  Ryan did make a comment at one point that it felt more like a rehearsal than a rock concert, so I tried to yell as loud as my poor sick little throat could handle after that. Guster rarely comes to Alabama (Adam, Brian, and Ryan are all Yankees that met at Tufts University in Massachusetts 20 years ago.); they joked that they had opened up for Skynyrd last time they came to this state.  I want to make sure they come back and soon!

I think I took some better pictures with my iPhone.  I hope I did!  Adam is on the left, then Ryan, and Brian is on the far right in the back.

I was excited to see them perform songs off of their latest album, "Easy Wonderful."  It's not my favorite album of their six, but I was hoping they would get really into it since it's not the same music they've been playing for years.  I can't say for sure, but I think these are the songs they played from it: "Architects & Engineers," "Do You Love Me," "On The Ocean," "This Could All Be Yours," "Bad Bad World," "What You Call Love," and "That's No Way To Get To Heaven."  I loved it, and I sang every word (but not so loud that other people had to hear me, for the most part)!

The older stuff, though, is what I was most excited for.  I have been listening to Guster for 7 years, but my favorite albums came out before I even started listening to them.  When I saw them in Atlanta last year, they were sort of opening for Ben Harper, and they played for only an hour or so.  I was so glad to see them as the featured band last night and happy they played for two hours.  

The old songs they played were "Airport Song," (Duh!  I need to remember my ping pong balls next time...), "Careful" (Ryan said he doesn't like this song.  I'm guessing it's because they play it so often, but I'm keeping it as my ringtone.), "Ramona," "Barrel Of A Gun," "Happier" (Yay!), "Keep It Together," "Come Downstairs And Say Hello," "I Spy," "Satellite," "Manifest Destiny," "The Captain," and "Hang On."  There may have been more, and there may have been fewer.  I listened to them on my iPod the whole way there and back, so I may be getting confused.

Toward the beginning of the show, Ryan also made up a hilarious song (to make fun of an audience member trying to take a picture of himself and Guster on his phone) about needing good lighting to use the camera on an iPhone.  This is why I love them.  You feel like you know them when you are just in the audience!  They ended the show with an acoustic jam session of "Jesus on the Radio."  It was marvelous, and I swear they were just a few feet from me!

I was especially impressed by how multitalented every member of Guster is.  They were all playing different instruments throughout the night, and it was amazing.  Ryan played the guitar, ukelele, piano, and harmonica.  Adam played the guitar, piano, and trumpet.  Brian played a million different kinds of drums; I am obviously partial to his super intense hand drumming on the bongos/congas/other hand percussion things, but he's also great on the traditional drum set!  Luke, who has only been in the band about 6 months (I don't know how he learned so many songs in so little time!), played the bass, guitar, and piano.  I hope to be even a fraction as talented as any of these men are one day.

The show really was over after the acoustic song, sadly.  Earlier they had walked partly off the stage one time (saying they were too old to actually walk on and off just to trick us) and then fully off the stage before playing some encores.  I was sad, but I was more excited to meet them!  ALSO, before we left the concert area, Laura caught one of Adam's picks (thrown by Scooter) and gave it to me.  Ahhh!

Laura, Ben, and I went into the lobby and met Jukebox the Ghost.  They were all really short and skinny.  I felt obese next to them!  Haha.  But it was still very cool to meet them after the show they put on.

I called Jason (the tour manager) again, and he told me to give them about 10 minutes to wrap some things up backstage.  We were hanging around the lobby, and security tried their best to kick us out.  I told this big bald white guy that we were waiting for the meet and greet, and he said he'd been told there wasn't a meet and greet.  I said something to the effect of, "I know.  It's just for me!"  He didn't really seem to believe me, but he let us stand just outside the lobby door.

After a few minutes, Jason came out and found me.  "Are you Stephanie?"  He said he'd go back and get the band.  The security guard reluctantly let us back into the lobby (Since we were the only three people who got to meet the band!).  This would be when I started freaking out.  I was trying to "keep it together" (Guster pun), but I was just too overwhelmed at this point.  Tears were welling up, and I didn't know if I'd be able to hold them back.  If you don't understand, just imagine meeting your favorite band/musician/celebrity!  I bet you'd get emotional too!

Next thing I knew, Adam walked out the door.  My tears were rolling a bit, but I introduced myself and shook his hand.  Then Ryan walked out and immediately hugged me!  He asked me why I was crying, and I just explained that Guster is my favorite band and this was the most amazing thing that had ever happened to me.  I pulled out my five Guster CDs, and he said he'd sign anything as long as I would stop crying!  I managed to stop somehow!  Brian and Luke also came out, and I hugged them/shook their hands.  Brian's hands were wet because he ices them down after shows (You have to see his drumming to understand!).  I also welcomed Luke to the band, as if that's my place.  Haha.  All of them signed my five CDs and covers, Laura's water bottle, and Ben's "Easy Wonderful" vinyl.  Amazing!  

These five to ten minutes were pretty much just word vomit on my part.  I couldn't stop talking about how much I love them, how much their music means to me, how long I've been a fan, how I follow them on twitter and tweet at them all the time (and how they should tweet me back... Ryan kept calling me smanderson after this.), how Brian should write about me in the road journal, etc.  Ryan took my camera and took a totally goofy picture of us, and then I got a shot with the band and a shot of all of us with the band.

Of course Ryan wanted to take a picture of us on my camera while I was crying.  Actually, he probably wanted to do it so I'd stop crying.  (I wasn't that bad, I promise.)

Luke, Adam, Ryan, me, and Brian!

So glad I got to share this experience with Laura and Ben!  I wish Roli could've been there too because she's the only person I know who loves Guster as much as I do.

I didn't want to be a lame groupie who wouldn't leave the band alone, so I decided to let them go relax after an amazing show.  I got more than I ever could have asked for in those minutes with the band.  It was quite literally my dream come true.  I guess I need a new dream now!  I hugged all of them goodbye and thanked Jason for the extra special meet and greet (just me and my two friends versus the norm of about twenty people), and we left to rock out to Guster all the way back to Tuscaloosa.

I've been high on life ever since then.  I didn't just casually meet the members of Guster; I really met them!  I introduced myself to each of them individually (They didn't need to introduce themselves to me, obviously.), shook their hands, hugged them, and they learned my name (even if only for a few minutes).  I'll never forget the interaction I had with them.  I feel so, so blessed, and that's not a word I use often!

It wasn't a dream, right?

Sunday Funday?

It's been a while!

As usual, I am here because I need to be studying.  I've actually been really good and gotten a lot done today, but I still have so much to do for this week.

Strangely enough, what I need to be studying for (well, the first thing I need to be studying for) is not until Tuesday morning.  Normally I would be cramming my brain for my math test Monday night.  But something tomorrow night is a little more important in the grand scheme of things...

GUSTER

If you know me at all, you know Guster takes precedence over pretty much everything in my life.  So I can't even begin to describe the feelings of elation I have about seeing them perform tomorrow in Birmingham.

And I might even get to meet them!  AHHHHH!

I'll let you know how it goes after... probably when I have time after the concert, two tests, and a project.  So maybe this weekend!