University of Iowa, by Anthonylibrarian
If you read my last post you know that I’m applying for a business school that has presented a rather unusual possibility. Instead of writing one of the two essays required for admission, you can tweet it. The tweet has to answer the question, “What makes you an exceptional Tippie Full-time MBA candidate and future MBA hire?” (Tippie is the business school at the University of Iowa—it’s well-respected and has a good program. It is by no means a joke school.) At first, I thought it was kind of silly, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. After all, distilling a 450-word essay down to a 140-character tweet is quite a challenge. You have to cut through a lot of the usual, flowery back-patting and get to brass tacks. Plus, the rules state that you can be creative and link to video, pictures or a blog. I decided to take a chance and link to my blog.
Anyone who cares to browse my blog will see very clearly just what kind of person I am. The past year and three months has been an incredible challenge for me, and I’ve tried to approach it realistically, but with humor. I’ve stuck with it, made the best of my situation, formed a new plan for the rest of my life, and set out to make it a reality. I don’t have thousands of readers, but the ones I have are supportive and loyal—you can’t ask for much more than that.
I’m linking this post in particular for the admissions staff to view, so pardon me if I do that bit of flowery back-patting I referred to earlier. (Don’t worry; I’ll be brief.)
I work hard, especially when I really believe in what I’m working for. My interest is in helping museums adapt to the future and change the way they are run for the better. I’m interested in innovation, thinking outside the box, and being the best steward of my future employer’s financial situation. I have years of workplace experience and have felt the impact of both success and failure. I want to succeed, and I want Tippie to help me get there. In return, I promise I will contribute as much as I can to the Tippie experience and help others through the process.
If any of my regular readers have a particular post that they think might be good for the admissions staff to read, I’d appreciate it if you’d note it in the comments.
Thanks, everyone.
About Sherry Shaffer
I think they ought to take a look at how you’ve become the Social Media Go To Gal: http://startingfreshatforty.com/2011/04/i-become-the-go-to-social-media-gal/
But even if they don’t look at that blog post, I hope they read this. Tippie would be lucky to have you. I’ve known you for more years than I care to recount, and I’ve seen you grow from a hard working, involved underclassman to a hard working, involved adult. Since you’ve also done a bit of work for our business, I think I’m uniquely qualified to speak to your strengths- excellent communicator, sharp as a tack, able to adapt better than almost anyone I’ve seen, funny, dedicated and fearless.
If they don’t accept you, I can’t imagine who they WOULD accept. We’re wishing you all of the best. And, Tippie admission folks, do the smart thing- accept Sherry into your program. You’ll be glad you did!
Jill–that is very, very nice of you to say. I appreciate your comments so much, I really can’t say.
I learned a great deal from your “Short Sale” series, and I still give my patients advice from it.
http://startingfreshatforty.com/2010/10/
Thanks, Nick! I’m so glad you thought it was good enough to share.
Sherry, I am a fan of your writing. partly because it reminds me of Jill’s writing.
Anyway, one of my favorite posts was the one you wrote about blogging for money or love: http://startingfreshatforty.com/2011/04/do-i-blog-for-love-or-money/
High praise, George–thank you.
Sherry,
If I can say that I know a passionate, grounded, creative, and resourceful person…it’s you. Over the past six months, I have seen you learn from others, share what you know with everyone around you, and provide insightful and articulate commentary on just about everything. Any school would be lucky to have you, I’m sure; however I think that you may actually be the best fit for a school that values risk taking and out-of-the-box thinking. Not only will you be the best fir for that school, but you will give the most back to that school. I hope that Tippie opens up that road to you.
You are the type of person, that no matter what your age, financial situation, or goals, you learn all you can in the moment you’re in. In short, you rock and everyone knows it.
When (not if) you get accepted into a fantastic master’s program (which you will), everyone at CSC will miss you like crazy.
Best of luck!
Heather, thanks for the vote of confidence!. CSC has been even more fun with you around.
My personal favorite blog posts are the ones from November about escaping from reality by running away from it all. (http://startingfreshatforty.com/2010/11/the-tricky-logistics-of-bailing-on-society-in-a-motor-home/ and http://startingfreshatforty.com/2010/11/escape-scenario-2-leave-the-country/) They demonstrate your sense of humor as well as showing your imagination, creativity, and problem solving skills.
I think Tippie would be lucky to have you as a student because in addition to the qualities above, you have a supportive nature. When my husband first started his blog, despite having never met him, you became one of his blog followers and provided his first non-family comments because you knew how hard it was to get started and how much those early hits would mean to him.
Jenn — I still find myself fantasiIng about truck stop pie blogging. That’s just got to be an untapped niche! Thanks for posting, and tell Jon I never miss a post. (It also makes me very envious .)
I happen to really like the post from September entitled 10 Things I’ve Learned From Partially Reading Lots of Success Books.
http://startingfreshatforty.com/2010/09/10-things-i%e2%80%9ve-learned-from-partially-reading-lots-of-sucess-books
Having spent time with the same mentors, heard most of the same lectures and read all those books, I think you distilled their messages down to the really important points. Even better, you made that message entertaining. I hope Tippie appreciates how much hard-earned, real-world knowledge you already have, and how much you have to offer their program and your fellow students.
Thank you, Elizabeth–that means a lot coming from you.
Sherry,
I hadn’t been in touch with you for a number of years when I contacted you recently, and I really appreciate your willing and enthusiastic support of the fundraising drive for Vanderbilt’s theatre department as well as your support and encouragement for a magazine I help to edit. I enjoyed coming across a critical review you wrote of Linda Eder’s album “Now” on stagebuzz.com: http://www.stagebuzz.com/2011/07/now-linda-eder.html.
Thanks Rob! The album reviews are a lot of fun to do.