Oct 2007: Lakshminarayan arrives in the USA with wife and five year old son. He was promoted as Senior Program Manager by his company and transferred to the USA to front-end an important client relationship (a large mortgage company).
Nov 2007: Thanksgiving. It's a dream come true for Lakshmi and family and they have everything to be thankful for.
Dec 2007: Son celebrates Sixth Birthday (A Cars and Trains affair!). Wife recovers from the after effects of son's birthday on the next day, which turns out to be her birthday. Lakshmi decides that life is getting a little easy and decides to renew his MBA chase. Signs up for GMAT.
Jan 2008: Lakshmi scores 710 on GMAT. The new year seems to have started well. He also turns in his application to Wharton's Executive MBA program, exactly on Jan 31.
Feb 2008: The Fed cuts interest rates. Mortgage payments plummet. An unprecedented refinance spree occurs. Lakshmi's client and his team are faced with loan volumes unheard of in the last 2 years of their tenure in this process.
March 2008: Lakshmi and team put in 14 hours a day, 7 days a week and end March not missing even one loan for the client. The client is impressed. Revenues reach an all time monthly high.
April 2008: The AXE falls. Wharton rejects Lakshmi. Consumed with disappointment, Lakshmi decides to focus energies on family and fun. Lakshmi's parents arrive in the USA for a holiday.
May 2008: The travels begin. Philadelphia, New York city, Cape May, Washington DC...
June 2008: Lakshmi turns 35. He is still searching for meaning in life. The travels continue. Lakshmi discovers almost last minute that the deadline for applications for Columbia's EMBA program beginning September 08 is Jun 25. He scapmers to get an application together.
July 2008: The deadline for the Sep class at Columbia is extended. Lakshmi spends sleepless nights trying to get his essay in place. After a week of not getting even close, he decides to play it safe and apply for the class beginning jan 09. Long drive to Albany.
August 2008: Niagara Falls, NY, one of the most memorable trips I have had in the recent past. No movement on the Columbia application however.
September 2008: 8th wedding anniversary and memorable weekend with family Mother's 60th Birthday Anniversary. Parents leave USA to return to India on Sep 23. Columbia application submitted on Sep 26.
October 2008: Lakshmi is called for an interview at Columbia on Oct 23. He interviews for a different job within his company on the same day at a dinner meeting in Little Italy.
November 2008: Lakshmi is placed on the wait-list at Columbia. Does not hear anything about the position he interviewed for within his company. Ten years after the first impasse, yet another begins.
December 2008: On Friday Dec 12, 2008, at 3.30 PM, Lakshmi receives a call from Columbia letting him know that he has been admitted to the EMBA program, class of 2010 Summer. An hour later, he receives an email from the head of Human Resources at his company that he has been promoted as Director, Transitions (the role he interviewed for in Little Italy!).
Saturday, the 13th was his son's 7th Birthday and Sunday the 14th was his wife's 32nd. What a memorable weekend it turned out to be? And yet, the most memorable time of his life was just beginning...
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