Why Not ________ School?

The next subsequent posts will follow along with a similar theme. With the next three posts, I will focus on why/how I decided on business school to further my education career rather than medical school or law school (the two other options in consideration). In the interest of full disclosure, I will inform readers that I graduated from Johns Hopkins University, where an estimate of about sixty percent (and that is a conservative number estimate) of the student body is a self proclaimed pre-medical student. As most people will be able to attest to, being a pre-med student is nothing, the real challenge is shedding the “pre” prefix and becoming just a medical student. Well, I regarded myself a pre-medical student, but when the time came to apply to medical school, I chose instead to pull my application from AMCAS (centralized medical school application). My story is soon to follow.

The Faster Maturation?

One of my esteemed colleague decided to add a little humor to his already mundane existence and create a spoof of this blog. It is actually quite an interesting read, and if you have no value for the next five minutes, then I recommend you head over and read his first post. He promises a spoof to each post I add to this blog. Let’s hope he holds true to this promise.

Click here for his blog

Caveat Lector.

After all the layer, you find: It’s just a job

 It has been just a little over a year now since I left school, tucked my baccalaureate degree under my arm and headed into the work force, just a tad bit pollyannaish. Forget all those part-time jobs I had in high school and undergrad, this is full-time; the big leagues. Here comes all the benefit packages, perks, new experiences, networking contacts, and most importantly, steady income that a full time job conveys. Now, I will admit that I do tend to run a bit cynical, but when was told after numerous rounds of interviews that I was hired to this position, all that cynicism went out the window. I couldn’t wait to arrive at work the next Monday morning.

After the drudgery of working (8:30am – 5:30pm in my case plus overtime as necessary) for a year, I cannot recollect exactly what my previous excitement has been founded upon. Sure, I’ve learned new skills, met numerous contacts (some of whom will be writing my business school letter of recommendation), and supported myself financially, and though each day present new challenging occurrences to keep me interested, I cannot but come to the conclusion that: This is still just a job.

This is not exactly a momentous epiphany but it is important nonetheless to note. No matter what profession I enter down the road in my career, whether it be as a professor, a doctor, a lawyer, a consultant…, at the end of the day, I know that is just a job. I still think back to my undergraduate days where I, and some of my equally naïve friends, describe our future profession by saying something similar to the following: “I can’t wait to be a doctor, I’ll help my patients and make them better. I’ll come into work everyday and do my best to make sure that healthcare is up to par with expectations.” In our naivety, we chose to ignore that many physicians work brutish hours, gave their livelihood for the dedication to their craft, work under the stressful pressure of life and death, treat patients who are not interested in helping themselves, and now face decreasing compensation for their contributions. Ask most physicians today if they enjoy the prestige and status of being a physician and I am sure they will reply: It’s just a job.

Is Short-Term Profits & Loss (P&L) More Important Than The Consumer: A Human Interest Case Study On The Effect Of “Throttling” By Blockbuster (Part 2)

Disclaimer: This is a rant post

Blockbuster has now followed Netflix’s poor customer relations strategy: reel the customers in with too good an offer, and then piss on them after they’ve comfortably settled in. After all, where else is the customer going to go? Blockbuster is currently arming itself to compete more efficiently in the market (see: Movielink acquisition) but somewhat fails to focus on appeasing its subscriber base. To Blockbuster, we, the consumer, must be sacrificial pawns in its ongoing battle with Netflix.

Can Blockbuster take over and become the significant player in the industry? Maybe, but Blockbuster should take care not to ignore the following points

1. Netflix will not stand idle, and if Blockbuster makes no attempt to differentiate their online rentals, it might face an uphill battle in its attempt to wrestle market share from Netflix.
2. Even with a high barrier of entry in the market, there is still a remote chance that a new competitor can enter and offer something that consumers are still yearning for: service.
   1. Does anyone smell a Netflix – Microsoft union? Fool.com dares to venture.
3. DVDs might become a technology of the past as the on-demand movie services and other streaming and downloadable movie site are only starting to increase their offerings.

But who is to tell. With its Brick and Mortar stores, Total Access Plan and now Movielink, Blockbuster has become the three headed Cerberus of the online dvd industry; fighting off competition from all three sides. Only time will tell how the market will play out, but for now, my money will go to Blockbuster until someone offers me a better deal. While I am at it, I think I will purchase some Blockbuster DRIP.