My darling friend in Amsterdam introduced me to the subject of today's piece. Sometimes, you come across something and it changes your life forever. If you can appreciate the video link, it may change your outlook to life...f-o-r-e-v-e-r!
Watch Essien as she follows her dream. You'll be glad you did! You might want to watch this bloke here too. I really think my life is changed from here going forward.
So, how's your week going?
3.22.2007
3.15.2007
Baton Rouge in Technicolor!
Today, I decided to post pictures of happy places! That certainly does not mean that I'm unhappy in New York. I shall post pictures of New York in due course. However, my attachment to place la rouge - also known as Baton Rouge, is indelible. I thought it would be more in character to start where start should be...whatever that means!
Yep! It's mostly always sunny in Baton Rouge. Post-Hurricane Katrina, the weather is excellent. It is one of the few places in the United States where it never snows! 
It's a bird! No, it's a plane! ... No, it's ... just beautiful people enjoying the sunlight! A friend amongst friends 11 times out of 10!
The Paul M. Hebert Law Center Library at the Louisiana State University. This place holds very fond memories for me...including my first salary in the U.S., at minimum wage!
The East Campus Apartments - excellent premises for students. 'Relatively' affordable...if your relative is the Upper East Side, Manhattan...!
The French-Brazilian and the Nigerian pilgrim. Excellent friend. It is hard to imagine that they will meet again. What else does hope exist for, if not to continue believing?3.14.2007
2 out of 2
I've come full circle on the job search arena: The World Bank Group has offered me a job as an Extended Term Consultant under the Legal Associates Program; PwC has reinstated their offer of a Tax Associate position.
I guess there really isn't much to say about the World Bank offer save to mention, with regret, that I cannot accept it. The Extended Term Consultant [ETC] position lasts for 1 year, extendible for an extra year; subsequently, the consultant may accept a more permanent position at the WB. My research shows that you cannot spend time at the Bank in excess of an aggregate of 4 years. Coming off the aches of a J-1 home residency requirement, I am not so eager to dive into another time-constrained position.
I sent the documentation from the State Department to PwC by email attachment and receved a phonecall in return. I think my starting date is sometime in September 2007 and it will be a happy event to have my life on a path of certainty after 3 years of unpredictability on the rollercoaster of life.
It's remarkable that people might think the World Bank position is more desirable. The Legal Associates Program is very prestigious, no doubt. And, under different circumstances, I would select the World Bank in a heartbeat. Yet, it would only be an ideal position if I was younger. I no longer have the luxury of accepting positions without clear opportunities to progress vertically. Ironically, the offer call I received from the WB mentioned that I was being hired in spite of my relative lack of experience vis-a-vis the other candidates. How paradoxical life is.
The Office of Career Services at NYU emphasizes that only 18% of students receive offers from the International Student Interview Program held annually in New York. My interviews from the WB and PwC were the only interview positions I got from the ISIP. I guess it also comes full circle that all the law firms sent me rejection letters without giving me a chance to interview. You can say that I am relieved to be done with the interviwing process in every respect. And in the nick of time too!
I guess there really isn't much to say about the World Bank offer save to mention, with regret, that I cannot accept it. The Extended Term Consultant [ETC] position lasts for 1 year, extendible for an extra year; subsequently, the consultant may accept a more permanent position at the WB. My research shows that you cannot spend time at the Bank in excess of an aggregate of 4 years. Coming off the aches of a J-1 home residency requirement, I am not so eager to dive into another time-constrained position.
I sent the documentation from the State Department to PwC by email attachment and receved a phonecall in return. I think my starting date is sometime in September 2007 and it will be a happy event to have my life on a path of certainty after 3 years of unpredictability on the rollercoaster of life.
It's remarkable that people might think the World Bank position is more desirable. The Legal Associates Program is very prestigious, no doubt. And, under different circumstances, I would select the World Bank in a heartbeat. Yet, it would only be an ideal position if I was younger. I no longer have the luxury of accepting positions without clear opportunities to progress vertically. Ironically, the offer call I received from the WB mentioned that I was being hired in spite of my relative lack of experience vis-a-vis the other candidates. How paradoxical life is.
The Office of Career Services at NYU emphasizes that only 18% of students receive offers from the International Student Interview Program held annually in New York. My interviews from the WB and PwC were the only interview positions I got from the ISIP. I guess it also comes full circle that all the law firms sent me rejection letters without giving me a chance to interview. You can say that I am relieved to be done with the interviwing process in every respect. And in the nick of time too!
3.12.2007
From the sublime to the ridiculous
Here is a remarkable event in my life:
I got a letter today from the Department of State - A recommendation has been sent to the Citizenship & Immigration Section recommending a grant of waiver of the 2-year home residency requirement on my visa! I really didn't believe this was possible.
The implications:
1. I no longer have to worry about being able to leave the U.S. after my Masters program;
2. I can accept any job I want!
3. I can make mid-to-long-term plans using the United States as my parameter;
4. I can get a Green Card in the forseeable future.
5. You really want more reasons? com'on...be excited already!
Unto other things:
- Nigerian forces freed 3 Europeans from the Niger Delta today;
- The Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, fell off a threadmill and flew overseas to treat the injured knee!
This story is particularly worrying. It does not make sense that a presidential candidate thinks nothing of spending $3000.00 of taxpayer's money on travel in order to check-up an injured knee.
I realize that writing about myself will soon fall beneath me. It is almost time to begin writing exclusively about issues that matter. I look forward to attempting to change the world with my writing. I will probably not succeed. But it will be fun to try.
I got a letter today from the Department of State - A recommendation has been sent to the Citizenship & Immigration Section recommending a grant of waiver of the 2-year home residency requirement on my visa! I really didn't believe this was possible.
The implications:
1. I no longer have to worry about being able to leave the U.S. after my Masters program;
2. I can accept any job I want!
3. I can make mid-to-long-term plans using the United States as my parameter;
4. I can get a Green Card in the forseeable future.
5. You really want more reasons? com'on...be excited already!
Unto other things:
- Nigerian forces freed 3 Europeans from the Niger Delta today;
- The Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, fell off a threadmill and flew overseas to treat the injured knee!
This story is particularly worrying. It does not make sense that a presidential candidate thinks nothing of spending $3000.00 of taxpayer's money on travel in order to check-up an injured knee.
I realize that writing about myself will soon fall beneath me. It is almost time to begin writing exclusively about issues that matter. I look forward to attempting to change the world with my writing. I will probably not succeed. But it will be fun to try.
3.09.2007
The Unravelling of Things
Twice, I have almost cried within the last few days. Not for two different reasons; for one single reason.
PwC reversed themselves on the job offer.
Well, here's how it went -
Email from PwC: O we're so happy to have you - we think you'd be an excellent success at our firm - we hope you're seriously considering our offer, etc. We'd like to start processing your H1-B visa as soon as possible. Could you please tell us when your Optional Practical Training [OPT] period ends so that we can set our timelines?
Email from Me: O, thank you for the offer. I am seriously considering working at PwC. And, by the way, I'm on a J-1 visa so I don't need to apply for OPT. Once I accept an offer, I directly get an extension of my visa document [the DS-2019].
Email from PwC: O, ok then. We'll be in touch.
4 hours pass with no remarkable event.
Email from PwC: Hi! It's PwC Recruiter here again. I'd just like to clarify one small point. I'm not very familiar with J-1 visas but does your visa have a 2-year home residency requirement? Thanks!
[And you might not notice, but that is the beginning of the end....]
Email from Me: Yes, my visa has a home residency requirement.
[Abrupt] Email from PwC: O, sorry then. We cannot make you an offer if you are not eligible for the H1-B application. Thanks and have a great day!
Inevitably, I fell into instant despair. That deep kind of despair that consumes you when you suddenly realize that everything you do and every step you take meets with an overwhelmingly impenetrable wall of disappointment. I thought it was unfair. Not PwC; life in general. Considering that I am on a J-1 visa, not because I am an exchange student, but because my first school did not have F-1 authorization. [You know, the normal visa that normal students enter the U.S. with. Of course, nothing is normal about me.] If I had any hair, I'd be tearing it out right now.
This was all Tuesday evening.
Stay tuned!
PwC reversed themselves on the job offer.
Well, here's how it went -
Email from PwC: O we're so happy to have you - we think you'd be an excellent success at our firm - we hope you're seriously considering our offer, etc. We'd like to start processing your H1-B visa as soon as possible. Could you please tell us when your Optional Practical Training [OPT] period ends so that we can set our timelines?
Email from Me: O, thank you for the offer. I am seriously considering working at PwC. And, by the way, I'm on a J-1 visa so I don't need to apply for OPT. Once I accept an offer, I directly get an extension of my visa document [the DS-2019].
Email from PwC: O, ok then. We'll be in touch.
4 hours pass with no remarkable event.
Email from PwC: Hi! It's PwC Recruiter here again. I'd just like to clarify one small point. I'm not very familiar with J-1 visas but does your visa have a 2-year home residency requirement? Thanks!
[And you might not notice, but that is the beginning of the end....]
Email from Me: Yes, my visa has a home residency requirement.
[Abrupt] Email from PwC: O, sorry then. We cannot make you an offer if you are not eligible for the H1-B application. Thanks and have a great day!
Inevitably, I fell into instant despair. That deep kind of despair that consumes you when you suddenly realize that everything you do and every step you take meets with an overwhelmingly impenetrable wall of disappointment. I thought it was unfair. Not PwC; life in general. Considering that I am on a J-1 visa, not because I am an exchange student, but because my first school did not have F-1 authorization. [You know, the normal visa that normal students enter the U.S. with. Of course, nothing is normal about me.] If I had any hair, I'd be tearing it out right now.
This was all Tuesday evening.
Stay tuned!
3.05.2007
Some Success!
Indeed, there is some success! I got a job offer today from Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP.
It's one of the "big four". I am sure I shall have to do a lot of explaining about why a lawyer works in an "accounting firm". Unfortunately, I failed to detail how my 2nd round of interviews with them went. [For anyone interested, it was 4 interviews - with 3 partners and 1 director; altogether, 5 interviews - counting the initial interview at NYU.]. If I accept the offer, I will be in the international tax service section. After the hiring person called me today, one of the partners also called on the phone. We fixed a brunch date for next week.
And so, this is how I select where to go on my applications:
1. The people you meet, and those you'll work with; and
2. The eagerness the organization shows towards your joining them.
If the people are not nice, all the money/favors/scholarships/titles in the world will leave you miserable - and searching for something more.
If the organization shows lukewarmness towards you, then you know you will only be a statistic in the grand scheme of things. Your presence is uncelebrated; your departure will be unnoticed.
On both accounts PwC scores well. At the interview, its people sounded genuinely excited about their company. Indeed, Fortune & CNN think it is one of the best places to work in America. I shall just have to wait and see. The partners that have called me say they're 'excited' that I'm considering them! Now, that's new!
Unto other things, this weekend, a Nigerian director won the African prize at the film festival. I can scarcely recommend those Nigerian "home videos" but things may have significantly improved in the few years that I've been away. I think Africa must rank Nigerian movies highly - indeed, so must I.
After a week of tolerable temperatures, New York is freezing over again.
My sister is coming to the U.S. next month to give birth to her second child. That'll make both of her kids american. From a Nigerian perspective, that's the best type of 401(k) plan one can have!
Let's hope more exciting things happen this week. I shall keep my fingers crossed!
It's one of the "big four". I am sure I shall have to do a lot of explaining about why a lawyer works in an "accounting firm". Unfortunately, I failed to detail how my 2nd round of interviews with them went. [For anyone interested, it was 4 interviews - with 3 partners and 1 director; altogether, 5 interviews - counting the initial interview at NYU.]. If I accept the offer, I will be in the international tax service section. After the hiring person called me today, one of the partners also called on the phone. We fixed a brunch date for next week.
And so, this is how I select where to go on my applications:
1. The people you meet, and those you'll work with; and
2. The eagerness the organization shows towards your joining them.
If the people are not nice, all the money/favors/scholarships/titles in the world will leave you miserable - and searching for something more.
If the organization shows lukewarmness towards you, then you know you will only be a statistic in the grand scheme of things. Your presence is uncelebrated; your departure will be unnoticed.
On both accounts PwC scores well. At the interview, its people sounded genuinely excited about their company. Indeed, Fortune & CNN think it is one of the best places to work in America. I shall just have to wait and see. The partners that have called me say they're 'excited' that I'm considering them! Now, that's new!
Unto other things, this weekend, a Nigerian director won the African prize at the film festival. I can scarcely recommend those Nigerian "home videos" but things may have significantly improved in the few years that I've been away. I think Africa must rank Nigerian movies highly - indeed, so must I.
After a week of tolerable temperatures, New York is freezing over again.
My sister is coming to the U.S. next month to give birth to her second child. That'll make both of her kids american. From a Nigerian perspective, that's the best type of 401(k) plan one can have!
Let's hope more exciting things happen this week. I shall keep my fingers crossed!
3.03.2007
What do you want in a life partner?
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss
- Rudyard Kipling
Not too long ago, a precious friend asked me what I wanted in a life-partner. You know, the crucial question: ‘What do you want in a woman’? I am positive that I have spent many nights thinking about this question. But, this time, I was stumped.
When I was younger and more idealistic, I wanted a woman who was strong, sassy, seductive, spiritual, sexy-to-no-end and savvy about the world and the work of her hands. Yes, everything had to start with the letter ‘s’ too! As I grew older, I became less judgmental. I have learned to focus on my own shortcomings.
But, today, it hit me. On my way across the living room, I realized the deepest thing about my heart. Rudyard Kipling’s words, for me, define the weakest possible points in this life. I believe they are inevitable. And I subconsciously prepare my mind in readiness for when the worst happens. My studying, my principles, my dreams are geared towards these thoughts.
Today, I realized that I want to spend my life with someone who will go down into the depths of sadness with me, and emerge again – with nothing, except each other, and a hope and a prayer.
Darling, when you ask, ‘what do you want in a woman’? My answer is this:
I want the better half of me – in every sense of the word.
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss
- Rudyard Kipling
Not too long ago, a precious friend asked me what I wanted in a life-partner. You know, the crucial question: ‘What do you want in a woman’? I am positive that I have spent many nights thinking about this question. But, this time, I was stumped.
When I was younger and more idealistic, I wanted a woman who was strong, sassy, seductive, spiritual, sexy-to-no-end and savvy about the world and the work of her hands. Yes, everything had to start with the letter ‘s’ too! As I grew older, I became less judgmental. I have learned to focus on my own shortcomings.
But, today, it hit me. On my way across the living room, I realized the deepest thing about my heart. Rudyard Kipling’s words, for me, define the weakest possible points in this life. I believe they are inevitable. And I subconsciously prepare my mind in readiness for when the worst happens. My studying, my principles, my dreams are geared towards these thoughts.
Today, I realized that I want to spend my life with someone who will go down into the depths of sadness with me, and emerge again – with nothing, except each other, and a hope and a prayer.
Darling, when you ask, ‘what do you want in a woman’? My answer is this:
I want the better half of me – in every sense of the word.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
