This blog

Here's the ultimate meta topic: a posting about this blog.

I was just thinking about whether I would consider this blog a success, for either me or anyone. I think I'd give a B. I'm proud to have regularly posted and not slacked off. And I would rather have done this blog than done nothing. But overall I'm not sure my vision was well-executed.

My original thought was that my transition from newspaper journalism into an MBA program would interest friends and strangers, and be something fun to document for myself. Before beginning, I decided not to be anonymous because I figured it would be too limiting. How could I, after all, say anything specific or interesting about this experience without identifying myself? What would be left to say?

All the same, identifying myself has prevented me from discussing personal developments and opinions that some people may want to know. I have to consider that a classmate, professor, future employer or family member could find these musings, and that makes some topics off-limits, such as gossip about my classmates, how much money I'll be making at Deloitte, my romantic life and personal family matters. I've alluded to these areas, but only broadly. I just can't discuss these topics here in depth and maintain any piece of mind that it won't come back to haunt me.

I've sought to balance three things: (1) keeping a journal for myself, (2) sharing news with friends, and (3) sharing information and perspectives for people interested in what it's like to be a journalist pursuing an MBA. Unfortunately, these three things aren't always compatible. If this were a diary, I would write more about my feelings, worries and personal affairs. If it were strictly for friends, the style would be less formal, and the specifics more personal. In trying to aim mostly at #3, I've sanitized things a bit and, at worst, been somewhat mundane. I often don't realize this is the case until I go back and read; then I'll notice that there are ruts where all I ever seem to talk about is how busy and stressed I am. Of course I also sometimes discuss off-topic matters, like a movie or song. I'd do that regardless of the audience.

Anyway, I'm going to keep plugging away until commencement (May 23), so my last post will probably be May 24 or so. Then I'll close. When I'm finished, as time allows, I might try to massage out the boring stuff and perhaps pull the whole thing into a more entertaining narrative (like a book, I suppose). Like I said, I'm glad I did this. I hope it hasn't been too painful to stay with me.