Introduction - The Waltham Pull

My aspirations were somewhat limited. Armed with a degree in Art History from WVU and a 6 month old baby boy, the first of many magical events leading me to Waltham revealed itself in a job listing in the Clarksburg Telegram one cold January evening. Habitat for Humanity seeks Resource Coordinator. Well, that certainly sounded fancy and I figured I could coordinate some resources, so I borrowed my mom's navy blue polyester blazer and set out for my first proper interview. Sure, I'd done the McDonald's route (actually was banned from ever working there again--more on that later), but this was the big time.

Whooo! I landed it, despite blushing, hyperventilating, and only vaguely remembering my vague answers to some pretty vague questions. I was christened into the AmeriCorps*VISTA program in early March and began my proud work in an abandoned tire store with a whopping salary of 750 bucks a month! Full time!

Fast forward 2.5 years. I was still a VISTA and vaguely pondering grad school, when lo and behold! An informational postcard from the Heller School of Social Policy from Brandeis comes addressed to me in the mail. This was entirely unsolicited and was part of a campaign to recruit VISTAs into their MBA in nonprofit management program. I applied, just for fun, and somehow was accepted!

MBA? Moi? It didn't even really occur to me until I got there that I would have to be taking courses in statistics, economics, friggin corporate finance, and more. I zoned in on the phrase "nonprofit management" and everything else faded into the blue, until statistics started, of course.

20 pounds lost (thanks to anxiety) and the acceptance that I'd actually be paying 1500/month for rent later, I hopped into my chevy cavalier and moved 5 states away to WALTHAM with my sweet 3 year old boy. My parents sure didn't want us to leave. Not yet, anyway, but I could feel that Waltham pull.

And it won't let me go.