Helen's Off to London Next Fall

One of the most rewarding aspects of being part of the Haas Business School community is the opportunity to mingle with people from around the world, both here in Berkeley and across the globe.  Next fall Helen will make the most of that opportunity, by spending a semester abroad at the London Business School.  Helen considered applying to LBS, but ultimately chose not to. This way she can have the best of both worlds--some international experience, and the Haas degree.

At different times in our relationship the prospect of living apart loomed, for various reasons. Very early on (1999) I went to Turkmenistan as a Peace Corps volunteer, but was not emotionally ready for a 2 year separation and came back after just a few days. It's a funny story now, but was traumatic at the time.

Much more recently I applied to be a writing fellow at the American Prospect magazine, during a two year period that would have overlapped with Helen's business school years. The magazine is in Washington DC,  and none of the school's on Helen's list were there. Had I become a writing fellow, we would have lived apart for a long time.

In that light, a 3.5 month separation for a business school semester--especially since I will be sure to visit London at one point--is not so long.  But it still feels that way now, since we've never actually lived apart (although Helen traveled a lot as a consultant, we always saw each other on the weekends). It will feel strange, and lonely, but be worth it in the long run. I'm very happy for Helen.