A masochist is a masochist, is a masochist.

Of course you know by now this post is about mom. After finishing her thesis, she din't take too well to the idea of having a life. So she decided that after 3 master degrees, an executive MBA was the natural thing to do.

She started working on her application to Wharton EMBA, talked to her boss about flex work arrangements, started practicing the GMAT...then she scheduled an admissions interview, which Wharton advises to have before you submit the applications. Excellent advice, as it turns out.

The biggest challenge of the interview is to find "business or business casual" clothes. THE one jacket she had for years disappeared mysteriously during the closet remodeling. Fortunately, mom had recently bought another one during a shopping spree (hooray for compulsive shopping!). That one ended up being too long for a 5.1" person and made her look like a clown, but it was the only choice. Oh and by the way, as luck would have it there was a snow-storm that morning. Casual business attire and walking in the snow/slush: not a good combination.

She made to the interview on time (yes, she is able to get places on time, after all), sat in a waiting room full of suits and made some small talk (yes, she's getting better at that, too!). Her time came and she went in for the interview - nothing unusual, "why do you want to come to Wharton", "why now", "What will you bring to the table", blah blah blah Interview 101. Then she was invited to sit in one of the classes. She chose "venture capital investments". As expected, it felt just like listening to a lecture in Cantonese. Ok maybe not as bad. Then, lunch with the whole class. There was a presentation scheduled for lunch on that day, some big shot alumni who came to share their success stories with the pupils.

When the whole thing was over, mom came out of the building and without realizing it, let out a huge sigh of relief. She couldn't say why - the interview went well, everybody was nice, the talks were interesting - but she was just so relieved to be out in the fresh cold air.

And that's how mom escaped her latest masochistic crisis. Luckily her instinct kicked in (maybe she's learned something from all these years living with me, after all!). She's off the hook for now - the question is, for how long?