In case you haven’t seen it yet, Christy Luquire is blogging about being a first-year EMBA student in Wharton’s East Coast program for the Poets & Quants for Executives Website. So far, the resident of New Orleans has written about everything from trading in jambalaya for cheesesteaks to using iPads in class to ordering takeout seven nights in a row.
Blogging after every class weekend, the vice president of Federated Sample, a market research technology company, shares anecdotes about her life as a student working full-time who commutes to school from Louisiana. A recurring theme in many of her posts is what it’s like to juggle school, work, home and other activities. She wants readers to know that although students have to make some sacrifices, it is possible and worthwhile.
“My classmates are my inspiration for blog topics,” she says. “Often they ask me about my work, travels, and other things that make me realize my situation is unique and interesting.”
Sometimes her classmates even suggest particular blog subjects. “For example, there are a few pregnant women in our program on both the East and West Coast, and therefore some female colleagues asked me to write about balancing family life for women. I haven’t written that one yet, but it will be interesting,” she says.
As for why she’s blogging, Luquire explains that it’s a great way to document her two-year period at Wharton. “Writing the blog has been a positive experience and it’s fun to see my reader base expanding. I’ve received a few comments from classmates saying that their moms subscribe to the blog to keep track of what we’re up to!” she laughs.
Luquire’s blogs are resonating with her classmates as well. After a recent entry about balancing all aspects of life with school, she received positive feedback not only from current Wharton students, but also alumni. “I wrote the blog around midterms and it went viral within Wharton’s EMBA community. People I hadn’t even met reached out to me saying that it really hit home. It was so motivating to have people relate and connect with me through the blog,” says Luquire.
As for her commute from New Orleans to Philadelphia, she notes that it’s one more thing to juggle. After several months, she’s found the best route to and from school and uses the three-hour flight to catch up on school work.
“I’ve become pretty efficient when it comes to travel, but having an iPad issued by the school helps – I don’t have to fly with copious amounts of text books,” she says.
Of course, when she spends a semester in San Francisco – Executive MBA students may request to spend a semester on the other coast in their second year – she’ll need to figure out the routes all over again. But that experience will surely be inspiration for more blogs.
Read Luquire’s Poets & Quants blog here. Join Christy and area alumni, as well as a member of the Admissions Committee, at an information reception at The Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans on Monday, November 7, 2011 at 6:00pm. Please click here for more details and to register.
Christy and her study team. (Oct. ’11)