Moving 10,000 pounds to school

I believe nearly all MBA candidates find themselves making some sort of sacrifice to pursue their dreams. Some may be separating from a significant other, some may be leaving behind close family and friends, some may be leaving behind a great job and career opportunities, some may be putting their entrepreneurial passions on the back burner, some are completely leaving their way of life and culture behind, and some may be making material sacrifices for their new temporary lifestyle. The latter may is the easiest of all these sacrifices, though it's still felt when you have to go through it.

This week the homestead got packed up. The military offers one free final move of all household goods when leaving service. The total authorized weight varies by rank, but normally it is more than enough. For example, I am authorized 14,000 pounds of personal household goods. This is the 6th military provided move I've made in my career, and will by far be the heaviest. The first three for example, I did entirely with nothing but my personal car. I estimate almost 10,000 pounds for this one. I know that sounds like a lot of stuff, but it's not so much when my suburban house has almost 3000 square feet of possible storage space. Since my new apartment is only (a generous) 800 sq feet, a lot of my stuff is going into storage.

Some things are particularly difficult to deal with. For example, I probably have over 30 sets of military uniforms - as they've changed more than once in my career. So what to do with them? I'm not going to sell US military uniforms to unknown parties on eBay. Nor does throwing a US service uniform in the trash ever seem appropriate either. So I've accumulated them, and continue to do so, until the proper solution presents itself.

I believe that this kind of painful downsizing is actually a significant deterrent to a lot of applicants. It can definitely feel like something of a step backward and requires a lot of sacrifice. If there was one symbolic pair of transaction for the whole theme, it was last week: I sold my beloved Porsche 996 (which was completely paid off) to help finance the MBA, and also bought a used futon on Craigslist because our apartment guest room is too small for our guest bedroom set. Now those are words I would had NEVER imagined saying just a few years ago.

For those 24 year olds coming from a studio apartment in Manhattan reading this and thinking I'm from another planet... just enjoy that freedom and independence while it lasts! There is a heavy cost that comes with success.