The beginning of an obsession

With the release of the essay questions for Wharton and Chicago, I'm starting to find myself thinking about what to write almost every moment I'm not occupied with something else. For the most part my thoughts are completely random and do not drive me closer to getting an essay in shape, but occasionally I'll have these flashes of inspiration and if my palm is lying close by, I try to record those down. Unfortunately most of the time I'm just worrying that I don't have any content, that I won't be able to structure my story coherently by the time the deadlines come about.

I know I still have another 3 months but given that I want to submit more than just one application in October, time flies especially with my incorrigible case of procrastination. It doesn't help knowing that some of my fellow applicants are already in the 4th or 5th drafts of their essays. Hmm. Maybe it's a good thing after all - something to jump start my lazy ass.

I've found reading other people's essays (from friends and MBA application guides) a good source of ideas for content and ways to structure the essays, especially the ubiquitous career progression/why MBA one. But I'll have to watch myself to make sure it's me coming out. I don't want to fall into the trap of taking someone else's work and just replacing the details.

On the personal front, there are a ton of other things happening in my life and I need to work on keeping my MBA fixation in check. I just spoke to my fiancee about postponing our honeymoon because we originally planned it in October, right in the middle of application deadlines. She's been really understanding so far and is ok about just going for a short getaway first, but I hope I won't cross the line. After all she IS more important than the MBA.