.

People looked down on my choice to go to SMU. They said "oh you chose SMU over UCSB? Isn't UCSB ranked higher?"

People questioned my choice to go to business school. They said "Undergraduate business school is a waste of time, you are better off getting a well rounded undergraduate degree then getting your MBA"

People didn't like the fact that I chose Finance as my major. "Oh so you are all about the money? Accounting is a better major. Good luck getting a job with a Finance degree, I had a nephew major in Finance and he still hasn't found anything."

People couldn't understand why I chose to work in Houston rather than New York. "Houston is an awful city"

All of this bullshit drives me. I know I am going to be successful. I have an internship with a Bulge Bracket Investment bank. I am going to make over $18,000 this summer working 10 weeks. I am going to get a full time offer and be making around $120,000 right out of school. I am then going to have opportunities to move into Private Equity or Hedge Funds and make double that.

"Ohhh Investment Banking... kiss your life goodbye, you will be working brutal hours"

Shut the fuck up you doubter. Yet another person questioning my decisions, I love it.

Last week Credit Suisse offered me a summer analyst position in their Oil and Gas Investment Banking Division. I accepted immediately because they are considered a top tier investment bank in Houston. I was relived and excited to be done with the interview process that has consumed the last 2 months of my life. If I perform well this summer I will receive a full time offer from Credit Suisse that entails 2 years of being an analyst at an Investment Bank. The hours are going to be brutal (80-100 a week) and I will probably hate my life at points in the two years. The positives are that I will be learning a ton, I will have great opportunities to get into Private Equity and I will be making a good amount of money.

The next three years of my life are now planned out. I am going to work in Houston for the summer, return for my senior year at SMU and then work in Houston for 2 years. I am relived to be done interviewing but this plan ahead of me is depressing in a way. As a sophomore the sky was the limit for me and I could do anything. I was also very unsure of myself. Now my hard work has been acknowledged and I finally believe that I can add value to the company that I am going to work for. But a company owns me for the next three years of my life. My path has been chosen for now.

I am going to make around $120,000 a year out of college. If you told me this a few years ago I would have been ecstatic and wouldn't have believed you. Now I don't really care. This process has made me realize that money really doesn't matter. Family and friends matter more than anything else and I am a little nervous how they will balance with the demands of my job. In all honesty I need to make that kind of money to start paying off my college debt.

My parents are proud of me. They don't really know what Investment Banks do or the concept of bulge bracket banks but they know I am on the right track. I am excited as well, I just imagined myself being happier knowing I have an Investment Banking job lined up. This proves that happiness is relative. People making way less money than me can be just as happy and people making way more money than me can be just as happy. It is all about being content with yourself.

I have poured my efforts into school to get good grades and dedicated countless hours to building my resume. This hard work has led me to this point in my life. I now want to turn my efforts inward. I want to work on making myself a better person. I want to get back to reading for pleasure and expanding my mind. The pursuit of this job has focused all of my attention and mind power on finance. I want to get back to being thirsty for knowledge about the world. I also want to dedicate more time to the relationships that matter. I have not been a great friend to some of the people I love the most. I need to turn my attention back to them and make them realize how much they mean to me. I also need to hit the gym more, I'm getting a little soft.

Thats where I am right now in my life, it is an exciting time to say the least and I am so fortunate to be in the position I am in.