As the full time MBA class of 2011 is now about six weeks into the integrated core, I want to take the opportunity to share what it is really like to be a student during, what I have been told is, the most intense part of the program.
Firstly, I have the time to write this post so it can’t be that difficult, right? The integrated core is an intensive four month period where you take 12 different courses at once and you have weekly cases due. The point of the core is to give you an understanding of business from all of its different angles and to begin considering all of the vital business perspectives. While it is undoubtedly plenty of work (but you don’t do an MBA to take a vacation, right?) it is well worth it. I have already learned plenty through the core courses.
The most comforting part of the core is to know that you are going through it with all of your classmates. I have been pleasantly surprised by the degree of support fellow classmates offer one anther. Everybody has a real understanding that they are coming in with their own sets of strengths and weaknesses and work background so it is to everyone’s advantage to collaborate and work together to get through it.
The learning and relationships is what has stood out for me up to this point. The first 6 weeks has certainly laid a foundation for the next stages of learning and has me excited about the rest of the program.
Elysha Ames is a first year MBA student at the Sauder School of Business. Elysha is from Vancouver but has worked worked in the United States, Canada and Israel in the non-profit sector.
