Hello there!
It is my pleasure to make the first blog post on behalf of the 2012 class. My name is Sunny Yip (with pen name Sunny Rock). I am a first year student at UBC’s Robert H. Lee Graduate School at the Sauder School of Business.
As this is my first post, perhaps I should briefly introduce myself. I was born in Hong Kong, China but has been living in Vancouver for more than 17 years (plus about one year in Japan). My background is in accounting and I do have a CGA designation. My purpose to enroll in the MBA program is to broaden my skill set, and I am most interested in learning more about International Business and E-commerce.
I cannot believe it is 9 weeks into the core program already and the first final will be on Nov 8th! From what I see so far, I can tell you that all 107 members from the 2012 class have worked extremely hard to meet the challenges set out by the Core Professors. That, of course, does not mean we only care about the notes and the textbook. Many of us also engage in various MBA club activities and playing sports. A balance just has to be found somewhere!
The core profs try their best to stimulate our learning. Various methods such as case studies, assignments, team projects and field trip have been utilized to help us internalize new concepts. We were also exposed to the concept of Design Thinking, a creative process of problems resolution championed by Ideo. To put it briefly, we learn many new business concepts everyday and these knowledge prepare us to not only be business savvy, but also become innovative change agents for our communities.
Learning in the Core are not just confined to the technical aspect of business. Elysha Ames last year have written a great post about the things learned during the core: people focus, not afraid to try new things, and take initiatives. I would like to add three more points to that list:
#4 Make mistakes. University is a great place to learn from your own mistake. The core profs recognize that and we usually do not get heavily penalized on assignments if we make a mistake here or there. Make no mistake (no pun intended): Grades are important, especially for Consulting jobs, but it can be “overrated” if too much emphasis is put on it. It is mind-blogging that many great ideas are evolved from mistakes and failed ideas (e.g. 3M Post-it notes). Simply put, too conscious about making mistake is detrimental to learning, gaining new insights, as well as formulating new ideas.
#5 Listen and response to criticism. During the Core, there are many opportunities for professors and fellow classmates to critique each other’s work or behavior. Listen to what they say and make notes to improve. Criticism may not sound so sweet but is a very important, and valuable, learning tool.
#6 Do not lose sight of your goal(s). Sleep is a true luxury on some days during the Core semester , and fatigue, and distraction, is a great enemy of motivation. To maintain that motivation to reach success in Core, and of course life in general, look back on your goal(s) to remind yourself why you are here at UBC in the first place.
Overall, I am very pleased with the learning experience so far and I look forward to the rest of the core. Final exams and Business Plan project, here I come!
Sunny
