In case you are wondering why there are not many posts from the first year class, the inactivity is due to the fact we are in the middle of Final exams period. Last week, we finished writing 3 finals – HR, Supply Chain, and strategy. This week, we will be tackling Finance, Marketing, Macro Economics, and Managerial Economics. On top of that, we just handed in a decision brief this morning, and will be presenting our recommendations to the CEO of uniPHARM tomorrow morning. Adding to all this excitement, Clive Beddoe, Chairman of West Jet, will be visiting our class tomorrow afternoon. This is the event that I am truly looking forward to!
Despite the fast paced schedule that we are having, many of us were able to spared their time participating in other wonderful activities. About 2 weeks ago, a student exchange fair was hosted by the MBA office. The inbound exchange students of this year were gathered together to provide us first year students with very detailed information about the school that they are representing. I managed to speak to students from Germany, France, China, Hong Kong, Austria, and Finland, but unfortunately ran out of time and couldn’t meet those from India, US, UK, and Australia. All the schools has something different to offer – some schools have a really strong finance emphasis, others are more famous for marketing and strategic management. Similar to Sauder, one thing I found in common among all the schools is the high level of diversity – it is quite common that a class is made up of students from 20-25 different countries.
A few of us were also participating in several BCC and student club events. Just 2 weeks ago, the Business Career Center invited Francesco Aquilini, owner of the local NHL hockey team Vancouver Canucks and managing director of Aquilini Investment Group, to speak to the current MBA class. Mr. Aquilini described in details how he ended up gaining 100% ownership of the Canucks (it was not his initial intention). He also stressed the importance of developing the skill sets of both entrepreneur and business manager, and just having skills from one side is not enough to be competitive in today’s business environment.
And this past Thursday and Friday, many first year students toured the Frito Lay factory. Others that are more interested in marketing joined the DDB agency tour organized by the marketing club, and gained significant inside scope on how a large, global ad agency operate, plus learning about what they look for in recruiting new staff 🙂
It is quite amazing how some of us could still find the energy to be extremely active, but motivation can go a long way. Anyhow, it is time for me to get back to my studies and presentation preparation. Got to be at school 7:30am tomorrow to rehearse for the presentation with my team (I don’t want to embarrass myself in front of all these senior executives)!
