Monthly Archives: December 2013

Reminiscing about Sauder

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Everyone said that the the first semester (September – December) would be the hardest. “If you can make it through that,” they said, “the rest of the program will be a breeze.”

Well November is gone. I’ve finished my last final, and my movember mustache is shaved and gone. With only a business project and a creativity presentation remaining, I’m slowly, hesitantly, beginning to exhale.

I’d like to take this opportunity to reminisce about what the the program has been like this past few months.

What has struck me the most has been the number of hours per day I’ve put in. A typical day for me has been waking up at 6:00 am, getting to campus by 8:00, and then classes, studies and/or group meetings until around 9:30 pm. Sometimes I can sneak in an hour for some eating or coffee breaks, but all in all it has been one giant load of work.

Though the workload is heavy, I’d like to also say that it has been enjoyable work. The kind of work that makes me almost not mind going home as late as 11:30 pm. I guess when you’re setting your focus on interesting and challenging subject matter, the work-life balance becomes less of an issue.

I’ve also met some extremely talented people, and managed to form some relationships which I hope will last into the future. Not just fellow students, but friends.

All in all I’m happy I chose UBC to do my MBA. That said, I’m looking forward to seeing what the future has in store for me post-Sauder School of Business.

An exemplar for the class

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In preparation for the Sauder MBA program I had been quietly questioning how my skills and experiences, accumulated in journalism and the military, would be applicable in a business setting. Most of my fellow students have business or engineering backgrounds, making it easy for them to demonstrate relevance.

That said, I am coming to understand that my skills – hard work, proficiency with the English language, and creativity, to name a few – mesh perfectly in the business setting. This idea was recently confirmed in a consulting class, wherein the professor posted a slide I had created as an exemplar for an “executive summary.” He went on to describe to the class some of the things I had done well: an interesting “hook” to draw the reader in; short, succinct bullet points that provide pertinent information; and clear and viable recommendations for the future.

Without thinking about it, I had included all these in my executive summary, simply because I had developed the methodology during my time writing and editing articles for the Jerusalem Post. My time in the Israeli army has also given me a work ethic unmatched in the program, and my education in psychology has allowed me to excel in subject relating to interpersonal behavior and human patterns. It is becoming abundantly clear to me that my skills are indeed relevant in the business setting, and I looking forward to applying them in a career upon completion of the Sauder MBA.