Week Ends

So, thus endeth the Business Analytics programme and my 1st week at b-school. My camera has been acting up, so no photos of campus or snapshots of life here. This will have to do for a while. Sorry.

Everything so far has been really good, right from the classes, the profs, the campus, the water fountains on campus into which unsuspecting freshers are thrown during graduation bashes to the parties that seem to happen almost every night of the week. There are some very red-eyed sleepy looking people in class every morning.

Other than the fact that I woke up one morning with a severely sprained left shoulder and neck, its been memorable. Can't wait for the programme proper to start off in January and for 100 odd students to arrive on campus. And when they get here I'll be ready.

Right now I have to head down to the campus gift shop and pick up b-school memorabilia for my folks. Yup, we have everything! Hohoho!

Overgrowth and Undergrowth

You may have wondered from the previous two posts why MBA students have to grow wings, gills etc.
Well, its part of the territory. It isn't for nothing that this is supposed to be a growing experience. Instead of letting your money grow in the bank, you expend it on an education and now let your wings, gills and future earnings grow. Which will it be?
On the one hand your money grows and on the other side your wings, gills and future.
Hmm. Growth on either side.
Both sides balanced.

I Finally Follow

The first week in b-school is the educational equivalent of being dunked in the deep end and held down there until you either die or grow gills, whichever is first. Most students, I am reliably told, grow gills.

My particular deep end had underwater lifeforms such as finance, financial accounting and quantitative measurement methods. It was kinda difficult, initially, to make out what these new creatures were, what with all the bubbles surrounding my head. It was all new and wildly colourful and yet after 3 case studies and several hours of industrious labour and slaving in breakout rooms and conference rooms with Microsoft Excel, T-Accounts, Balance Sheets, Income Statements and Cash Flows, I think I finally get the hang of it.

Yesterday provided the first of several unique moments. After finally completing a rather long case study, 5 euphoric grad students hopped out of campus to get dinner at an hour rapidly approaching midnight. On impulse, one of them while crossing the road shouted out, "Net Present Value", and cartwheeled thrice and onto the pavement.

Its going to be fun here. I'm learning as much about finance and accounting as I am about fellow students. As long as I can survive with 4 hours sleep a day, I might enjoy this.

Taking the Plunge

The precipice is inviting. I'm standing right near it looking down and the view is fascinating. I'm tempted to jump because I think it might be better than just standing around where I am now, doing nothing. Despite the great height I can see faces of plenty of people down below. Black faces, brown faces, white faces; all slightly tired but happy faces. I wiggle my toes wondering if I can feel some sensation that will prepare me for what it will be like when I am airborne. It feels pleasantly uncomfortably like a sudden gust of cold wind on a day that's clouding over, that makes you suddenly twist and contort your body in self-defense.

The only thing holding me back is the fact that I don't have wings and that I'm terrified of crashing and burning on the mountain face on my way down. In my mind, if I listen hard enough I can hear voices that tell me that the lack of wings won't matter. Voices of the faces down below tell me they didn't have the wings when they took the leap either and that somehow wings always grow midflight.

I turn around and step backwards to the edge, my heels sticking out in mid-air. I say a silent prayer and do a vicious back-flip into nothingness.

My MBA has begun.

How To Increase Blog Traffic

What every new blogger wants to try and do is increase traffic on the blog. As I see it, there are two ways of doing this.

Firstly, blog really, really well. Write public interest stories or those that a whole lot of people are interested in. Express controversial opinions perhaps. Criticize the government and plan an expose on corruption.

OR... Cheat! Like so...

Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Beyonce Knowles, Kirsten Dunst.

To all the weirdos who came here in search of these women... you deserve it. For god's sake, none of them are single, 2 of them are married and one of them twice. Grow up.
Oh and while you're here, leave a comment will you?

Peck on the Cheek - for starters

Why?

Well firstly, I currently have a lot of free time on my hands, which is funny, considering I am attending classes for French and Financial Accounting and watching at least a movie a day.

Secondly... rather soon I'm going to be out of the country for a little while, attending b-school, and need a forum where I can let people know just a little bit of what my life is like.

Third... there are several bloggers out there who write wonderful blogs with wonderful posts and I'm tired of being an anonymous guy leaving anonymous comments.

Finally... I'll no longer have to answer people who ask me what I do all day.

I may not link to headlines that make news or those that don't but deserve to. There are far better bloggers who do that really well. What I hope to do is give myself a literary outlet, keeping friends and family in the loop, occasionally encourage a blogger, occasionally review a movie I liked or just comment on things I notice.

Hopefully, in time, this blog and its contents will improve and hopefully I'll get the odd comment ever so often.