Fishbowl

The fishbowl is not a place for the happy or even for the content. Do not expect to be welcomed with open arms. Everything you thought you knew is wrong. In the before exams, friends are turned into mortal enemies, savagely defending their 3x2 territory.

Do not make eye contact.
Do not smile.

Back away slowly and let the unwashed sulk over their textbooks in peace.

I've been in the fishbowl for 3 hours now and I think some of my friends have turned to stone. They literally haven't moved for hours. I don't want to get too close though lest I wake the beast...

It's good to have goals

My goal for today is to go home in time for dinner. Eating out all the time is making me thin in the wallet region and round about the waist.

What this means is I have exactly 4 hours to review the entire second term accounting class.

- Liabilities
- Notes & Bonds
- Leases
- Off balance sheet financing and retirement benefits
- Financial statement analysis (i.e. ratios)
- Capital contributions and distribution
- Earnings
- Cash flow statements
- Investments

The above represents no less than 11 lectures and 199 pages of exciting text book reading (think size 8 font).

Good thing I've done a fair job of keeping up!

Study or Sleep --> The Debate Rages On

I got home just after 10 pm tonight after spending more than 14 hours away from home. I live a bit further away from school than some in a neighbourhood known at 'The Beaches', or to some 'The Beach' (it's complicated). This is generally GREAT because I don't think it's healthy to live right next to where you work and school is WORK. During exams, however, it's the pits. Studying in groups is a great way to learn material such as strategy since a variety of opinions helps to expand perspectives. I have yet to convince anyone to make the trek to my lovely beach home.

Here are the positives:
-->1 block from the beach
-->Wireless connection
-->Coffee maker
-->Giant bloodhound who never fails to make you smile

Negatives:
-->30-40 minute transit ride
-->it's winter, no one wants to hang out at the beach
-->dog fur sticks to just about any item of clothing
-->coffee at school can be found for as little as 80 cents, PLUS the store has bulk candy.

*Sigh* 14 hours at Rotman it is...

The real issue is that it's been 20 minutes since I got home and I've yet to commit to either more studying or succumbing to sleep. Considering that I spent 90% of that time googling various people (including myself - hope that's not weird!) and the other 10% of the time writing this post, I think it's pretty clear that napping is a necessary evil. I won't be doing much focusing at this rate.

My plan of action is as follows - sleep, alarm to go off at 5 am, actually get up at 6 am after hitting the snooze button no fewer than 6 times. Study for 2 hours before trekking into Rotman for the 10 AM Strategy test.

This is such a sad life these days. Need to stay focused on the main priority - Friday night's ultimate end of Q2 party... uh, I mean next year's graduation and subsequent glorious life.

You can't win in a trade-off game

I finally understand - you really can't win in a trade-off game. In this case, it's dark in the atrium and really quite cold, however, my wireless connection is EXCELLENT. On the other hand, it's bright and delightfully warm in 121, but wireless is spotty at best (still not sure if it's my laptop).

Either I choose dim lighting and great tunes (via streaming internet) OR I choose warmth and silence. I literally can't win! There doesn't seem to be an integrated solution. I suppose I could hunt up my ipod, but that sucker has been missing for MONTHS (and would require cleaning my house, *shudder*).

For the sake of my studies, I'll stick with silence, but my sanity might suffer.
(how's that for alliteration!)

MBA Games

I'm sad tat I won't be going to the MBA Games this year. It looks like a lot of fun. Plus, one of the events is curling... as I only partcipate in the more obscure sports, this is something that I know a little bit about.

U of T on the high seas

In our final Strategy lecture this morning, Anita said she'd heard a news report on the CBC this morning that 1 in 7 university of Toronto students have mild signs of scurvy. For those of you that are unfamiliar with scurvy, it's a disease that used to affect sailors on long voyages because they didn't get any fruits or veggies.

This is actually not that surprising. Let's take a look at the food pyramid for illustration:

This is the typical food pyramid. A good mix of healthy grains, fruits, veggies, proteins and milk.Now let's take a look at the MBA food pyramid.

Hmmm... Yup, a solid foundation of coffee and 'lunch provided'. Followed by study snacks and topped off with Tipsy Tuesday, Thirsty Thursday and Post Exam Friday, Saturday and/or Sunday. Nary a veggies to be seen.

Is scurvy really a surprise?

Master of Baking Appreciation

These pics were taken Peter. As you can see, we had a lot of fun baking and hocking our goods!

Bemoustached Baking

Since the ladies of our class couldn't grow moustaches (or chose not to), we decided to slave over our hot stoves all weekend to make baked goods.

I am thrilled by the generosity of our class - both in terms of time spent baking, as well as purchasing the delicacies.

All in all, we raised over $325 for prostate cancer research! Not too shabby.

The Beginning of the End... of Q2

And so begins the last week of classes.

Due to the expansion of the Rotman campus, our classes are being shuffled around this week. Not the best timing to be tromping all over campus when stress is already high, but it seems that it can't be helped. Progress always wins, and in our case, progress means dynamite. From what I understand, there will be some blasting in the parking garages underneath our classroom as the next phase of construction begins.

I don't think any of us is impressed with the construction going on during the school year, but we are all trying to grin and bear it. Taking the brunt of the complaints is our ever patient Program Services Office. All I can say is at least the future years will enjoy the fruits of the labour in the form of a fantastic new facility. Our Rotman reunion will be fantastic.

Understandable

Last year when I was researching MBA schools, I visited a lot of these blogs to get a sense of student life. An 'insiders view' of the school. As an avid fan of people watching, I hoped that I would be able to follow along as they went through the MBA. Were they happy? Did they still have a sense of humour or did the MBA turn them into overly serious, number crunching zombies - a dried up husk of the person they once were? Well after the first few weeks, blog posting became irregular if at all. It wasn't unusual to see an entire blog go something like this:

September 9, 2008 - YAY, we're back from camp. Classes start tomorrow. Can't wait to tell you all about it.

***Nothing***

May, 2009 - YAY, year's done. It was great.

I now understand completely! The program is SO BUSY! Yesterday I spent 10 hours just working on Accounting. Today, it'll be similar but with Finance.

If not for my obsession with keeping a record of my studies combined with an overly active imagination and a dash of procrastination mixed in, this blog would probably have ended back on labour day.

Exams are in 2 weeks (AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!) I may still end up a dried up husk of human being, filled to the brim with numbers. For my old friends who knew me once upon a time - the random marketing facts that you once shook your head at will soon will replaced with numbers.

You have been warned...

The breaking point

I think my brain has started to pull blood out of the area designated for basic tasks in order to fuel the thinking portion. My poor neurons don't understand what is going on.

Last night I got on the subway heading in the wrong direction. And didn't notice FOR 3 STOPS! Keep in mind that I've lived in the same house for over 5 years! Then I didn't recognize my brother, whom I see almost daily. Today I didn't see someone when I opened the door. It was a glass door.

Your brain:

Your brain on MBA:

To Do

I make a "to do" list every morning. It's now 1:30 AM and I haven't fully eliminated anything. *Sigh*

The day:
7AM wake up
8AM walk to bus, buy coffee. Read 'Medicines Company' case for MCV (getting ahead?)
9:05AM late for stats, have to sit in back row to avoid disturbing the class. It's raining today so all I smell is damp wool. Yuck!
10:something AM break. I try to buy a muffin but the Second Cup is all out of the ones I like. Cram a bit more for Strategy Quiz.
Quiz takes 45 minutes (multiple choice, T/F & short answer). Straighforward yet tricky? Hmmm. Mini-lecture on the final case competition. Class gets out a bit early.
12-1:15. Buy a sub. Talk about the other MCV case about frozen food
1:15-3:45 Accounting project.
4:00 Subway home. Read newspaper (because I do that now)
5:00 Pat dog. Eat toast. Walk back to bus.
5:45 Read Frozen Food case on the subway
6:15 Arrive at DesignWorks for the Business Design visa program. (Weird name, but GREAT program. REALLY gets my mind going)
9PM Design Visa session done. Get on Subway, finish reading the Medicines Company case.
10PM-1:30AM Finance homework. WHY IS THIS SO HARD???
1:30-1:45 Write this blog. Kick self for wasting 15 precious minutes of sleep by blogging...

Now does it look like I wasted a lot of time? I know, I know. But Meg, you ate lunch AND patted your dog! Some might argue that the subway trips were the problem. Au contraire - public transit is the best for getting reading done. Eyes on page mean no accidental eye contact with strangers.

*Double sigh*

A Messy Morning

Wednesday. Mid-Week. Lecture Free. Ahhhh!

Normally a delightful day. We get to sleep in. No homework or assignments are due. A great day right?

My day started with my dog eating an entire loaf of bread (no breakfast). Then my legs nearly crumpled under the weight of my text book laden bag while on the stairs in the subway. The grand culmination was when I dropped my giant coffee filled mug on the sidewalk as I rushed to catch the light. The top came off and showered the other students (and myself) with delicious, caffeinated gold.

On the upside, I discovered that the campus express offers coffee (fairly decent coffee at that) for only 80 cents!!! Yum.

Now I'm in my Strategy tutorial where we are debating practice quiz answers. The classroom was different than what was listed in R World so I was late. Now I'm sitting cross-legged on the floor, craning my neck in order to view the screen.

Wednesday has failed me.

Let's be friends

One of my fellow bloggers, Katie, recently observed that people are splitting off and forming closer friendships with those that have similar career goals. In the spirit of the MBA, I'd like to offer another persepective.

It might seem like the 'consultants' or 'finance' folk are all hanging out with one another. How can it not? There are so darn many of them. What you don't see is all the 'entrepreneurs' hanging out with one another or the 'family business' folk (all 2 of us) joined at the hip. If anything, I'd say that people are chilling more with people from their section due to overall familiarity.

One take away from either of our views is that there are lots of people from lots of different backgrounds. It's easy to strike up a conversation with anyone and you will definitely makes friendships that will last a lifetime.

PS - be sure to check out the other Rotman blogs if you are looking for a diverse perspective on every day life in biz school.

Laptopless

I feel naked being laptopless.

An Experiment

Today I left my laptop at home. We're not allowed to use them in Strategy class anyway and it seems a waste to carry it all the way here. I bet you're wondering how I can update my blog with no computer. It's easy. I'm psychic. I am projecting these thoughts onto the screen. OK. Just kidding. There are a couple of computers available, mostly for printing, but since there isn't a line up, I thought I'd take the moment to share.

Freshmen +/- 15

Remember how in undergrad you were warned about gaining the dreaded Freshmen 15, a term referring to the inevitable weight gain that many students experience when they move away from home for the first time? I was concerned about whether this phenomenon would be repeated in graduate school.

1. Stress? Check. (chips)
2. Late nights reading? Check (chocolate)
3. Group study sessions? Check (beer)
4. Confusing lectures? Check (pizza)
5. Stress? CHECK CHECK CHECK (ice cream & tears)

MBA school keeps tailors in business. While my suit is getting tighter around the middle, others are having the opposite problem. I've always thought that as one person loses weight, another will inevitably find it. I'll admit to being a bit jealous of the increasing sea of svelte figures wandering the halls, but I know it's hard to console one's self with textbooks. For now, I'll stick to the chocolate.

Leaving, on a prop plane...

I'm mentally preparing for 2 guilt filled days away from Rotman.

I'm sitting in the Porter lounge waiting for my flight to Ottawa for the Scouts Canada Leadership Summit. This is an exciting time for Scouts nation wide as we are in a great position to grow youth membership.

What being in business school means is trying to BALANCE everything because time and life marches on. All of the responsibilities pre-MBA still exist. For me this means occasionally flying to Ottawa for the weekend to meet with my committee. For others it might mean putting the books down to spend time with the family. Whatever it is, you have to make a serious effort for personal time.

I'm in the airport right now awaiting my boarding call. Thankfully the Porter lounge not only offers free, delicious coffee, but free wireless as well. This is some much needed time spent working on my MPO paper. I can't believe how quickly this term is coming to an end. It literally feels like I just started yesterday.

Good news for the weekend - I feel REALLY good about the stats test. Hopefully this means that my brain has finally awoken and it'll be downhill from here. (Wishful thinking???)

The face behind the blog

I know by now you're probably asking yourself, who is the face befind the blog?

A bit about me - I grew up in Barrie, Ontario which is about 100 km north of Toronto. I graduated from the University of Western Ontario with an honours BA in Kinesiology.

Since then, I was working at one of the largest advertising agencies in Toronto as a Senior Communications Strategist. I have experience media planning for brands such as Intel, Dairy Farmers of Canada and Staples Business Depot. I have also worked in the promotions department at a couple of radio stations in Ontario.

I also love sports, but unlike some of you, mine are a bit more obscure. I compete in sprint canoe, which is a real challenge. Basically, I have to try to balance on one knee in a really tippy boat and attempt to make my way down a course without swimming. Oh, and I can only paddle on one side of the boat. For those of you who have paddled in the past, I’m sure you can imagine the steering issues. In the winter I curl in a ladies league which is also more fun than you might guess – think bowling/shuffleboard on ice.

I also love camping/hiking/outdoors and was once a canoe guide for a summer in Northern Ontario near Thunder Bay. For the past couple of years I've been a leader with Scouts Canada working with youth age 14-17. Most recently I was appointed to a National Task Force with the mandate of ensuring future growth of the organization.

I am thrilled to be a member of Rotman's 2011 Class!

Whew, what a mouthful!

The Ultimate Corporate Retreat... Summer Camp?

What better way to initiate future MBAs than by sending them to the ultimate corporate retreat... a children's camp?

As a leader with Scouts Canada, I was thrilled when I saw the word 'camp' in our welcome package!

On Tuesday morning we donned our matching red, green, blue and gold t-shirts and descended upon Camp Northland in droves - 200+ eager 1st years accompanied by 80+ 2nd year volunteers. We arrived hungry, not just for french-fry laden stir fry, but hungry for fun, competition and most-importantly, for cocktails.

Camp was well organized with a detailed structure. Events included: a trading game, Olympics, campfires, happy-hour, casino night and the crown-jewel, the costume party.

I rubbed shoulders with the Beastie Boys, Mick Jagger, Elvis, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Tina Turner and many others. People were all over the 'rock n roll' theme and did not disappoint!

Some helpful hints -

1. I joke that Canada has only 2 seasons: winter and bugs. Camp was no exception. There were some tiny mosquitoes that were nearly impossible to see so bring bug spray. Plus, it really did get cold at night so don't cheap out on your sleeping bag.

2. There is only 1 plug in the cabin and no mirror. This will become important when it comes time to dress for the costume party.

3. Cell service is spotty at best. Don't bother - you're a student now, you can disengage from your blackberry for 3 days, I promise, it won't kill you!

Whether you are outdoorsy or not, Orientation Camp is one event that is not to be missed.