'Blue Monday'

Yesterday was the most depressing day of the year. At least according to researchers who have given the third Monday of the year the moniker 'Blue Monday'. January, a cold a damp month with endlessly dark days, can be trying for the most positive person but adding in Christmas VISA bills, a natural disaster and the ever frustrating government prorogation fiasco and you have a recipe for genuine depression.

Not so in the halls of Rotman. Monday was the first official day of Q3. A clean slate, meant that students were unnaturally relaxed *for MBA students*. If anything, I sensed a feeling of optimism.

Our Blue Monday will come in another few weeks once we've gotten back into the swing of classes, assignments, presentations, and *shudder* INTERVIEWS.

Call of the Wild

As an avid people-watcher, I like looking down into the Atrium when the recruiting mix-and-mingle begins.

At the signal "this is the conclusion of the presentation", recruiters are immediately surrounded as the hopefuls descend. Pulled in every direction, recruiters maintain an interested yet impassive expression on their faces. They are polite, yet vague in their responses to the constant peppering of questions leaving the MBAs both confident and/or uncertain.

From my vantage point on the second floor, I see heads bob in unison as the recruiter makes a particularly poignant statement. MBA hands are crossed modestly in front to avoid making any movement that could be interpreted as weak or nervous.

I am perhaps the only person that is enjoying this week's process. I am attending only a handful of info sessions as my interests lie apart from the investment banker hopefuls that seem to dominate the class. After hours of careful observation, I have determined that the best strategy is to wait until the crowds have thinned before approaching the company representative. I truly want to have a meaningful conversation, not simply ask questions for the sake of having my voice heard. Hopefully I will somehow manage to make a lasting positive impression.

Mentally preparing to study both smarter AND harder!

I've been spending the past couple of hours mentally preparing for Q3. Namely, I dug out the 'Study Smarter, Not Harder' book by Kevin Paul that I purchased in the summer. In Q1/Q2, I did a great job of sudying hard, but maybe not as smart as I could have.

The 13 Study Skills outlined in the book:
1. Believe in yourself
2. Prepare
3. Organize yourself and your work
4. Spend time on what matters
5. Discipline yourself
6. Be persistent
7. Divide and conquer
8. Become an information filter
9. Practice output as well as input
10. Do not fear mistakes
11. Use all your intelligence to create study tools
12. Be active
13. Take control of your own learning.

I think I could use more help in all of the above, but #1 will be the key.

I look forward to yet another successful semester of learning - one that translates on exams!

And now, off to a Scouts Canada meeting. In amongst all of the school activities, I still actively volunteer. :)

Career Coaching

Today I sat down with Rotman's Career Coach. This was an extremely useful session. I have been struggling for about a month with focusing the direction of my summer job search, but within an hour of chatting with Leigh, I came out with a plan of attack and a better sense of how I will execute the next phase of my search.

This week there are no classes at Rotman, so I can dedicate my time coming up with a plan of action. There are a few companies that I'm interested in that are recruiting on campus, so I have a few leads. The rest of my time will be spent making a list of my strengths in order to determine how I might add value to a company that is NOT recruiting on campus.

The only other deliverable for the week is finishing my negotiations self-assessment paper and preparing for classes starting next week.

PS- our grades were just released. There were a couple of surprises, but for the most part, grades are what I expected/hoped for. There is definitely room for improvement in Q3 - but when is there not? I'm definitely motivated to step up my game!

Another class completed

Negotiations has come to an end (self-reflection paper still outstanding). I have to say, I LOVED this class and now want to negotiate everything!

I wish I felt this good after every class. Grades are released next week. *insert ominous organ music here*

Hi, I'm Troy McClure

You might remember me from such negotiation videos such as "The Post Settlement Settlement", and "The Post-Post Settlement Settlement"...

We just finished watching a really cheesy Negotiations Educational Film. Acting quality aside, it was really interesting and helped emphasize much of what we've learned so far this week.

I'm not going to spoil what we've learned, but I can tell you that I wish I had taken this course BEFORE starting my first career. Negotiating was a regular part of my previous job, and with no formal training, it was difficult coming up with strategies on how to get to a 'win'. I'd give this course an A+ for usefulness, holding my attention and general goodness. I highly recommend it

The End is Near

The end of holidays that is. I've spent the days since Christmas brushing up on pop-culture and all of the TV/Movies that I've missed. I saw 3 movies over the holidays, most of which were great:

Avatar 3D - Awesome. I cried 3 times. In retrospect, it was similar to the children's cartoon 'Fern Gully'

Sherlock Holmes - Also Great! Had to sit really close to the screen though so I think I missed a lot of the big picture cinematography. Will have to see it again sometime.

Nine - A smart musical that my girl friends and I can only describe as 'meh'. The characters are weak and non-loveable and musical numbers were just ok. I don't feel like it was a complete waste of time though.

The highlight though has to be the finale of Doctor Who. Yes, I am an uber nerd (no apologies). I happily watched The Doctor save the world yet again, and then regenerate. I laughed, I cried, it moved me. Now I have something to look forward to in Q4 when the series resumes.

Next week I meet my new team and I'm raring to go. I already have my books and I'm going to crack open negotiations this afternoon. As it's an intensive week, I think it will be difficult keeping up with the readings so I'd like to get ahead if possible.

All in all, it's been a good holiday, but I'm ready to start afresh. I learned a lot about myself and my learning style last quarter and I'm ready to modify my approach. I'm also going to be more prepared for the day by bringing lunch with me so that I don't have to visit one of the fine dining establishments whithin walking distance, such as Subway or the Chinese Food Truck.

I look forward to seeing everyone again very soon.