The Party is Almost Over

I’m two weeks away from completing my MBA at Ivey and I’m starting to feel like the party is over. In reality the party is just starting…literally – the next three weeks are going to be filled with lots of social events as grad is quickly approaching. In fact, we have our very own disorientation senator (i.e. to help us get disoriented with the MBA program :)). She’s done a great job organizing a fun-filled week to cap off the MBA program in style and amongst good friends.

So how do I feel? Well a week ago I would have said tired and stressed. I was writing my very last two exams for two finance/accounting’ish courses – not necessarily my strengths. I worked fairly hard and I think I did ok in both. I definitely don’t feel like screwed up either of the exams and I feel proud of myself for taking on two electives that were out of my comfort zone.

I’m now taking two more electives to end off my MBA, neither of which have exams ;) One of those electives is Value Investing, one of Ivey’s most famous or shall I say infamous courses. Value Investing is taught at only three schools in the world; Columbia, Ivey and I can’t remember the other one. It’s about teaching students Value Investing methodologies and philosophies (i.e. Warren Buffet style of investing; looking for undervalued stocks). I took the course because I am an active stock investor and would like to better my investing performance.

The course is ‘infamous’ because it has a reputation of being Ivey’s most demanding course. I’ll let you know if that’s true in a week’s time. The other course that I’m taking is High Impact Presenting. What a course! It’s the only course I’ve ever been in where you’re sweating the entire duration of the course + experiencing non-stop laughter. It’s one of those courses that pushes you to your uncomfortable zone; where you can be called to the front of the class to recite an impromptu speech, sing, dance or even rap a song. Yes – I said rap a song. In fact one of my classmates had to rap and he was asked to do it three times; each time with more enthusiasm. I don’t think I would ever have had the courage to do that and I was truly inspired by this classmate’s courage. We’ve had others come up and sing and recite poems. Want to know what it’s like? – Check this out. Very cool class and highly recommended for those that aren’t afraid of being pushed out your comfort zone.

Over the last couple of weeks, Geeta and I have been struggling to find a new place to call home in Toronto. I think we have the neighbourhoods picked out but we still haven’t found what we are looking for ;) We are hoping to get the apartment hunt out of the way sooner than later so that we can focus on planning a trip to Europe or the Caribbean post-grad. Geeta is also actively looking for a job and we are both fairly busy these days. We are itching for a trip to perhaps Spain or Morocco.

With a couple of weeks to go, I’m excited. I’m excited about starting a new chapter of my life. I’m excited about seeing everyone reach their full potential over the coming years; I’m excited about leaving this program with so many new friends. In the mean time, with only two weeks left I’m gong to make an effort to spend as much time as I can socializing with my soon-to-be ‘alumni’ colleagues and to soak in the Ivey bubble for just a bit longer.

By the way…I’ve started running again now that the weather is improving. Time to get in shape again!

Until next time…

Sacha