The first week of school is completed….I think I’m finally starting to breathe again! I’m writing from my apartment’s terrace perched 19 floors above London’s central business district. I have no immediate homework due so I am as relaxed as can be. The weather has really taken a turn for the better. We had four straight days of rain and I think it was making me depressed throughout the week. I couldn’t help thinking of how much I loved living in Ottawa. On a side note, did you know that Ottawa-Gatineau was rated the best place in Canada to live by Money Sense magazine this week? Check it out: http://list.canadianbusiness.com/rankings/bestplacestolive/2008/prosperity/Default.aspx?sp2=1&d1=a&sc1=6&sub=n1&df=bestcities .
Days 1 through 3 (i.e. Monday-Wednesday) of class were simply overwhelming; after a few days of brutal statistics, regression analysis, and MS Excel training I was consistently questioning myself why I decided to do this, and why I was subjecting myself to school pressures from hell. Picking up the books after 8 hours of intense class was really difficult. I felt sick to my stomach on Monday and Tuesday evening. I felt like curling up in a ball and admitting defeat. I guess the fact that I was really sick all week didn’t help. I picked up a nasty case of Bronchitis that really made me feel like shit (by the way I’m on antibiotics now and they are working…thank the lord ;)).
Anyhow, I had a really hard time sacrificing my personal time to study this week, but there was no choice…3 assignments and two tests in the first four days…ouch! I know the professors were setting an example and toying with us to get us back into study mode…well it worked. Interestingly enough, the light bulb (i.e. my brain) went on somewhere on day 4 (Thursday), and I finally understood the big picture on what we had set out to learn this week. What’s scary about the whole thing was the fact that everything I learned this week was immensely applicable to my job at Nortel. What a weird and unexpected surprise; actually learning something useful and applicable in school…I think I’m going to like this program.
Another big surprise this week was how quickly the class has bonded. I already know that I’ve made life-long friends. It feels kind of weird. I’m not sure if every class feels that way every year, but this class has got chemistry and everyone is just so diverse and friendly. I guess we all have a few things in common: 1. We’re all new to the town, and are going through the same hardships, and 2. We are all executive wannabe’s with stratospheric aspirations. I must admit that being in a class room of 70 Type A personalities is a bit intimidating and competitive; imagine being in a room where everyone is an eager-beaver trying to make the first impression. I caught myself sitting back on the first two days, overwhelmed by how smart everyone was, and being extraordinarily silent….on day 3 through 5 I tried to make more of impression and I think I’m starting to find my place. What is neat about the class is that it’s so diverse; the power of diversity is really starting to become apparent. I like being surrounded by people who have different backgrounds (i.e. not all engineers or high tech folks). There are lawyers, doctors, engineers, bankers, energy folks, non-profit social workers, and entrepreneurs all under one roof…pretty amazing experience.
The first thing people generally ask you when you meet them here is 1. Where are you from?, and 2. Where do you work? When I respond that I work at Nortel, it’s amazing to see how negative peoples’ reactions are….” that company is still around?”, “that damn share price…when is going up?” It’s really starting to become annoying….especially because I still believe in the company so much. I guess I was a bit surprised at how emotional people get towards Nortel. I never realized how many people were invested in it during the boom and the bust. I guess I sympathize with them, but I like to look toward the future and not the past.
I guess I’ve written a bit much for this entry…. Did I mention London is really starting to grow on me? More on that next time.
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