It’s been a few weeks since my last entry and I feel like I have a lot to say; I’ll save some of my talk for my next entry. It’s pretty late now and I’m tired so excuse my typos and grammatical errors. My brother and his family are coming up tonight from Ottawa. I’m looking forward to their visit. My newborn baby niece Sanya is coming and I look forward to seeing her and holding her (I haven’t seen her since the day she was born). When I left Ottawa, I realized that having a bit of distance between the family and myself was somewhat of a relief. Don’t get me wrong; I love my family and am very family-oriented but I just needed some space. I’m now getting to the point where I miss them and look forward to seeing them.
On Canada Day long weekend, Geeta and I got a bit more of a chance to spend time together. We went for a 5km run in the pouring rain. What an experience! If you’ve never run in the rain before, it’s definitely an experience I recommend; how exhilarating, liberating, and refreshening! Mind you, I almost got hit by a car but it was still fun….yes a car skidded toward me on the slick roads while we were crossing. I narrowly missed having two broken legs by jumping out of the way in the last second.
Module 2 of school came in with a bang. We just finished module 2 midterms, which is weird because it feels like I just finished Module 1 finals yesterday. I think the exams went well and I’m feeling good about them. My new philosophy is all about KISS; ” keep it simple stupid.” I tend to over-complicate things (based on my engineering background), and this philosophy seems to be better-suited in the business management world. So far so good with module 2’s accounting, finance, and strategy course load. I’m enjoying the courses and the content. I find accounting and finance have a fair amount of overlap especially in the areas of Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Cash Flow Statement analysis; definitely aspects you need to understand in any leadership/management position. I had a good chat with my eldest brother about these courses and he gave me some good advice; “you’re not going to be an accountant or a financial controller; just learn the basics and don’t worry about the details.” I couldn’t agree more and I’m doing my best to stay at a higher level of learning. Strategy seems to be somewhat like the Leading People and Organization course from module 1; more on the soft-skill side. I tend to enjoy debates and high level, non-quantitative discussions, so I think I’ll like this class quite a bit. The professors all seem very interesting; Professor Hatch (teacher for Finance) served on the board of directors for Royal Bank, which I think is quite neat and prestigious.
With 2.5 months passed in the program, I’m starting to get a good feel about the advantages and disadvantages of a 1 year full-time MBA program. First the advantages: 1. You are out of the workforce for ½ the time of a regular 2 year program which is definitely cheaper from a opportunity cost, salary, and living cost perspective, 2. There isn’t any concrete evidence in my opinion that a 1 year program from a reputable school jeopardizes your employment opportunities, 3. The increased intensity of a condensed program takes your work ethic and endurance up a notch which puts those interested in iBanking and Management Consulting in the right mode of operation. In terms of disadvantages: 1. Sometime I wish I could slow down and take more time with some of the cases and learn them in more depth, but time doesn’t always permit this, 2. For those unsure about their post-MBA path, one has to quickly come to a decision on where they are going to get the most out of the industry specific recruiting cycles which doesn't come quickly for everyone, 3. The pressure and intensity of the program is stressful and one has to become that much more careful to ensure that they stay healthy.
I finally heard back from Mike Zafirovski’s office (CEO of Nortel) on my attempt to get him to speak at Ivey. Unfortunately, he won’t be making it. I’m a bit disappointed but have decided to focus my efforts on getting one of his cabinet members to come in. I was thinking of asking Lauren Flaherty, Chief Marketing Officer, and one of Canada’s 100 most powerful women (Business Week survey). Update to follow.
After 9 long weeks, my bronchitis is almost beat. I decided to force myself to get more sleep over the last few weeks and its working. I’m keeping up with the exercise and I’m a full 10 pounds lighter then when I started the program. I feel good, and my appetite is starting to pick up again. Of course it helps when you’ve got a supportive wife that cooks so well ;)
I started writing a speech for one of my best friend’s upcoming wedding. I’ve known this person since Grade 4, and am honoured to be one of his two best men. Writing a speech for someone you’ve known so long is often tougher then one would think. I’ve been having a tough time thinking of humorous stories; although I know we have so many. Hopefully it will come to me soon.
On a final note, my eleven year old niece in Dallas got her first email address and I was pleasantly surprised to get an email from her. I can’t believe how quickly she is growing up. I still remember holding her as a new born, and now emailing! How cool is that.
Until next time…
Sacha
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