Tuesday, February 28, 2006
The Turner Episode
After all that Paranoia in P2 about Prof. JC knowing about my blog, this time it caught me by surprise. "You were given enough clues" said Patrick Turner, my favorite professor (well this is not made up if you read my other posts already ;-)) when I went to his office to say good bye. Today was the last day of the period and it did catch me by surprise. But then I am glad it was less embarassing than being caught by our IT prof. especially before the grades were released
:-D.
The Period Ends
The period ends and for once everyone feels very nostalgic. There are reasons for it. One some singapore starters will never get to see singapore again because they plan to spend time either in Fonty or Wharton / Fonty combo. I can't be emotional for singapore because I afterall felt like a broke tourist all the time. The coursework of course was exceptional. I certainly had the best "pack of professors" amidst all three periods but then I am sure it was simply attributed to the "self-selection" involved in electives. I think as I leave singapore, I leave very positive impressions of a country "that works" and a program that has the same high standards and quality ! I find a lot of +s to doing your INSEAD MBA in singapore. Here are a few broad categories
A lot better focus on Entrepreneurship compared to Fonty.
A great city life with a lot of life outside INSEAD.
Cheap tickets for the weekend to exotic places like Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Small campus, feels a lot less french and friendly (did I say that?)
The Fonty Househunt.
I start P4 in fonty in a few days and I still don't have a house. So I need to go and do that after I finish writing all the reports I need to turn in for P3 :-).
After all that Paranoia in P2 about Prof. JC knowing about my blog, this time it caught me by surprise. "You were given enough clues" said Patrick Turner, my favorite professor (well this is not made up if you read my other posts already ;-)) when I went to his office to say good bye. Today was the last day of the period and it did catch me by surprise. But then I am glad it was less embarassing than being caught by our IT prof. especially before the grades were released
:-D.
The Period Ends
The period ends and for once everyone feels very nostalgic. There are reasons for it. One some singapore starters will never get to see singapore again because they plan to spend time either in Fonty or Wharton / Fonty combo. I can't be emotional for singapore because I afterall felt like a broke tourist all the time. The coursework of course was exceptional. I certainly had the best "pack of professors" amidst all three periods but then I am sure it was simply attributed to the "self-selection" involved in electives. I think as I leave singapore, I leave very positive impressions of a country "that works" and a program that has the same high standards and quality ! I find a lot of +s to doing your INSEAD MBA in singapore. Here are a few broad categories
A lot better focus on Entrepreneurship compared to Fonty.
A great city life with a lot of life outside INSEAD.
Cheap tickets for the weekend to exotic places like Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Small campus, feels a lot less french and friendly (did I say that?)
The Fonty Househunt.
I start P4 in fonty in a few days and I still don't have a house. So I need to go and do that after I finish writing all the reports I need to turn in for P3 :-).
Friday, February 17, 2006
Frank Brown Open House
Frank Brown is the new dean of INSEAD taking over later this year. We finally had a chance to say hello to him (I had to sneak out of class to be there for a few minutes but it was worth it). Extremely candid about what he wants to do for the school, he was very candid in responding to some very tough student questions. He did not commit to any "new schools in any specific geography" although he agreed that there are certainly expansion plans in his years as the dean. He had areas where he saw huge improvements on its way especially with respect to recruiters, MBA alumni relations and fund-raising. He looks like a "doer" and If I ever had a "Buy" rating on INSEAD, today seems to switch it to a "Strong Buy".
Frank Brown is the new dean of INSEAD taking over later this year. We finally had a chance to say hello to him (I had to sneak out of class to be there for a few minutes but it was worth it). Extremely candid about what he wants to do for the school, he was very candid in responding to some very tough student questions. He did not commit to any "new schools in any specific geography" although he agreed that there are certainly expansion plans in his years as the dean. He had areas where he saw huge improvements on its way especially with respect to recruiters, MBA alumni relations and fund-raising. He looks like a "doer" and If I ever had a "Buy" rating on INSEAD, today seems to switch it to a "Strong Buy".
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Coming Soon !!!
1. The Malaysia Trip !
2. Whacky INSEADers - I think I am going to write about 3 wierdest INSEADers in my six months here :-)
3. Is INSEAD Crazy ? (How many things am I supposed to do this week)
4. The "Logoff" Contest: DS loses the opportunity to log-someone off due to "absence of creativity".
1. The Malaysia Trip !
2. Whacky INSEADers - I think I am going to write about 3 wierdest INSEADers in my six months here :-)
3. Is INSEAD Crazy ? (How many things am I supposed to do this week)
4. The "Logoff" Contest: DS loses the opportunity to log-someone off due to "absence of creativity".
Thursday, February 09, 2006
The Dash
I am sure the Olivier Mineau blog has a lot of pictures of this great INSEAD tradition, I chose to miss :-(. The Heritage Dash is a great event. One day everyone agrees to wear all kinds of crazy costumes and run to school in 3 minutes from one of the condos here to INSEAD. This is a strictly singaporean thing. Its supposed to be a spectacle and I won't depress myself by describing it again..
The thing is I woke up at 5 this morning and couldn't sleep anymore until about 8. I was thinking of making myself an "FT Vest" (the geek that I am) but overslept enough to even miss a class...
I am sure the Olivier Mineau blog has a lot of pictures of this great INSEAD tradition, I chose to miss :-(. The Heritage Dash is a great event. One day everyone agrees to wear all kinds of crazy costumes and run to school in 3 minutes from one of the condos here to INSEAD. This is a strictly singaporean thing. Its supposed to be a spectacle and I won't depress myself by describing it again..
The thing is I woke up at 5 this morning and couldn't sleep anymore until about 8. I was thinking of making myself an "FT Vest" (the geek that I am) but overslept enough to even miss a class...
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Attention Wannabe
I am in Malaysia this weekend. So if you see this and give me the privilage of adding a name to a face email me before friday.
Broke and Yet on a trip
I am completely broke at the moment, thanks to my inability to access my french bank account - I owe the rent for Feb and then I have to pay for my malaysia trip this weekend...how do I manage
Meeting with L'Optimiste
I finally caught up with a few minutes with blogger L'Optimiste for a few minutes - Amazing guy...was totally impressed how clueful the guy is in P1 or should I say P0 considering the Pre-MBA internship he did with a leading I-Bank. He certainly does have high standards for fellow classmates, yet, I found him to be extremely composed, and goal oriented. Good job L'optimiste, you did make a great impression on the deathspiral ;-). (a contrast even in the name Optimiste and Deathspiral are antonyms eh).
Disaster Recovery
The week has started on a disasterous note. I have a guest tomorrow, the MD of one of the divisions of my former employer visiting the campus. Its going to be a busy day with 3 classes. i have given myself a "Reading holiday"...meaning walk into classes without reading the days "prescribed reading" :-)
Tons happenning but gotta get going. Cheers
I am in Malaysia this weekend. So if you see this and give me the privilage of adding a name to a face email me before friday.
Broke and Yet on a trip
I am completely broke at the moment, thanks to my inability to access my french bank account - I owe the rent for Feb and then I have to pay for my malaysia trip this weekend...how do I manage
Meeting with L'Optimiste
I finally caught up with a few minutes with blogger L'Optimiste for a few minutes - Amazing guy...was totally impressed how clueful the guy is in P1 or should I say P0 considering the Pre-MBA internship he did with a leading I-Bank. He certainly does have high standards for fellow classmates, yet, I found him to be extremely composed, and goal oriented. Good job L'optimiste, you did make a great impression on the deathspiral ;-). (a contrast even in the name Optimiste and Deathspiral are antonyms eh).
Disaster Recovery
The week has started on a disasterous note. I have a guest tomorrow, the MD of one of the divisions of my former employer visiting the campus. Its going to be a busy day with 3 classes. i have given myself a "Reading holiday"...meaning walk into classes without reading the days "prescribed reading" :-)
Tons happenning but gotta get going. Cheers
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Announcement
Belated Happy birthday buddy wannabe. You share a birthday with the most important person in my life and yet, I didn't wish you. Happy Birthday and I promise not to miss it next time.
Today
Despite 6 hours of lectures today, I am all energized to blog all night long. We had a listening experiment in Social Psychology in Management class. This is becoming my favorite class. The class was structured like a workshop and the last interactive session was when the prof wanted us to speak in our native languages and the 'listener' had to be someone who didn't understand the languages. The problem to be discussed was "something deep and emotional". It was so interesting to hear the portugese. When I spoke in my native language (which I bet you haven't heard of) my listener understood all the emotions I went through. It is amazing how much we take for granted about body language. It was an amazing class.
VOBM class was good today too. We listened to a very modest entrepreneur from India. Electives...sigh ! I love them !
Ok guys - taken off the earlier post (in the first time in the history of my blogs existance) simply because the very idea of having a blog of this kind is to ramble what you want, when you want without being suspicous about being "judged". Sorry Kv...if you missed the "Tagging post".
Belated Happy birthday buddy wannabe. You share a birthday with the most important person in my life and yet, I didn't wish you. Happy Birthday and I promise not to miss it next time.
Today
Despite 6 hours of lectures today, I am all energized to blog all night long. We had a listening experiment in Social Psychology in Management class. This is becoming my favorite class. The class was structured like a workshop and the last interactive session was when the prof wanted us to speak in our native languages and the 'listener' had to be someone who didn't understand the languages. The problem to be discussed was "something deep and emotional". It was so interesting to hear the portugese. When I spoke in my native language (which I bet you haven't heard of) my listener understood all the emotions I went through. It is amazing how much we take for granted about body language. It was an amazing class.
VOBM class was good today too. We listened to a very modest entrepreneur from India. Electives...sigh ! I love them !
Ok guys - taken off the earlier post (in the first time in the history of my blogs existance) simply because the very idea of having a blog of this kind is to ramble what you want, when you want without being suspicous about being "judged". Sorry Kv...if you missed the "Tagging post".
