THE WEEKS THAT WHIZZ BY....

In exactly a week’s time, I will be done with my final exams of Term 1. Time seems to be flying past me and waving goodbye while I'm still strolling at a sedate pace. It seems like just a wink back the term had just begun. How do I feel now that the term is coming to an end? Confused? Elated? Depressed? Resigned? Enthused?
To be frank, I feel a mix of all of them.

There is so much to learn out here. I am not strictly talking about the Academics. Though, the academic aspect of learning has been elating though rushed. We seem to be thrust on a roller coaster ride. Are we being tested to see if we still hang on at the end of the ride? Mid term exams 2.5 weeks after the start of the term and final exams another 2.5 weeks after the mid term exams. There have been a whole lot of assignments, quizzes and even more assignments to keep you on your toes while you hope to find time to breathe throughout. The marvel of it all is that I hear that Term 1 is the honeymoon period. The term when things actually move at a relaxed pace. If this is relaxed, I don’t want to really look ahead and gaze into how things are going to be once the other terms happen!! I think I’ve learned to enjoy the academic aspect of learning more post the mid terms. It has taken me time to adjust to it and I hate to admit that it has taken its toll on my mid term results :-(. I guess that though I knew that my peer group out here is brilliant, I never expected to be outrun as fast as I have been. It’s unnerving to find yourself average in Academics, after having topped your class throughout your college years.

Dump the academics. It’s probably one of the most overrated aspects of learning. Truly, think about it. Did your engineering (or any other degree) score really make a difference to how you performed at your work place? I doubt it. With an average work experience of 5 years, you would think that the students out here (baring those with consulting ambitions) would know to not place a lot of credence on their academic performance.
As Rhett Butler would have said, ‘Frankly my dear, I couldn’t give a damn’.

It is for this reason that I am now trying to explore how best can I enhance my learning in a 360 degree manner in the next 10 months. When I first came in, I thought 12 months was a looooong time. Now that nearly 2 months have whizzed by I realize that I was wrong. I need to capitalize on the 10 months that I still have remaining. The kind of facilities, peer group and opportunities that are available here are mind blowing!!

I remember Professor MV telling us on our first day of Financial Accounting, don’t hesitate to ask any question that comes to your mind or fear making a mistake. You’re paying through your nose to be here and learn. You have taken a year off just to learn. So make all the mistakes you want to, because while your mistakes don’t make a difference here, out in the real world as managers mistakes are costly, and you cannot afford to make them.

WHAT DID JUST HIT ME?

Little Miss Red Riding Hood
Was skipping in an enchanted wood,
Twirling a daisy in her hand
Humming a song in la-la land

The sun was dancing to her tune
Waltzing along was the moon
A fox was chasing its own tail
down little Red Riding Hood’s trail

Out of the blue, out of the down
Along came an engine screaming its horn
Knocked little Red Riding Hood down
Snorted, sneered and rode back to town

The mourning sun went to hide
The daisies drooped, the moon she cried,
‘Poor little Miss Red Riding Hood
Skipping alone in an enchanted wood’

‘But’, screeched the owl in a loud aside,
‘Why did she hop where engines ride?’

© Deepti Ravi

P.S. In case your wondering, that’s how I feel post my mid terms :-(

ONE DOWN, ELEVEN TO GO!!

It’s been exactly a month since I stepped my foot first into the campus. A month that has been a roller coaster ride of emotions. I feel a little funny to say this, but a part of me is glad that a month is over and that it’s another 11 months to go. It’s quite weird out here. A part of me loves everything about college while another part of me can’t wait for the experience to stop. Coward. Dr Jekyll and Ms Hyde.

The last two weeks of life out here has been killing. The studies part has especially been pure torture.So many pre reads and so many post reads to be done. It’s just not physically possible to them all. The first week I bent my back twice over trying to keep up and stay anchored to the shore. The second week? I quit.

In Economics we have been learning this zany concept,

MR = MC.

That’s like this crazy mantra that all of us out here chant like it’s a prayer!! Basically, what it does mean is that it doesn’t matter if you keep increasing your revenues. The name of the game is maximizing your profits. This happens when Marginal Revenue = Marginal Costs aka MR=MC. The reason I mention this is because I feel that studying at ISB feels like a real time application of this concept. MR refers to knowledge,enjoyment in learning and marks. MC is time that could be better spent. As long as the knowledge (marks as well) you gain is more than the time you loose that you could have better spent (in the Recreation centre, sleeping, reading a novel, attending some club meetings),' study'.

I need to however find the equation for TC ( Total Cost) and TR ( Total Revenue) of my life here so that I can differentiate ( I don’t just mean the calculus term) the two and try getting some structure in my life here. Otherwise, I don’t think I’m going to be as happy as I should or could be.