Tuesday, November 17, 2009

At Kellogg so far

It is now almost three months that my MBA program at Kellogg has begun. So far, things have been very exciting with so much gained. In the midterm exams I scored 100% in two courses (Finance and "Decision Making under Uncertainty") and 90% in the other two courses (Business Strategy and Accounting); but then, it is no big deal - about 50% students in the class score more than 90% in the subject !! So, my performance itself did not excite me much; but, the new concepts I learned and the distinct perspectives and insights I gained in these subjects did enthrall me.

Particularly, the concepts in Finance instantaneously appealed to the natural quantitative and analytical person inside me, and did increase my appetite for more advanced Finance. As I sat through the Finance-1 course and discussed/debated many concepts with the professor, the question that continuously recurred in my mind was "why did I not take up this fascinating subject of Finance earlier?". And, no wonder the Career-Leader assessment (which I took as part of the requirement before the program started at Kellogg) came up with the "Corporate Finance Analysis" as one of the highly recommended post-MBA career paths for me!!

Perhaps, the "Finance guy" was always in me - albeit in a more informal away; as Neelima and I assessed numerous times the finance involved when buying our home - later refinancing the mortgage - and eventually selling the home, when diversifying our investment portfolios in stocks, real estate, and in other resources, when buying or selling our cars, an so on, it was me who raised the capital and did the budgeting while Neelima identified and picked suitable portfolios to invest !!

I won my first three rounds of tennis matches in the Kellogg Tennis club ladder tournament and am due to play the fourth round soon. More than winning, it is always fun playing and meeting new people and making friends as part of this tennis club; I am thrilled to be one in the student community at Kellogg that is ever enthusiastic and ever ready to be part of something that is fun and competitive.

I got elected as my section's academic representative to the Kellogg Student Association (KSA). The secret ballot election did get me majority of votes over my good friend Orlando after a competitive campaigning. While the work as the representative consumes time, I am deeply excited to be part of the body that can make a significant contribution to the academics at Kellogg. While I tried, I did not get selected to positions in the Finance club and one other group. And anyway, my non-selection was a blessing in disguise as I eventually saw the course work and recruiting activities amassed and also found myself somewhat occupied with Aadya's birth and the sale of our home in October.

In a few weeks time, the Fall quarter is coming to an end with our final exams scheduled a week after the Thanksgiving break. I am gearing up to deal with the final exams (I am at the receiving end now, after until more recently being on the other side of the aisle!).

As I travel to Dallas right after the last exam on December 10th, I will have only four days to spend with Vedant before Neelima and kids go to India on 14th to stay there for a while. The thought that I will not be seeing them again until at least March is a bit daunting to me. And it is even more dejecting that the Chicago's insanely egregious temperatures in winter will freeze the time as well!! I only hope that the intense recruiting months of January and February at Kellogg will melt the time faster.

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