6 weeks are gone. I feel like it was only yesterday when I arrived at RSM. Honeymoon is over, I no longer care about under-eye concealer and coffee is my best friend now. The stronger, the better. Seems like I inhale every morning with the everlasting alarm melody, which wakes me up exactly at 8am, and exhale only when I hold the pillow late at night. A few seconds trying to remember what was going on during the day, then everything starts to fade: the brain just switches off.
I never expected this much of a teamwork. Diversity, which we strived for before coming here opened his arms and embraced us. I could hardly imagine anything more diverse and hard at the same time. Six people in a team, six different opinions and perspectives on the same subject. Everybody is trying to be a team player and a leader, to be uniform and unique at the same time. Coming from a monoethnic society, it is really hard for me to overcome the difference, because every word or move or even a glance is a challenge, as I never know what the cultural difference prepared for me as a surprise. I am learning from people around me.
In spite of this, the biggest challenge for me so far was the ability to listen to people. I did not even suspect, that I need to develop patience. If I fight this out, the first winning point is there.
RSM became home.
I wish I were here earlier, and I wish this would last longer. I didnt use to enjoy studying so much, and that also surprises me. Two days before I caught myself thinking that the experience which I am going through now is much much better, than working experience. Strange, I know. We spend more time in the school then somewhere else. Case-based studies, movie-watching, real game simulations and competitions are on all the time. No one can keep up with everything, though we are doing our best. Quantity should not replace the quality in this case, and there is no second chance to make things work as good as possible. There is a famous MBA triangle of "Good Grades-->Party-->Sleep", and you can keep up with only two of them, as mentioned Vinnie, our senior. Everybody's doing their best. One more important thing to learn from MBA is the ability to switch to extremelly different things and do those simultaneously.
I wish I were here earlier, and I wish this would last longer. I didnt use to enjoy studying so much, and that also surprises me. Two days before I caught myself thinking that the experience which I am going through now is much much better, than working experience. Strange, I know. We spend more time in the school then somewhere else. Case-based studies, movie-watching, real game simulations and competitions are on all the time. No one can keep up with everything, though we are doing our best. Quantity should not replace the quality in this case, and there is no second chance to make things work as good as possible. There is a famous MBA triangle of "Good Grades-->Party-->Sleep", and you can keep up with only two of them, as mentioned Vinnie, our senior. Everybody's doing their best. One more important thing to learn from MBA is the ability to switch to extremelly different things and do those simultaneously.
My statistics professor made me understand things, which had seemed unreachable to me. Having no relevant educational background, I thought I would never reach the minimum level of substancial knowledge in stats. After his each class I can't stop wondering why these endless distributions, hypothesis and regression analysis seemed rocket science to me so far. We have one of the best professors in the world and this is not an exaggeration, he explains the subject the way you have no chance to misunderstand. He just loves teaching and we can feel it.
And I adore my organizational behavior professor. Bill is great, the way he is: direct, clear, not just communicative, but friendly. Maybe, if I had some more courage, I would ask him out for a beer and chat :)
I am living on the edge. Next week, we are going to Hult Global Case Challenge, to London. LONDON, my dream-city... Still can't believe this is happening to me so fast. Seemed like it was only last week, when I was a child and the world around was built of our small and dark house with no electricity, water, heating and food. 250 grams of muddy brown bread and salty soya margarin - this was our everyday meal. I still remember war, government crash, tanks and soldiers in the streets and my first real fear of death. I was only 7. Hopefully someday this story will become a small TED talk for women, who know what living in fear and hopelessness means.
And last, but not least. Happy Valentine's day from RSM.
Photo: Markus Lodensträter
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