Day 1

In summary the first day was awesome.

Everyone showed up in formal business attire (i.e. suit and tie) for 9 AM.

We were all greeted by the staff for the MBA program and a complimentary continental breakfast was served. After hanging my coat and stowing my laptop in the room provided I joined the others who were already mingling. Everyone was just l standing around enjoying breakfast in the beautiful atrium of Goodes Hall and introducing themselves to their fellow classmates. Various staff members were mingling with the students and they all knew us by name.

Once the class was called to order and we all sat in chairs set-up in the atrium where Dr.Scott Blake delivered an introduction speech. Bill Blake and Lori Granier addressed the class and discussed the program and the journey all the students are about to embark on. Also, introduction to the various different staff members for different aspects of the program (i.e. “fit to lead” fitness instructor, career centre people, various administration staff, etc.). We were also given the breakdown of the class for 2009. 77 students that were picked from 1,500 applicants. The average age is 28 years old, the average GMAT score is 674, and the average years of work experience it 4.5 years. Approximately half the class is comprised of international students. Academic backgrounds are as follows:

• Engineering& technology = 52%
• Science = 27%
• Arts = 12%
• Other = 9%

The students were then ushered into the lecture theatre where we were made aware of the many opportunities to participate in various organizations on campus and in international exchanges are available. However, to take full advantage of these opportunities depends on how much effort we are willing to invest as is the case with so many other things in life. “You will get out of the program what you put in to it.”

There was a brief mid-morning break for more mingling and coffee in the atrium at approximately 11 AM for 15 minutes.

Following the break we were introduced to a few members from the class that had just graduated. They discussed their experience and the upcoming “hand-off” of various clubs and student executive functions that would happen later in the week. They also discussed etiquette rules that would help us all get along (i.e. not coming in late, no eating meals in class, no cell phones turned on in the lecture theatre, etc.) . I won’t list them all here, but they all made sense and I definitely think that they will help such a diverse group of people function well together.
A buffet lunch was served from 12:15 PM to 1:30 PM and we were all given the task of completing a trivia sheet on our fellow students. The exercised definitely helped us all get to know each other better.

Following lunch we were introduction to the IT department. After a powerpoint presentation on the various computer and printer facilities and support available the class brought out their laptops to install Lotus Notes with assistance from the IT staff. We were given a student copy of Microsoft Office 2007 as well as access to the server and instructed to download and install various software programs on our own.

At 3:30 PM there was an optional tour of campus that took approximately 45 minutes.
After the tour there was time to make a quick trip home to change before heading off to a casual meet and greet scheduled for 5:30 PM at “The University Club” where the families of the candidates were invited. 2 drinks and a buffet were provided. Lots of good conversations and fun were had by all.

After the meet and greet I wandered on over to the Kingston Yacht Club with a couple of my new friends with a shared interest in sailing to see what could possibly happen to make arrangements for willing participants from the MBA Class of 2009 to take advantage of sailing either in larger “sharks” or in smaller “420” dinghies.

Back home to continue unpacking and to get ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow is “dress casual” (i.e. dress shirt, pants, and shoes, but no jacket and tie) and goes from 8:30 AM to 10 PM. The rest of the week will see us heavily involved in team building, personal strength building, “fit to lead”, IT, and registration. Almost every evening promises to run later therefore Queen’s is supplying lunch and dinner this week. This will not be the case next week.

Although the rest of the first week promises to be very intense, but next week looks like we will settle into an 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM routine with a break for lunch and the evenings to do group work or homework.