Week 43: Electives - Block C (t-minus 8 weeks)

Week 43...gone. Another week passes and we are have completed the first week of Block C electives. That leaves 8 weeks of classes until the program is finished. Also, it is raining hard today and as a result I suspect the vast majority of the remaining snow will disappear. Unfortunately this also means the outdoor rinks are going to go with the snow.

A Facebook group for the incoming 2010 class has been established. Only accepted and confirmed students are allowed to join. A number of us from the current class have been asked to join this group and answer any potential questions the incoming students have to help make the transition as smooth as possible.

Nothing new with the Tri-Colour Fund, New Venture Project, or Consulting Project courses. They are still in limbo and working pretty much on a self-directed basis. A couple of our classmates were in Louisiana for a business plan competition (I think this is the one, but could be wrong). In addition, a couple of our classmates are out in Vancouver trying to see if their plan to find gold will pan out.

Investments is the finance course this block and the one I am enrolled. The professor, Sean Cleary, is very knowledgeable, but lacks the enthusiasm and passion some of our previous professors have exhibited. The text for this course is selected chapters from the CFA "investment series" (ie "Managing Investment Portfolios" and "Equity Asset Valuation"). This week is on portfolio management for individuals and institutional investors. Next week is focused on the asset valuation material. Today we had Peter Jarvis as a guest speaker in class. Peter is the Executive Director of Toronto CFA Society and has held a number of very senior roles with various investment and retirement boards.

Services Management, the consulting&project management course, has also started. From what I have heard it is a fair bit of work, but all of it rather fun. People are working in groups to present and it looks like there are some individual memos that need to be completed for the cases/material covered in the classes.

Advanced Topics in Marketing, the marketing&sales course, is the final course. This course has started off on a good foot and there is a group presentation involved. I will find out more for my next posting.

I would like to again mention my classmates blog on his experience in India at ISB. His experience may not be representative of all exchange experiences, but it does bring to light some of the challenges that studying abroad can present.

This week the point four was at "Fanatics", a sports bar. We are also having a mixer with the law and medicine students this evening at "The Joy Supper Club", but prior to that a bunch of people are planning to attend a local OHL game. Saturday is a "scrabble" party where attendees wear a letter and go around trying to make as many different words as possible. Also, fit-to-lead has arranged a ski trip to Calabogie. The MBA hockey team also had a game this week and a few people are still making time to play squash.

Not much else to report on. The BCC has been helping me to continue to find opportunities to apply to. In addition, I have been contacting alumni for informational interviews to see what potential opportunities may be available both now and in the future.

I'm still having trouble believing there are only 8 weeks left.