What Fuqua's all about...

I remember when I was applying to Fuqua, I had a hard time finding current student's Fuqua blogs, and not being able to visit the school as I was international (and the ticket was steep!), really left me wishing I could get a glimpse of a current student's life :) So, if any of you are in the same situation, here's a collection of my random thoughts on Fuqua, what makes it stand out amongst other B-schools, and what I've enjoyed about it so far.

Some common topics that you always wonder about:
1) School culture.
"Team Fuqua", yea baby, that's what its all about!

For me, Fuqua's greatest strengths are its focus on Team Fuqua (collaborative, team culture) and diversity. Roughly 40% of our incoming batch is international - and quite diverse - from nationalities, backgrounds, work experiences - everything. We get quite a few people from "non-traditional" backgrounds as well e.g. some of my batchmates are professional sports players, some have done non profit work in Latin America and Africa, some have had their own businesses, some have been school teachers. My favorite so far? Our batch is quite sporty- a professional (ex) NFL player, NBA player, and a tennis player too.

So, what really is Team Fuqua? Well, it basically means that you think as "we", not " I", to put it very simply. It means you should think globally, you cannot succeed individually - have to be able to benefit from and help others along your career and personal growth. The school prizes itself on its team-oriented approach - it's a close knit school. Probably this also has to do with the location - Durham's a small(er) city, sort of like a college town (but not quite), it's very different from the big city life you would get in NYC for example - as a result, you get to socialise with and see more of your classmates much more than I would expect for a larger city.

My favorite? Almost always see a classmate at Super Target when I do my quick 10 minute sprint of picking up some basic groceries or buying folders for the heavy course packs :P

2) What is student life like?
Student life is fast, crazy hectic, diverse, social, stress, fun, food, corporate presentations, friends, cultural activities, blur. It's all that, and much more. Why I find this question tough to answer, is because you really can't put down on paper (oops, blog), the whirlwind of activites that encompass a typical MBA student's day. But anyway, I'll try to be more specific.

One of the things I have enjoyed has been "Fuqua Friday" - basically every Friday, we have a 2 hour social event at school - with a theme. So a few weeks ago, as part of INDUS (South Asian MBA Club), we organised a Diwali Fuqua Friday; other Fuqua Fridays have also been done by other student clubs such as Chinese New Year, Jewish New year, Eid, Oktoberfest etc. It's a great chance to just socialise with your classmates and seniors (its open to 1st year and 2nd year MBAs, plus their families) who you may not have seen on regular weekdays due to the work load. It's also an amazing way of just learning so much about different cultures. The INDUS Fuqua Friday saw a lot of us teaching bhangra to our class mates :)

3) Some cool things?
Okay, so I find these things cool - its pretty subjective.
1) The GATE / GCP trips - I'm doing a GATE (Global Academic Travel Experience) trip to Latin America in March - other locations this year which you could choose from were S. Africa, Russia, China, S.E.Asia and Middle East.

2) Love Durham's greenery. Very pretty.

3) Mentored study opportunities.

4) Habitat for Humanity - any weekend, or whenever you feel like, you can help Fuqua build houses for H4H ( above) - it's pretty cool, plus such a good way of distracting your mind from the usual academic talk.

More later, I guess. Thought I'd throw this out in time for those of you eyeing the R1 deadline in case you had any queries on Fuqua!

Happy to help on any last minute queries, just leave a post.

Fuqua - first month!

So , I finally found a free half hour in between events and thought I'd update y'all (apparently y'all is a very Durham/N.Carolina/ Southern-ish phrase, so i'm going to use it!) on life at Fuqua.

To all prospectives, hopefully this should give you a better idea of what b-school is like just as you're approaching your early-D or other deadlines.

So, after orientation, we all had a compulsory 1 month pre-term called "Global Institute" - which basically consists of two courses: Leadership Ethics & Organisations (LEO), and Global Institutions & Environments (GIE). So primarily, we had classes of LEO and GIE every weekday from Mon- Fri (at least thats what I can remember - seems so long ago!)

In a nut shell, what do you learn from the Global Institute?
Well, it's one of the only times when you pretty much get to see the WHOLE of your batch i.e. 450 people, so you can interact with people from other sections as you're all on similar schedules and courses.

In LEO, we learn about basic concepts that managers / employers consider when building organisations such as decision making, motivation, organisational culture, how to have constuctive discussions etc - it's a great course to build up your skill set prior to the "real" b-school classes/ world. We had some fun activities in this, such as Triangle training day - a day where you get to go to an outside resort of sorts, do rock climbing, role playing, balancing on ropes, and other physical activities that really build your knowledge of how working in a team is. e.g. in rock climbing, you (4 people) are all linked to one another from a rope, and so the leader can't move on, because he's limited by the people beneath him (his team) - lesson learnt? one person can't move ahead while others lack, you need to develop as a team. it was also a great opportunity to get to know your team members i n a non-academic setting.

GIE course is more macro- and teaches you concepts of efficiency - how to view different ideas, markets and economies based on their institutions, the level of efficency of institutions etc. i found it quite interesting.

So after the Global Institute, we had a few days break (not really, they had some compulsory career days in between!!), and what ensued was the blur, haze and speed of life, i like to call "B-School".

let me just say one thing - it is SUPER fast. I mean i thought i knew what a hectic life meant, what it means to be busy all day long, but honestly, this is a new level :) it's fun though - as we're just now building onto the summer internship recruiting/company presentation/ student clubs info sessions.

We have team assignments due almost every class, so make sure you have / build a good rapport with your 6/7 member first year team during the Global Institute. This team is the one you will work on for ALL courses and ALL team assignments until Jan of your first year. The teams are formed randomly, and they try to ensure there is diversity of background, work experience and academic experience in each team.

e.g. in my FY team of 6 people, there are 3 Americans and 3 Internationals. Our cumulated work experiences and backgrounds span the US, Latin America, Japan, Europe, China, S. Asia and parts of Africa as well - now that is what Fuqua really is all about - diversity.

So that's me for now - i'm off to run an info session with Second Years to learn more about what their summer internships were.

By the way - in case any of you prospectives have any specific questions on Fuqua or life at Fuqua, feel free to write a post and I'll reply to your queries.

Adios!

Fuqua finally!

Just wanted to let you know (provided I still have blogger readers :)) i'm still alive, and very much living through orientation O-week... not just that, but i'm loving it so far!! The past 2 days (orientation is 3 days long, so we have had the first 2 so far), have been crazy, fun, hectic, partying, and well, even more hectic. it's really been amazing - my initial thoughts on Fuqua, Team Fuqua, the resources, the expectations, and what orientation has to offer are to follow soon ( i promise!).

I'm surviving on 4 hours of sleep per night (for the past 2 nights), so it's difficult writing all my initial thoughts right now! Hoping to put forth something in a few days (or once i get a good nap), on this blog! 

Stay posted, and Fuqua rocks :)

Coming to America :)

In our part of the world, America is oft thought of as 'the land of opportunities' or the 'greener side' of the grass :) And so, as time has just flown by , I am now in the US! The last few weeks had me overwhelmed and so caught up with packing, shopping, packing, sleeping, learning how to cook basic stuff, getting my driver's license updated, buying cds of my favorite music, and basically packing once again!

And so, the weeks really sped by, until it came to my departure flight, and I realised it really has been long since I blogged the updates of my journey. And for some odd reason, the murmurs of 'Going to America' by Neil Diamond flashed through my head as I boarded my flight. Corny, eh? :d

For now, I'm spending a vacationary week in New York, before I head to Durham. the few days in Durham before classes start should be good enough to settle in, buy furniture, basic apartment stuff and all. 

I've been to new york about twice before, for 2-3 weeks, so I'm not doing the typical touristy stuff of going to statue of liberty, and seeing the museums. but boy, I really do love the museums, particularly the one on natural history. Anyway, so this week is more about relaxing, spending a rainy day at a small cafe in brooklyn with a good book, walking around, enjoying some of the sales at macy's :P , and taking life a little slow. Any suggestions on fun stuff to see while I'm here though would be much appreciated!!

Things on my list for now are seeing the new Highline park in Manhattan and seeing a play at Broadway.

Stay tuned for my life in Durham, Fuqua, and the MBA-life as it engulfs me only next week!!

It's been a while...

It's been a while since I last blogged. 2 weeks almost i think. Wow, so much has happened in these 2 weeks.

For starters, the panic mode is starting to kick in a little. Not a lot, just a little. Not really panic either, more of the realization that henceforth starts my last month at home, in this phase of life. :)

Other than that, the past two weeks have had me both elated and grieved. Elated, i say, because we won the ICC 20-20 World Cup, and in doing so, we won our first major cricket trophy after 17 years. Wow, that really was great. It was actually amazing seeing how sport (and at that cricket!) seems to unite people and give them something to be happy about!

In other news, Michael Jackson passed away. And with his death, he took away a generation's childhood. As I watched the TV programs re-living his life, his songs, his legend, I related each of his songs to a phase of our lives, of the times when we first heard his songs. I wish I could have heard him live in concert though, I'm sure he would have been phenomenal. Despite all the controversies and scandals that engulfed his life in the past decade or so, I do know this - he truly was a legend. It's really not often that you come across an artist, a musician, a singer who can make his/her mark across the whole world. MJ did just that. 

:) More later!

Ain't nothing but a Summer Jam...

This ain't nothing but a summer jam....bronze skin and cinnamon tans....ohh...

Man I love that song (yes i know it's gotten old, but every summer i still feel like listening to it!!). And so it's June already - the *almost* peak of the summer. I'd say mid June - mid July starts off the worst time - the unbearable heat, the stifling heat, the long afternoon naps that are so hard to resist. But with the heat, the sweat, and the passing of another season, something good does come. And not just good, but heavenly good. I'm talking about the mangoes.

Man, I could write a whole blog series on the mangoes. The mangoes of the sub-continent are famous for their rich aroma, their addictive sweetness, the soft pulpy flesh, and the varied kinds that exist. So that's what summer signifies for me.

On other fronts, my MBA preparations are still going. I'm learning to cook the food's I'll miss most. I'm expecting a CD in June, which will have a pre-course work program (Math and stuff) we're all supposed to do before starting Fuqua. So, yea, looking forward to that - i really need to get used to this study routine! After such a break from studies, getting used to the work routine, I'm wondering whether it will be easy to adjust the back-to-school (studying) life. Hm, well only time will tell.

Celebratory MBA chocolate cake!!!

There are various kinds of chocolate cakes - there's the kind you crave for at midnight, then the one you crave after lunch, the one you crave when you're feeling low, the kind you crave when you want to reminisce about your childhood... and finally, there's the one you crave while enjoying your pre-MBA celebrations :)

So here it is! For me, this is it - the cake I'd have (and have had...yummm!) to celebrate my MBA. I can just taste the rich chocolatey icing, the nicely textured cakey slice, the intense chocolate after-taste, and the ensuing feeling of satiety. 

This is a tried-and-tested recipe. I (and many others) have made it for many many years now - it's a safe, chocolate bet. Follow the recipe and trust me, you won't go wrong. Oh, one more thing, i hate cake recipes that use 'xox cake mixes, instant puddings and so on'.  I like cakes that are made from scratch - you feel a greater sense of achievement :D

So, without much ado, here it is:

(Source: Hamlyn's cookbook)

Ingredients:

4 oz. plain flour

1.5 tea spoon baking powder

0.25 tea spoon salt

1.5 oz. cocoa

4 oz. butter

4 oz sugar

2 eggs, blended

1 tablespoon milk

For icing:

1.5 oz butter

1 oz cocoa

3-4 tablespoons milk

4 oz. icing sugar

(The picture I took of the cake I made, utilized 2 times this recipe). 

Sieve together flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa. In another bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add eggs a little at a time, beating well. Fold sieved ingredients into mixture with milk. Mix well. Turn into greased tin. Bake for about 40-45 minutes at 170-180 C/ 375 F until centre of sponge springs back when lightly pressed (you can stick a fork in to test if done - if fork comes out clean, then cake is ready). 

Icing: Melt butter for icing. Add cocoa. Cook over low heat for 1-1.5 minutes. Add milk and sugar, and cook over low heat until you get a creamyish icing. Note: Add the sugar to suit your taste, as 4 oz may be too excessive. I usually go with about 2-2.5 oz  sugar for the icing.

Spread the slightly warm icing on the relatively cooled down cake. ENJOY!!