AIM Career Placement Update 2: Recruiter's Night

Two weeks ago, AIM's Career Management Services held the Recruiter's Night. The Recruiter's Night is an event where companies took the time to talk to AIM students with the possible opportunity of hiring them, as well as a time to network. A lot of companies, both local and foreign, set-up during the event, which focused on the graduating batch of MBA students.

For us MBA first years, the event was also a time to look for our internships for next year.

Thanks to Cheska Herrera, here are some pictures of the event:

CAN groupmates (L-R): Ravi Shekhar, Reetesh Bhargava, Ruchak Metha, Karen Sumcio, Wang Shu, Russ Lo and Amit Kumar Vijay

MBA Girls (L-R): Karen Sumcio, Cheska Herrera, Jen Valenzuela and Nina Laquindanum

Ready for Recruiter's Night (L-R): Franks Shrope, Paolo Tomas, Me, Karen Sumcio, Michelle Yap and Starrie Sun

Finally Got Listed at the MBA Blogs

Just a quick note, I finally got listed at MBA Blogs at Opencoder.org. The list of blogs at opencoder.org is one of the most comprehensive list of blogs of MBA applicants, students and alumni.

I'm also a bit proud to represent the Asian Institute of Management. Other schools, such as INSEAD, Wharton, Columbia, NUS, etc., have a handful of bloggers, so I do hope there are others folks here at AIM with blogs. :)

Nothing To Be Happy About Today

The streak continues-- today is not a good day for me.

I have been studying Management of Cost and Profit (MCP) for the last few days since coming off being sick last week in preparation of the quiz today. (If you remember a couple of weeks ago, I made it my personal mission to do good in the next MCP quiz.) The first punch in the gut actually came from that MCP quiz. I missed the quiz completely by focusing on a topic that quiz did NOT cover. A totally frustrating exercise-- I did hit the books, but the result wasn't there. Now only a very good showing in class participation (CP), the last quiz, and the finals can save my ass in MCP. (Ack!)

On a slightly less frustrating note, I got an opportune chance to get some CP for our Financial Management (FM) class, but (surprise!) I dropped the ball by getting dumbfounded. Diminishing glory indeed.

Now, the worst part of the day for me personally was the meeting I had with my mentor, Prof. Jun Borromeo in the afternoon. We talked about my performance so far in Microeconomics under Prof. Patt Lontoc and his subject, Human Behavior in Organizations (HBO).

Bad News #1: Prof. Patt's feedback could be seen as an backhanded slap in the face or a nice pat on the back. She basically said in her feedback that she sees my potential, but I tend to back off from participating in her class at the first sign of adversity or contradiction. Translation: Regnard, you got no balls in my class.

Bad news #2: For the HBO class (which happens to be one of my fave subjects), I got a mediocre grade of P. I've always thought I'm doing great in this subject, but Prof. Borromeo told me that I tend to just agree with people and not lead the class discussion. To be honest, I was a bit shocked with the gap between what I though and what the professor thought. (I guess that's what feedback is for). So my marching orders is to try to get of my comfort zone and try to bring something more interesting to the class, rather than the "blah" stuff I've been bringing.

Sheesh, is there no saving grace for this day?

The Opportunity Cost of Getting Sick

There's this TV ad for a multivitamin brand called Clusivol and the Filipino tagline goes "Bawal Magkasakit" which means "Getting sick is not allowed." It couldn't be more true for me or any MBA student here in AIM. Getting sick has a high opportunity cost.

In our Microeconomics class under Prof. Patt Lontoc, I really appreciated the concept of Opportunity Cost, which represents the forgone benefits. It is different from Accounting Cost (or cost that appear in the balance sheet), wherein opportunity costs take into account the "what could have been."

Due to my illness last week, I missed a week of classes, missed to contribute in our Economics Research Report, lost ground in studying for Management of Cost and Profit (MCP) and I also missed a WAC. Outside of school, I missed the 10th Philippine Web Awards Night, which I served as a judge for several categories. As you can see, getting sick really cost me.

So my lesson here is to take care of my health and manage stress better. Because as the TV ad would say: Bawal magkasakit.

The Day The Doctor Won

When it comes to my health, I'm generally stubborn-- the last time I got sick and needed hospitalization, I defiantly opted to forgo the hospital and just take a couple of days off. Perhaps it's my pride again. I've tended to think my body can withstand a great deal of stress, especially having figured in a couple of car crashes a few weeks back.

However, my body started to stagger two weeks ago when I was going to school with fever and coughing. I thought it was one of those routine stress bouts MBA students usually face, so I slugged on. Although I was feeling more weak by the day, I attended classes for that week and even took the sit-down Written Analysis of Cases (WAC), which was a Marketing Management (MM) case, two Saturdays ago. Little did I know that it was going to be a while before I do anything school related after that WAC.

I then went home and proceeded to have a medical check-up with our family doctor. At that point, I really felt my body was in a severely weakened state. I was admitted at the FEU-NRMF hospital and I thought it was OK, but I couldn't afford to miss any school day. I was hoping I could go home the next day.

To my utter disappointment, the doctor told me that I had pneumonia and I needed 72 hours for the medicine I was taking to take effect. My initial tought was, "Sheesh! I'm going to miss a day of school!" I tried to bargain with my doctor, and she said if I could last a day without a fever, I could leave the hospital. Funny she told me that while I was running a 39.9 degree fever. So much for leaving the hospital in two days.

"I am sorry, but you are REALLY sick," were my doctor's words as she told me that apart from my pneumonia, I tested positive for dengue fever. I sunk in to a slight stupor after that. I then realized that schooling now had to take a backseat-- my well-being had to be my top priority. As much defiant I were in the past, I knew I had to defer to my doctor and actually listen to her.

Now a week after of isolation in the hospital and sleepless nights, I am out of the hospital and still recovering. I'm more concerned with my health, but I'm more concerned about not going back to the hospital.

Diwali at AIM

Last week, the AIM community celebrated the Diwali Festival, the Indian festival that celebrates the triumph of good over evil. Thus it has been termed as "The Festival of Lights."

I personally first heard about this feast from my Indian classmates and even our batch, MBA first years, were in-charge of putting the event together. This is good things I like about AIM-- it lets get exposed to new cultures without really leaving home. My Indian classmates treat Diwali the same way I would do to Christmas-- a really festive time and lots of celebration. I also attended my very first Diwali party here in AIM.

Speaking of parties, I'm glad I happened upon this video, courtesy of my classmate Ravi Shekhar, to show one of the nice production numbers the second years had for the Diwali party:

This Is It

I was recently approached by a 2nd year offering me help in Management of Cost and Profit (MCP). He was given feedback by a couple of our professors regarding my abysmal scores in that subject. (My aggregate total is 4.5/37 or 12%). In order to have a good standing in MCP, my aggregate total for the two quizzes should be 18.5/37 or 50%.

I really appreciate that professors are concerned about students. But that is just one half of the equation-- they can sympathize, but at the end of the day, it boils down to how I prepare and study for classes.

I believe that the thing that did me in for MCP is pride. I've underestimated the subject grossly, since it seemed easier than our Language of Business (LOB) course (if you ask me, I still think MCP is easier in terms of topics). I also thought that my skill in math will get me over the hump. So if there's one thing I've learned here is don't be too proud-- it's like the proverbial better team on paper underestimating a weaker opponent and getting beaten.

In line with my new found motivation for MCP, I've set a goal for me for the next two exams: get at least 90% on each so that my average score will meet the "good standing" standard. It's going to be harder work, but I got to leave my pride out of the door.

Light over Darkness

Darkness:

I have plenty of reasons to be gloomy and glum these past few days.

First off, the academics part. It seems I have found my new nemesis for this batch of subjects: Management of Cost and Profit (MCP) under Prof. Mau Bolante.

The subject is not hard in itself, but the exams are a bit tedious and you have to take note of the details. My oversight in the last MCP quiz got me a score of 2/12! I really find it hard to believe that a couple of months ago, I was lamenting my low quiz scores in Language of Business (LOB) under Prof. Larry Tan. Give me a time machine and bring me back to the Pre-MBA days, and I'm sure I'll really kick butt in Financial Accounting.

This past week has been exam-heavy. Two Financial Management (FM) exams and an Economics exam were reasons of our sleepless nights this week. I already got my score for the first of two FM quizzes for the week and I got a not-so-sterling 10/20.

I've also been preoccupied by non-school matters-- I moved out of the dorm, I've been coordinating the repair of not one, but two vehicles that figured in separate major accidents I was in and of course, personal issues that make life a whole lot interesting. Heck, a close friend even told me that I seem to enjoy being in miserable situations. Perfect.


Light:

This week has its downs, but it also has its ups.

I'm glad our Marketing Management (MM) class is back. Our class kinda missed Prof. Joe Miranda's quips and witty one-liners, and it's a breath of fresh air from our quantitative courses. But the cavalry is still coming as next week, our learning team's mentor, Prof. Jun Borromeo, will be back for our Human Behavior in Organizations (HBO).

I'm also looking at the bright side of my move outside of the dorm. Since I left, I've been hanging out more at the Zen Garden and Library, which really forces me to study and at least do some reading, as opposed to being holed up in my room, with the irresistible temptation of napping. I;ve also had the chance to talk to more people.

Finally, I'm thankful and hopeful this week winds down with not so much work and some well-deserved rest. Perfect.

Happy Diwali!

Good Bye, Dorm Life

I checked out of the dorm a few hours ago and that marks the end of my 3-month contract of my stay. I stayed in the dorm because it was required for all MBA first years to stay at least three months in the dormitory to help in the adjustment to the rigorous and pressure-packed environment of AIM.

I'll get this out of the way: the dorm is not really a country club or a 5-star suite, but it's really adequate and cozy. If anybody reading this is looking to study in AIM, you will definitely find the experience in living at the dorm a very interesting one, one way or another.

The dorm has 6 floors. The first floor has the lobby, Student Association (SA) room, student pigeon holes, mini-chapel, and the SA cafe. Living quarters for students start at the second floor up to the sixth floor. Ladies stay in the third floor, with a few rooms for males. The fourth up to the sixth house male students exclusively.

I stayed in the Fourth floor of the dorm-- Room 403 to be exact. Our floor occupants generally are MBA students with a few MM students. Since a good number of the people from our floor are MBA first years, our floor virtually never sleeps, especially during WAC nights. You could also imagine the "neatness" of the rooms in our floor, given that we are all manly men in our own little kingdoms.

As a tribute to the three months of my stay in the AIM dorm, I present to you the Fourth Floor:

401:

402:

404:

406:
407:
408:
My room, 403:
My Desktop:
My roommate's Desktop:

After seeing the pictures, you're probably thinking AIM MBA students are a bunch of slobs, but we're just too busy to tidy things up. The rooms in the Third floor, the female wing especially, are very neat and orderly. (I think I should have taken pictures from their floor).

--

If you intend on staying at the dorm, here's my little list of things to look forward to:

1. The experience of taking a shower with real-time water temperature variation
   
2. The nice room service folks
3. Someone shouting at the hallway due to sheer frustration
4. The aroma of what the last person ate at the common dining area
5. Taking a nice little nap in between classes

Feel free to add to this list. :P

And We're Back

The bad, no the worst, thing about having a break, no matter how short it is, the moment you go back to your normal routine, it's just a tough thing getting into back into the groove.

That's what I'm going through after the short break we had to start this month.

However, my break isn't really a break in the sense that I get to relax. As a matter of fact, it's the total opposite! I was in two major car collisions in the span of a week and the last one, which happened during the break, really shook me up. While it couldn't be said about the car I was driving, I'm really glad nothing really serious happened to me.

This week seems to be very loaded with two Financial Management (FM) exams and our midterms for Economics. It would be a lot more manageable if I wasn't preoccupied with the coordination of repair of the two vehicles I was driving and my move out of the dorm (more into this in a future post.)

I'm definitely back to AIM life.