The Forest of Fontainebleau

Part of business school life is being prepared for that light at the end of the tunnel…

It’s 2:15am.  I’ve been studying for the most part since I got up this morning at less time for dinner and a class.  Finals are just around the corner after that it’ll be a nice break.

On another note, I’m now in a band.  It’s fun to be playing music again.  I’ve missed time playing the drums with a group.  I think we’re going to try and perform a few songs at the INSEAD Cabaret.

Anyways, off to bed.

Well, it’s incredible, but exams are nearly here.  I’ve only been in the program for roughly seven weeks, but the exam stress has certainly hit campus hard.  The number of faces sticking around school late into the night have certainly grown and everyone is working hard to make sure they have a good grasp of the material.  As a kicker, we each have to complete a paper on the development of our group.  In this reflection, I’ve found it exciting to recognize how much I’ve learned about group dynamics since I have arrived.  I can say that my level of understanding of other cultures is light years ahead of where it was when I first got here.  I look forward to having the same reflection at the end of my experience at INSEAD.

Aside from exams, it’s obvious that there’s some additional stress from the economy.  Everywhere I turn it’s red.  As we’re all in a transitional state, it’s a bit frightening to see the storm outside the window and know that in less than a year, we have to go out and face the music.  At this point, though, I find it pointless to really worry about it.  I will do what I can to affect my job prospects over the year by giving my all to the school work and making the most of my educational opportunity.  I just hope the worst of it blows over before the end of the year… we’ll see.

Lastly, there’s this four day break we get between P1 and P2.  While the opportunities are endless, I have narrowed it down to Spain, Scotland, and Morocco.  By the end of the week I should have a better idea of where I’m headed.  I also just put in my bids for Singapore.  It looks like I’ll be heading to Asia in January and am not sure when I’ll make it back to Fonty.  I look forward to studying in a totally different environment.  The urban, Asian atmosphere will certainly be a change from rural France.

Oh yeah, I still don’t have internet at my house.  Orange Telecom quite possibly the most dysfunctional company I’ve ever met.  Hopefully it will get resolved within the next week or two.  So far it’s only taken 9 meetings with them over the phone or in person.  It’s like taking a whole other elective in patience!

INSEAD life is coming along quite nicely.  While there’s been a ton going on academically, I’d like to take a moment to talk about the social life.  This weekend was a little crazy with a Thursday night party at Chateau Tavers to cap off British/Irish week and then Saturday night with a Vodka tasting party held by the Russians.  Both parties were a blast, though I did head home a little early on Tuesday considering that I had class at 8:30am that next morning.

This week is Africa week which includes a showing of a couple of African films, some drum lessons, and of course, another party on Friday night.

I can say one thing, if you’re looking at INSEAD and you want to take advantage of everything that they have to offer here, be sure to get enough sleep before you start school.  The key here is to sleep a bare minimum if you really want to soak it all in.

While I don’t have a lot of time to get into the details, we won the Business Venture competition here at INSEAD. It’s a great feeling to have a team come together so well in the short period of time that I’ve had here. After we won, an announcement was made in our section. The support received from our classmates has been nothing short of awesome. All in all it’s been a great day.

Gotta run to the 1st Energy Club meeting of the year and then hit the books until late tonight.

It’s 11:30 here and I am left both energized and enthused at the opportunities here at INSEAD both in and out of the classroom.  The great thing about INSEAD is the level of diversity that is brought to any discussion.  Tonight we pulled together a team of five to compete in the Entrepreneurship Club’s Business Venture competition in Clean Technology.  While I can’t get into the details of the actual proposal, we drew up a compelling proposal for an opportunity in the green building market within three hours.

At this point, it is simply a first blush at the opportunity and only a two-page write up on the general market challenge and our solution fits that problem, I’m pumped at how quickly the five of us came together to make it happen.  My experience at USGBC as well as another classmates experience with Green Building implementation offered the industry expertise to the project.  Another classmate brought her experience of solar panel installations in thrid world countries to the table to round out a good breadth of experience in the clean technology sector.  The final two members of the group helped offer an outsiders perspective and forced us to drive to a clear and concise picture of the market and our proposal.

All week I’ve sat back impressed at the caliber of the classmates we have here at INSEAD.  It’s truly humbling.  It’s also going to be a truly fun year.

2 posts in 2 days? I must have a lot free time on my hand. Actually no. I was up until 2am last night and looks like tonight will be another late night. That said, a good part of the school was present for the BCG presentation which was incredibly well done.

Coming out of the presentation I stopped by my mailbox to find that I had passed my French language exam with flying colors. Scoring a 78 I fit into the “Business” threshold with the language. Looks like my last minute cramming really did some good. That gives me “Business” level in both Spanish and French. It feels good to have two languages just one level shy of fluent.

Welcome week at INSEAD was nothing short of a blast.  Needless to say, there were countless parties.  As predicted, I had barely any free time at all until this Sunday when I finally had some time to catch up on the pre-reading for my courses.  The workload here is anything but light, with classes on Saturday mornings (more tutorials than classes, but stil a lot to do).  So far I’ve received all sorts of goodies from recruiters on campus and have 7:15pm lined up every day this week with consulting company presentations.  Highlight of the welcome treats was a giant welcome party sponsored by Bain & Company at a beautiful chateau.

On a sad side, my training for the Nike 10k in Paris ended with a pretty severe shin splint on my left leg.  I’ll have to take it easy for the next couple of weeks and will likely be kept out of Rugby practice for a bit.  In the meantime I’ll be working out in the gym on a stationary bike for my excercise.

I wish I could give more detail but I gotta run, sitting in with Ronald Berger’s presentation tonight, BCG tomorrow, Accenture the next day, Bain & Company, then McKinsey on Friday.  Whew!