De facto Day 1 at the SBS: George David CEO
On 28th of September, we had the first event all the MBA students were expected to attend, the first “distinguished speaker seminar.”  Mr. George David, Chairman and CEO of United Technologies Corporation, visited the SBS and talked to the incoming students.  I was looking forward to the seminar and the following dinner with him very much because I often found it really inspiring when I had opportunities to meet corporate executives in Japan, but I had never met in person a CEO in other countries before.  And he was definitely an impressive speaker with a good sense of humor and such great energy.  As far as I am concerned, I had the impression that he had more things in common than I initially expected with Japanese corporate executives I mostly admire.  Perhaps this says something about how Americanized Japanese business leaders have become?  Anyway, being stimulated by such an impressive CEO really was a great way to get the course started.

Oxford MBA
One of the things I like about the Said Business School is its enormously high growth rate.  Somebody said, “It’s only 12 years old, and is already competing with top B-schools that are 30, 40 years old, or even older.”  And I constantly feel the will of this school to “be more”, which I personally think is adding to the excitement of learning here.  During the dinner following the seminar above, I remember Sir Colin Lucas saying, “You are the ones who build the reputation of this school,” when asked about what is the advantage or benefit of choosing the Said Business School over others.  I like that.  For those with the internal locus of control, this is a great place.

Teammates!
As I see it, among the most attractive things about MBA programs is that you can gain an experience to work in an international team.  Here, we never can miss it.  In Michaelmas (first 3-month) term, we work on a lot of assignments within a group of 5 to 6 people.  Our team has 2 people from India, 2 from the US, 1 from Hong Kong, and 1 Japanese.  And I love my team.  Not totally satisfied with the assigned team number 27, we even re-named our team SanTeenThree.  (27 = 3*3*3.  San = 3 in Chinese and Japanese.  Teen = 3 in Hindi.  Three = 3 in English, of course.)  I have been really enjoying working with them.  Each time, I learn a lot from them; not only do I find their expertise or experience great, but I’m also impressed by their attitude.