These sleepless nights led to more sleepless nights after I booked a GMAT slot especially with important projects at work gaining momentum. I thought of getting some sleep after getting a GMAT score but I soon realized that more sleepless nights were waiting for me as application deadlines were approaching. Luckily for me, I had some priorities clear – I could only afford a year away from a regular salaried job and a school below the top 20 FT ranks didn’t make sense for my career. 

Thus I spent sleepless nights making some b-school applications and I thought there would be some respite once I received an admit from Saïd Business School. But then sleep had a negative correlation with the time remaining for the start of the course – Finances and visa had to be arranged and moreover Prof. Tomo Suzuki had ensured that we had some pre-course reading for the Financial Reporting course.

Nevertheless, on coming to Oxford I was overwhelmed with the lively buzz that goes around this campus, city and spent some more sleepless nights attending “networking events” organized by different institutions that I am affiliated to here – Saïd Business School, Green Templeton College and the University of Oxford.
Did I say that I was here to study and make a career – oh yes!!! That too takes some sleep away… Most people want to come to business school to take up careers as i-bankers/consultants/… other glamorous roles where the amount of sleep you get is inversely proportional to your salary. I am also one of those wannabes.

For all those, who are looking at pursuing sleepless nights, I will be posting my experiences on how I am coping with sleeplessness…follow this blog for further posts.

So how did I get to be here, procrastinating on my homework while looking out on the beautiful river view from the Hertford College Graduate Centre?

Starting with the basics, I am a 25-year-old native of Washington, D.C. and a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. After college, I worked at a public relations firm doing health and social marketing work. After a few years, I quit my job in Washington D.C. and lived in Uganda for a while, working on a small business project with village women.

I always knew I wanted to enter a career in international development, but I wasn’t sure exactly what kind of training might be helpful. Most people I knew in the development field had MPH, MS or even law degrees. But the more I learned about the field, the more I wondered if a new kind of approach was necessary—one that incorporated the end “customer’s” viewpoint, one that responded to demand instead of supplying programs dreamed up by bureaucrats, one that demanded accountability and efficiency in all its operations.

Why weren’t more people in this field getting MBAs? I wondered.I was almost through with my application process—solely to business schools in America—when I happened to have a conversation with Chris McKenna. Now the  Oxford MBA Program Director, Chris was working in America when I asked him about Oxford’s business program. Many schools I was considering seemed like “classic” MBA programs, with a focus on traditional industries, making money, etc. I was more interested in applying business techniques to the nonprofit sector and “making a difference” in the world. What could Saïd Business School offer?
Chris paused then, and his eyes widened. No doubt he was thinking of the School’s Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, its professors’ many public-private research interests, or its uniquely international student body…among many other factors. “I really think Saïd would be a good fit for you,” he said.
So here I am, almost done with the first term, and it has gone by fast. My day planner looks like it was attacked by a crazed diarist around the end of September. And it’s been filled with some really unforgettable moments (hopefully including actual class material…we’ll see in exam week…)

As the core first term requirements, we are taking Marketing, Strategy, Finance, Financial Reporting, Decision Science and Managerial Economics. In the interests of full disclosure, I should tell you that I nearly fainted when I read this little educational ensemble before I came here. But here’s the good news: there are a surprising number of people in our class who have just as little background in quantitative analysis as I do. And there are even more people who are experts in these subjects and devote an incredible amount of their time to helping their classmates understand the coursework.

I’ve been quite impressed, in fact, by the general lack of competitiveness here. If people can help you by sharing their knowledge, they don’t hesitate. Maybe you’ll help them with an assignment in your area of strength, maybe you’ll buy them a beer at the pub later, but reciprocation isn’t the important thing.

And then there’s quite a lot you can learn from classmates outside the academic arena. The student body here is so diverse, it feels like a mini United Nations. We are all divided into study groups of about six people, with whom we will do group assignments for the whole first term. In my group alone, the students are from India, China, Colombia, France and Great Britain. So whenever we work on a project, we get six perspectives analyzing the problem in a uniquely comprehensive way. (And yes, sometimes this can be difficult, such as when we have different reactions to things and need to reach a quick consensus…but it actually doesn’t happen as often as you might think.)

As for the other activities, a few examples and a couple pictures will have to suffice: MBA happy hours, Diwali parties, matriculation events, 2008 election night festivities, formal dinners at friends’ colleges, the notorious Evelyn Waugh Night at Hertford College…deep breath…punting on the Thames, visiting museums, cycling in the countryside, Guy Fawkes Night (for which there is no explanation a non-Briton will understand), and just generally exploring Oxford, one of the oldest and prettiest towns I’ve ever seen. You can understand why there’s hardly any white space in the day planner.

The last few weeks in Bangalore were marked by activities at a feverish pace. As I wound up my long stint at Honeywell, I experienced the belongingness I had developed with my workplace and the wonderful people there. Every day was marked with farewell parties, dinners, meetings, punctuated of course with my shopping spree. It was a fulfilling experience when I left the place, as there was a sense of completeness about everything. I was looking forward to a logical end to the shopping and packing that I had to do for my travel to Oxford. Phew ! What a September it was !

 Myself, Sagar and Hari  (the other two Bangaloreans) travelled together and arrived here on 27th September. Arriving much before the term start, helps to work on logistics and getting oneself ready to embrace the course ahead. The International Students Service at the University of Oxford had a unique ‘Meet and Greet service’ to help us and moreover to make us feel welcome. They had volunteers at the Heathrow airport in London to help arriving students transfer onto the coaches to Oxford at the bus station. There were volunteers at Oxford bus station too, who guided us to the taxis to get to our colleges. We were very pleased with this warm gesture that made us feel welcome !

PS: Let me know if there are specific things about Oxford that you want to hear and I will try to write about them.

On May 1st, Oxford has an event (May Day) to formally welcome spring. Early in the morning, choral songs were to be sung at the top of the Magdalene tower, followed by traditional dancing here and there on the streets. So along with some friends I made it to the unusually crowded Magdalene Bridge early in the morning, still trying to wake up completely. At 6, they started singing choral songs at the top of the Magdalene tower. Though it only lasted no more than 10 minutes, I found the sound quite particular and impressive. It felt as if the voices were falling down from the sky. It sounded to me somewhat even sacred.

Magdalen Bridge on May Day

 And this week, I indeed feel spring everywhere. When riding my bike to The School in the morning I see a lot of flowers in their full bloom. It’s getting warmer and warmer and I finally stopped wearing my winter coat. The sunshine is much stronger. I see a lot of classmates reading books or having meetings in the courtyard of the Business School. For me, what’s the most striking thing is the length of daytime, which now is so long. Lately, it gets bright as early as 6 in the morning and still remains quite bright until 8 in the evening. I did know that the latitude here is relatively high but actually experiencing its effect on daytime is quite something.

The weather, sunshine, and flowers never reduce the amount of work, but they definitely make me feel better. Having gone through the very dark winter in this country, the arrival of spring really does cheer me up. Now I’m cheerfully going back to work on some assignments…

There’s only one week of lectures left for Hilary Term. After that, it’s one week for revision and then, it’s exams week again. I can’t believe that the second term is already almost over. It seems that it just started. Last Friday, I submitted an assignment for Operations Management. It was about Zara, a multinational clothing retailer. I don’t think I have ever been in one of these shops. Anyways, the case study was about its IT infrastructure. We had to decide whether to keep the old system or to replace it with a new system. If we wanted to replace it which functionalities should we build into the new system? It was an individual assignment which is rather unusual because most of our practical work is done in groups. For example, for Operations Management, there were already two group assignments before the individual one. There’s one exception though. As one of the electives for this term, I chose Marketing, Culture & Society. That’s probably not such a typical MBA course. The amount of reading we have to do for this course is really immense. I’m not saying that there’s not much reading for all the other courses, but for that course, it’s definitely even more. We draw from anthropology and question some of the economic theories we are taught in other courses. It’s quite interesting but it definitely is a lot of work, not only because of the readings but also because of the assignments. It’s three of them and they are all individual. The last one – which is due a week from now – has a word limit between 4,500 and 5,500 words. I really have to get started on it. Yet, the good thing about this course is it doesn’t have an exam.

Also nice about the course is that we get to hear many guest speakers, e.g. Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones from L’Oreal and Paul Temporal who gave an interesting presentation on Nation Branding. In general, there was a really great variety of guest speakers at the business school this term. I can’t even remember all of them. But I will probably never forget John Bird’s presentation. He’s the founder of “The Big Issue” and drank a bottle of wine faster during his presentation than I would usually do at a party. Speaking of parties, that reminds me of the vibrant social life here in Oxford. One of the highlights was the Burns Night. At my college, Mansfield, we had a bagpipe player, some whisky and lots of really delicious haggis. There were several other nice dinners as well, e.g. the New Year Dinner at the Oxford and Cambridge Club in London or all the Exchange Dinners that my MCR (Middle Common Room) had organised with other college’s MCRs. I could probably go on writing about dinners forever. I just do love all these dinners. Another thing Oxford is famous for are the College Bops. Unfortunately, I only managed to go to one this term, the Hollywood Bop at Linacre College, but that was definitely a lot of fun. It’s almost sad that Hilary Term is nearly over. I just wished all the exams were already over, too!

A lot has happened as is usual.

A few dinners: Karans place, Pranav (microwave-frozen-food-cook ;-)), Green college, Mansfield College, Mktg team dinner
Parties: SBS Bop, Brazilian Carnival
Speakers/Special dinners: Sir Tom Hunter , John Bird, Oxford Business Alumni trip to London
Great nights: Rocking nite at luvraj’s, at abhi’s Jesus GCR,
Assignments: lets not go there!
Special mention: I shot for a video (see link n rate my oscar worthy performance), moved apartments (newer pad n closer to school)

Other: Finalizing trip to Dubai in April (should i drop in to india for a bit??), Trip to Paris for MBATs in May, got most electives for the next term except for Private Equity

Allrite. So how are we doing :-)?

Its weird, there is like a lot lot more to do this semester. But for some strange reason I seem to be in a super chill zone. Avg sleep hours up to 10 (ppl at Said read this and they will faint!), havent been as regular with lectures, EP — something I really am interested in given I was nurturing the idea since Los Angeles days — is really blow hot blow cold and am way behind on it!

What else…NBA all star is here. Too bad cant catch the games live. But just saw highlights of Dwight Howard winning the DUnk fest. Specta-freakin-cular!

Its 4 am at night and just got done with an assignment so will sign off….! More later…

It’s a few months ago now that I started my MBA at the Saïd Business School. The first term is over. It’s called Michaelmas Term here in Oxford. In a few days, the next term, Hilary, will start. It’s strange to look back at the previous term. I didn’t really know what to expect from the programme. Sure, I knew I wanted to do an MBA. I carefully looked at several different business schools and decided that Oxford was the best option for me. But how would it really be?

On the first day, we were welcomed by our Dean and our MBA Programme Director in the school’s largest lecture theatre, named after South Africa’s freedom-fighter and then President Nelson Mandela. Next, it was our turn. All students had to give a short one-minute-introduction of themselves. 220 new faces from 40 different countries, that was impressive. I couldn’t remember a single name afterwards.

It’s different now. When I stroll around the business school, these are all familiar faces now. The MBA Programme is very intense, especially since it’s only a one-year-programme. That means that we spend a lot of time at the business school, discussing in classes, working in teams, studying in the library, asking and helping each other. That helps to get to know each other.

The downside is, it’s really hard work. There were moments where I wished I hadn’t decided to do an MBA. I started last term with a very bad cold, never really caught up with all the readings we were supposed to do and hardly had time to explore Oxford, at least not as much as I would have liked. And that’s a pity since Oxford has so much to offer. The University consists of 39 Colleges. Most of them are truly historic and really worth visiting. In addition, there are several museums, the Bodleian Library, the Covered Market and lots of fantastic pubs, just to name a few of the sights. By the way, every MBA student is also a member of one of the Colleges, e.g. I am a member of Mansfield College. And the Colleges also organise many events that are worth attending. At least at my college, it’s definitely always fun to hang out there!

Well, with the intense course and all the other things going on, one doesn’t really realise how fast the term passes and suddenly, it’s time for exams. Last term, we had to take six exams in four days. That was crazy. But somehow we all managed to do it. The party afterwards was fantastic!

After having spent Christmas in Germany, I am back in Oxford now. In a few days, Hilary Term will start. We already have the reading lists and an overview of the assignments for each course. While we all had the same six courses in Michaelmas (Strategy 1, Finance 1, Decision Science, Developing Effective Managers, Financial Reporting and Managerial Economics) we were able to choose three electives in addition to two core courses (Operations Management and Marketing) for Hilary. I chose Developing Effective Organisations, Financial Management and Marketing, Culture & Society. Besides the courses, we have to work on our Entrepreneurial Project during Hilary, i.e. we have to develop a business idea, present that to an external panel and write a business plan for it.

Although I have learned so much about Oxford and about how the business school works I have the same feeling as in the days before the MBA Programme had started. I don’t really know what to expect from the new courses and lecturers and from the Entrepreneurial Project. But I am looking forward to finding it out. Let’s see…

Apart from the academic challenges and a number of events from parties to seminars on various topics, there are some small things/moments I really love here; jogging in Oxford, or example, is one of my favourites. I remember writing to a friend of mine just after arriving here saying Oxford is such a beautiful place that even jogging around my residence is so lovely. Three months later, I still find myself amazed by the picturesque sights each time I go jogging either with friends or by myself to let off steam.

It is refreshing, of course, to run through such beautiful places, but I feel that it might affect you even more than just allowing you to let off steam, in a longer term. I wonder if it makes the sense of colour or the sense of beauty keener, wider, or deeper. I wonder if it somehow affects the sense of time since the scenery here with old buildings and old trees doesn’t seem to have changed much for hundreds of years. I even wonder if it makes me a more poised person. Running through these favourite places made me feel calm even when I was stressed very much with all the readings and assignments; it is indeed so easy to think, “It’s not a big deal,” when you look at the landscapes that are totally unaffected by the rush of the MBA life.

And I’m pretty sure that I’m not alone in constantly being amazed by all these landscapes here. For me, it’s mostly when I’m jogging, but one of my friends told me how he was amazed while he was rowing when the sun was about to set and the wind blew rippling the surface of the river, making it shine with the reflected sunlight. Another classmate told us about how nice it felt when he took a walk along the Thames early in the misty morning. No wonder my former professor from Tokyo who stayed in Oxford 15 years ago told me how “dreamy” this place was.

Here’s a video of one of last year’s MBAs jogging on Port Meadow and by the Thames:

I love my college Harris Manchester. I think the right word for it is “quirky”— it’s filled with smart and kind characters and it’s a great fit for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve spent only a tiny fraction of time there compared with hours upon hours spent at the Business School, but whenever I do make it to the college for a meal or an event, it’s always a great experience.

My favorite thing about the college is the amazing people you meet and (even better) they are people who look at you funny when you use B-school words like “value added” and “normal distribution” and “brand recognition.” It’s a great reality check. So far, I’ve met an internationally acclaimed badminton player, a teacher studying the best way to teach theology to kids, a trial lawyer who’s decided to come back to uni after 20 years to get a masters in history, a wine connoisseur, an opera singer, a Latin-speaker, and an elite tennis player. One guy I met was in a band that hit it big at 16. He’s already experienced the rise and fall of his own UK rock band before returning to study at the ripe age of 21. Wow.

It would have been great to live in, but my husband (I’ll call him Tyler from now on) is here in Oxford for the year, and the college doesn’t offer “partnered” housing. (If you’re looking, several colleges do—you just have to do some searching!) We’re living in an apartment near SBS, which is working out great, and we try to make it to the college at least once a week for formal dinner or other events (they host concerts, lectures, parties, etc). Tyler is actually playing on the college football team and has made more friends there than I have, which is great because he introduces me to people!

We had our Christmas dinner the other night, and after a tasty meal and several glasses of wine the entire faculty table stood up, donned Santa hats, and sang us all a Christmas carol. I love this place.

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/jitind/TempletonWeek9

Click Above is an album

Yo gang! This is going to be super short as its 3 am and I still need to work for an economics assignment which is 50% of our grade and due tomorrow. But I will say this– this Monday is easily the most look forward to Monday of the term! IT is when all assignments are done, all group studies for this semester over and just one week of classes and one week of preparation before exam!!

This past week has been really really intense! 3 Big time group assignments were due. Each with a very high weightage and time was as usual squeezed. Tensions were high and the group dynamics were changing as people were getting edgy as exams near, no time to study, group study taking longer, more at stake and in general too much too do. Every one felt sleep deprived, overworked and under appreciated!!

So I am just going to go through a laundry list of what I did this week. Though check out the snaps. They are from Dinner, Opera and after party (one of the wildest parties this semester) at Templeton College. Templeton is Oxfords most mordern and specialist MBA college. It has 60 MBA students, by far the largest MBA community any college accepts.

So night at Templeton was fun. Also after 3 weeks I went for Improv workshop. Its exciting times there as we are planning for a performance in MArch sometime.

This week finalized the team for Entrepreneurship Project — by far the biggest reason I am at oxford. Am happy as have got a decent team. Also had a meeting with the Chair of Said who is also co-ordinator for the EP. I think we have a brilliant idea which if followed through might actually be feasible to take live. It was something that had occured to me back in San francisco and its exciting to see it turn into the EP.

Got officially inducted into the Oxford Entrepreneurs this week. Should be a great year at this pretty impressive organization which is one of the largest if not the largest student run body in Europe!

Do check out the snaps. And promise a lot more fun next week and there is going to be a lot of ‘blowing steam’ this week!!!