Memoirs of a B-school student #14, and a poem
School started up again yesterday for the fall semester. Before class I sat outside in the courtyard reviewing my notes and watched a reception occur on the other side of the courtyard. They were serving little snacks and drinks, everything from soda to wine to Heinekin. My guess is it was something for the day MBA students. There are times I feel that I miss out on a big part of the social aspect of school because I'm an evening student. It takes a lot more effort to make social time with the other students I know because we're all so busy. Other times I wish there were more events for both the day and evening students together. It's almost as though the evening students are the red-headed stepchild of the business school. We don't get as many fun events as the day students do, and we don't know each other as well. I do try to remind myself of the benefits of my situation (I do get a regular paycheck and can gain work experience while I'm in school) that they don't get, but it's still a bit of a sacrifice.
Today began my marketing distribution class. I think it'll turn out to be more interesting than I anticipated. The thing is, the professor is very big on cold-calling and participation, which normally I don't mind so much. But she takes it to the extreme. She'll make you participate even if you don't think you have anything useful to offer to the class. She'll get upset if no one knows the answer to the question. She'll ask you things that were not only from the day's reading, but from other classes she thinks we would have already taken. Not only that, but it's a very small class (maybe 18 or 20 people), so I'll pretty much have to be at the top of my game at all times (which takes even more effort because she has a very thick accent, so you have to listen very carefully to get everything. And you do need to get everything). Monday I'll start my finance class, which I hear is interesting enough, but a lot of work outside of class. So pretty much, on the four days of the week that I don't have class, I'll have to be studying.
Just for fun, here is today's poem:
Student
The green shell of his backpack makes him lean
into wave after wave of responsibility,
and he swings his stiff arms and cupped hands,
paddling ahead. He has extended his neck
to its full length, and his chin, hard as a beak,
breaks the cold surf. He's got his baseball cap on
backward as up he crawls, out of the froth
of a hangover and onto the sand of the future,
and lumbers, heavy with hope, into the library.
--Ted Kooser
from "Delights & Shadows," 2004