Mid-terms

Despite my positive attitude about statistics, and my general perceived understanding of the material, my midterm grade was sad considering how much exposure I've had to the subject. This month (September) is beginning the spiral motion... I'm not sure if I'm spiraling upwards or downwards, but I am sure that I'd love to stop spinning.  I have a midterm each week, along with tons of other responsibilities that keep piling on like a mountain.  Like I probably mentioned before, the real challenge of business school is time management.

Tomorrow is my finance midterm.  I am not sure about how I feel about it.  I am not sure about how I will perform on it.  I just think I'm going to pray and try to get some much needed sleep tonight.  I cannot bother to stay up and cram.  If I am going to do poorly, then I will do poorly regardless of whether or not I don't sleep tonight.  I feel like it will behoove me not to be tired since we have a full day of classes starting at 8am and the midterm is not until 5pm - 8pm.  That is a 12 hour day, which added on to today's 12 hours and the day before, is a lot of a lot. 

I went to talk to my stats professor today, and he said it seemed like I knew the material, I just did not work fast enough.  I guess that's a good thing right? 

This experience has caused me to doubt myself in ways I have never doubted myself before.  I just hope that I can rebuild my confidence even if it gets beaten up over this mod.  Only time will tell.  Until then, I'm just working hard and praying and trying to pass everything. 

Statistics... Again

In public health, there are a lot of statistics.  Therefore during my program last year I took one statistics class per semester.  Both were pretty miserable experiences, but the second one (Regression!) was far more miserable than the first.  At the time, when I was in the Regression class, I felt like I wasn't learning anything.  Somehow, miraculously maybe, some of the information stuck, because in business school, where regression is also used, we discussed the subject today.  I understood everything the professor was saying, it was amazing.  He explained it in a far more simplified and comprehendable way than my professor from last semester.  It was like dots started to connect in my head.

Now, I'm not goig to get ahead of myself.  I have to see how I perform on the final, and whether I'm able to get past this introductory class and continue with my deeper level of understanding.  But today, I enjoyed statistics, probably for the first time in my life.  Because I felt like I knew what was going on.  Amazing how life happens.  And despite how much I did not like my class last spring, I have to be greatful for it, because it was so difficult for me, that it almost makes this class topic seem easier.

Funny how things work out.

Midterm One DONE! Four more to go...

I officially survived my first business school midterm.  I am kind of glad it was statistics first.  You can't have too many surprises in statistics, just annoyances here and there.  I know that my weakness is my speed, so I need to work on ways to address that. 

The career search activities are also ramping up, making it harder to split time up for studies.  I have quickly come to realize, that the biggest challenge of business school is not the course work alone, but time management.  You are pressured to try out for leadership positions, work on acquiring an internship from day one, and of course exceling in your study. 

There are also two different types of business students, those to whom quantitative work comes fairly easily, and those who struggle with numbers.  I am the later, so everything that I do academically, I have to put in extra time to attempt to understand, putting greater stress on me in other areas.   And of course the inner-leader in me wants to be president of something, or have a major position in some club.  I really need to prioritize my passions, so I can channel energy into fulfilling a few goals well, instead of stretching myself too thin like I usually do. 

Ok, well... back to work!

The MBA

I would like to preempt this post by mentioning how hard it was to get into the MBA program in the first place.  God has blessed me with the opportunity to be accepted into a Top 20 MBA program, and now that I am in the midst of class work, I understand why it was so hard to get in, in the first place.  The MBA application process is like a primer to the academic rigor.

After a fulfilling and efficient orientation and team building process, my study group was formed, and we were off on a race to the finish.  During orientation they referred to our academic career as the "next 22 months."  I assume it was to help us conceptualize how short our time really is in graduate school.  My study group is made up of some fabulous gentlemen hailing from Maryland, Connecticut, law school, and India.  I add the feminine touch, and a little African-American flavor, and we have a lively group of individuals.

After just two weeks of classes, we have our first midterm tomorrow morning on statistics.  I guess I had better return to studying.  However, creating this blog was a well used study break.

MSPH first-year was last year

The Health Policy and Management program had an amazing kick-off.  I met my wonderful classmates during orientation and did a series of team-building exercises.  We had some phenomenal class experiences particularly in our Intro to Health Policy and the History of the US Health Care system.  The opinions and perspectives were diverse and thoughtful.  Graduate school offers a fun and engaging experience that challenges the mind in a whole new way.

I will come back to posting about public health later, since I have started my business school degree this year, it is more fresh in my mind.