Ok, so I’ve been at Cranfield for 3 months now. Term one is complete, Christmas has come and gone and term two has commenced. During this time I experienced snowfall for the first time; became an amateur touch rugby player, football player and salsa dancer; reinvigorated my interest in a number of international business issues; acquired an interest in economics; and best of all, built friendships with some truly talented, inspirational fellow students. My most crucial learning from term one concerns the dangers of my own comfort zone.

It may seem clichéd, but from day one the stage was set for us to stretch beyond our comfort zones and in so doing, experience more, learn more and hence, grow faster. I’m an upbeat, optimistic person, who has lived life predominantly in the present, facing challenges as they arise, and always finding happiness in the situations I found myself in. I’m not afraid of challenges and do accept opportunities as they arise, so I didn’t think I was constrained in any tangible way by my own comfort zone … until one of my MBA colleagues challenged this belief.

His view was simply that contentment is dangerous as it leads to complacency, while discomfort is desirable, as it compels us to push harder, try alternative approaches, and ultimately, achieve more. While I saw some merit in this perspective, it nonetheless conjured memories of the sadness I have felt in seeing friends forever failing to acknowledge and enjoy their own successes, due to their perpetual, singular focus on their next goal. As with most things in life, a balance is undoubtedly ideal. I felt compelled to experiment, so for the remainder of term, I attempted to suspend my fears and engage in activities I’d never been game to try before (eg touch rugby).

While I’m still unclear as to where to draw the line between contentment and challenge, I must confess that my term one experience was all the richer for this shift in attitude, not least with respect to the rich friendships I’ve built through reaching out, opening up and interacting on a deeper level with others.  In a more general sense, I’ve found that keeping my eyes on the horizon has extended my awareness of the possibilities surrounding me, yet this hasn’t dampened my appreciation for the innumerable blessings already active in my life. As term two commences I’m actually looking forward to pushing myself and seeing how much more I can achieve.

First things first … who am I and what am I doing here? Well, I’m a fun-loving, active Melbournian who has been working in IT for an investment bank for the past 7 years. I love to learn (I’m interested in almost everything), particularly when it involves exchanging stories and bouncing ideas around. In future, I’d love to play some small role in slowing Australia’s “brain drain”, perhaps by helping new, innovative businesses to survive and thrive in the Australian market.

I’m here at Cranfield to learn about business and management (of course) but also to broaden my perspective through meeting amazing people from all around the world and sharing stories with them. This year, I’m subscribing to Jackson Brown Jnr’s philosophy: “Let the refining and improving of your own life keep you so busy that you have little time to criticize others.”

One final note: please pardon the beginner’s mistakes I’ll undoubtedly make, this being my first blogging experience. Your comments and suggestions are most welcome.

Cheers,

Damini

At the very beginning of term 3, a number of companies came on Campus to participate in the SoM’s careers and recruitment fair. It was a great day, since it gave us some hope that companies are indeed hiring, even though the current economic situation is a mess… I suppose they need people to help them fix some of this mess!

The funds from the various countries’ stimulus packages are also starting to flow, allowing a number of companies to start planning for the near future. There’s even talk of a management consulting ‘gold rush’ once all this money rolls out (firms and groups of people will need guidance and advice on how to best use their stimulus slice…) We’ll see.

Thanks

We are starting week 10 now, the next to last week of the term – exams are just around the corner… This term we’ve had two more WACs, one for Finance and another for Macroeconomics! They were challenging but also very interesting. This year in particular the SoM has changed the theme of the Macroeconomics WAC to match our IBE destinations, which makes good sense if you ask me. We also went through the biggest snow fall in 18 years so we ended up having a couple of ’snow days’, since lectures and admin staff could not get to Cranfield.

I have got to get back to my studies now, but I’ll update this blog again in a couple of weeks.

The following subjects are being taught this term:

• Project Management
• Managing Information Technology
• Glogal Macroeconomics and Business Environment
• People Management
• Financial Management
• Business Law
• Strategic Management
• Operations and Supply Chain – Part 2
• Organisational Behaviour and Personal Professional Development – Part 2

It seems like a LOT of work, but we are all looking forward to it!

Oh, Cranfield School of Management was voted 3rd in the world for Economics by the 2009 MBA Financial Times ranking! GO CRANFIELD!