Week 9 - Gentle start to the Chaos

Week 9!

This week marks the start of Term 2. Twice the number of courses in roughly the same time as Term 1. You can guess how chaotic it is going to be. If I have to say this in MBA lingo, we are all set for a vertical take-off.

The week started with an HR class taught by a paediatrician. One would definitely doubt the potential of a paediatrician to teach a core management subject like Human Resources. But after the class, all we had to say was that he is the best possible person to teach HR since he understands humans right from when they are born. I had never imagined an HR class would be so interesting and enriching.

Term 2, or at least the first week of it, did not seem like the vertical take-off we had imagined. Are we just getting better at handling pressure? Or is it the calm before the storm? Either way, Term 2 Week 1 has been rather relaxed. We had enough time to read cases, have fun evenings, and continue our streak of weekly LKP strolls. Also, there were no 2:30 PM surprise quizzes. Does that mean all these surprise quizzes are going to happen next week? All we know is, "Attack is imminent" (weekly blogs can't be without a insider reference)

Another interesting thing that happened this week is that the entire cohort is planning for their Europe trip in September. To all the non IIM-A folks reading this, Term 3 at IIM-A (also called the International Immersion Programme) does not happen at IIM-A but at a European university. The entire PGPX cohort is divided into four groups visiting different European universities for the term. Did I just use the word trip instead of term earlier? At least that is what it looks like from the way people are prioritising. None of us has gone through the curriculum of the term, but each one of us is perfectly ready with the complete itinerary for the trip.

I, along with 8 other friends, have selected Vienna University of Economics and Business. Honestly, it is less for the university and more for the cities we get to explore around Vienna before the term starts. Yes, we get one full week to roam around before the term starts and I guess that is the true international immersion we are excited for.

That is it for this week: the first week of Term 2 that does not really feel like the Term 2 described to us. But as I said, "Attack is imminent!"