Orientation Day 2nd Sep 2008

When a kindergarten teacher walks into class and says "Good Morning", the whole class sings out in unison, "Good Morning teacher". In high school, when the teacher walks in and says "Good Morning", the students couldn't care less whether it is morning or night. In business school when the teacher walks in and says "Good Morning", the students make a note of it in their notebooks. They might have to use it sometime in the future.

It was 'Orientation Day' at the Rotman school and assistant dean, Richard Powers had set the tone for our MBA program. We were seated in groups of 8 on round tables in the atrium of the building. We had a power packed day ahead of us. John Cassaday, the CEO of Corrus Entertainment was on next. He spoke about his career path and his experience at business school. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he was a Rotman alum. He threw the house open to questions and there were all kinds of questions thrown at him. He dealt deftly with the questions and then made way for Alison Levine. She was the team captain of the first American Women's Everest expedition. She has an MBA from Duke and had worked for 3 years with Goldman Sachs as an analyst. She showed us an amazing presentation with pictures from her numerous climbing expeditions. She drew parallels from her climbing experiences and the business world. It was a fun way to learn about the importance of team work. During the Q and A, I asked Alison which was tougher, getting an MBA or scaling Mount Everest? Surprisingly Alison did not dismiss the question as the joke that it was meant to be. She made an honest attempt to answer the question and from what I understood, she probably hinted that the MBA was tougher. Ok now I am beginning to get cold feet.
Luch was on the lawn of the Robart's Library. For those of you who do not know this, Robart's library is the third largest library in North America after Harvard and Yale. Post lunch we were divided into teams of 4 to play a simulation team exercise to climb Mount Everest. The game was developed by Harvard and it wasnt the most entertaining or captivating game that one has played, but it had its moments. And more importantly it solved the purpose of getting the 4 us to really know each other well.
The last part of the day was a cocktail party hosted by the dean. After a bout of sushi and wine I was all set to head back home. We had to report to school at 7:30 am for the Orientation Camp the next day and I wanted to call it a night as early as I could.