Oh man I messed up my Business Assimilation Paper. I hope I pass. I have to! I did well in my seminar and now I have my Quarter book which I have to submit on Monday. My Quarter book will have to save me. I have been counting how many I would get and it turns to be 5/25 at this moment! I had taken a business quiz earlier and fell in the category that though I do know what’s happening in the Business World, I don’t pay attention to details: names, places, dates etc. Now I can see why you have to know this. What is the new product in the market, watch movies just to know which brands sponsored them…

I think from next trim onwards I am going to start the quarter book from day one. At least on a weekly basis write 5 articles on what’s the latest buzz in the market. The thing is a lot of research has to go in before you can write anything. Like to make a write up on MITTAL ARCELOR I spent 2 hours reading at least five articles from different magazines to get all the view points.

Yesterday night, I watched Legally Blonde, the first part and I must say I enjoyed it very much. It’s peppy and funny and in lot’s of ways motivating. People will stereotype you based on your hair, looks, language or religion but at the end, you will win against all odds if you believe in yourself.

And that I do.

Back from Chennai. The US visa interview was simple and short. I suppose since 10 students had already been interviewed so by the time our turn came the officers were quite friendly and chit chatted with us. We will be going on a B1 visa. For my Indian friends the issuance visa was $50 but its valid for 10 years! That's so cool and for me, being a Kenyan it turned out to be $20 however, validity is just a year. In future, when I have to go again, I will have to go through the reapplication once more... quite a hassle, but let's see when and if I get to go again.

The itinerary has been finalized. We will be leaving from New Delhi on the 29th of September. It will be a non-stop 18 hours flight to Newark International Airport. Our accommodation has been arranged at the Holiday Inn International Airport, Newark. Thank God it’s quite near to EWR as we would be frazzled out. 1st of October would be free so I suppose we would settle in, do some sight seeing. I am already checking out the tourist attractions and museumsJ. Call me an oldie, but I believe Museums call tell you a lot about a place and it’s people.

We get down to business from 2nd. The companies we will be going to are NYMEX (New York Mercantile Exchange), UGA Global, Dow Company, Sanofi Aventis, Citigroup and the UN. These are in New York. In Washington DC we will be visiting the World Bank, IMF and IFC. A good mix of commercial and financial institutions. A lot of foreground work will have to be done on each company, the history, business practices etc before leaving for USA. I will begin once I’m done with my trim exams on the 20th September.

Alright then let me go and prepare for my Micro Economics paper. It’s at 10.00 am and I have 3 hours to go. Take care... Till next time.

I was blessed today because I went to the Management Accounting examination quite disheartened. I wasn't confident about the Cash Flow, Fund Flow, Inventory and Budget chapters and was really sure I won't do well. I was relying on Ratio Analysis. The paper turned out to be quite a surprise where all my previous work on accounts helped me. Alhamdullilah I could answer almost all... Apart from break even point. I forgot the formula is Fixed costs/contribution and was taking it to be sales/contribution. No complains though, at least I could answer the rest.

Tomorrow is Marketing Research paper... I pray it goes well. Dev and I studied the question paper... We had to use our heads to find out which marketing research technique would be the best and why. I must say I love the course once again. I like the team work and applying our thoughts. InshaAllah I will keep on rebrushing my knowledge till I am quite confident. For now, let me understand the errors that can happen in sampling. Ciao!

Well the previous post was written days ago before the exams. So what’s up?

a) I am going to USA
b) I got through AIESEC. The call was all mine. AIESEC scholarship for two months in any country or GOTA programme to USA. Now that I write it, AIESEC makes more sense, but hey since I have been selected, I become a member of AIESEC and I can try for the internship as well. Why let go of USA. As of now, that’s my plan. Let’s see what happens. I already have an internship awaiting so either ways, I’m set.
c) Exams have begun and as usual my ‘4 hours before the exam’ strategy continues to work. Tomorrow is a paper I don’t ‘fear’ but not particularly found of it either..
d) Going to Chennai on the 9th. The Visa interview is scheduled for 11th. I will miss the Marketing Management and Calculus papers… in other words, while everyone celebrates on the 18th (Last exam), I will still be writing till the 20th. It can be taken as a blessing in disguise for God knows how much time I need for MM.
e) My sis got 1290 in GRE and she is still not happy! By I don’t think I told you guys that she topped TOEFL. She got somewhere 96% if I am not wrong with a real good grade point in essay. I hope she gets her MS seat in whichever university she wants. Ask me which uni won’t want her! J

Conclusion: I am going to peek in the financial management books and find out what accounts is. Tc..N catch u soon!

I am not really up and out. Exams start from monday and so far, books have not been touched. What am I going to do? My whole self - body, mind and soul refuses to come out of this lethargy. For sometime, it's as though I am in this dark hole with no inclination to come out.

Alright, now that i have put that depressing picture in your mind, My case study was appreciated and in Prof.Sayan's words "There are few times in my life that I have been left speechless, and this is one of them" now Prof.Sayan is tough to please and coming that from him is wow! So that was the high point last week.

I got to the final round of AIESEC and feel that my interview went really good. Ofcourse. you never know the result becuase we were nine of us and all of them good. LOL Priyanko was real down. It seems they gave him some puzzels and he told them "What is this all that you've given me to do" Have to admit, he is nuts. Sharay as usual was sarcastic at my confidence, that's his style. Anyways, so it's either USA or AIESEC wherever they may post me and after talking to few of my family members and professors, I have with great difficulty let go of AIESEC option. Ha ha, this is before I even know whether I am selected or not.. but now it doesn't matter and I do hope Harsha get's it. He has the charm and personality to represent our college anywhere in the world.

I am off to make the DD for the Visa appointments tomorrow morning. Sir still hasn't let me know what is the outcome of AIESEC and really I am done waiting. (Little cranky today) Will be going once again to Chennai for the day to attend the interview and come back the next day for my exam. Gosh this is crazy! and I love it!