Thinking Third Term

 
Classes for our fourth term at the Asian Institute of Management will start tomorrow and I figured it was a good time to reflect on the past elective term.

The thirt term ran for ten weeks and I took five electives:

1. New Product and Service Development (NPSD) - Prof. Jay Bernardo
2. Creative Marketing and Selling (CMS) - Prof. Joe Faustino
3. Customer Experience Management (CEM) - Prof. Tommy Lopez
4. Marketing & Finance Creating Synergy (MFCS) - Prof. Richard Cruz
5. Self-Mastery, Arts and Spirituality (SMARTS) - Prof. Cecilia Manikan

In retrospect, I think I was able select suubjects that covered areas that I'm interested in, plus had a very good schedule-- SMARTS took only around half term because we had 3-5 sessions in a week, plus the meditation activities took up a good portion of the course. CEM was a subject that met more than the normal "twice a week" schedule, and CMS finished early because of our Sales Interview exercises and presentations. So in my last month of the term, I was only taking a total of less than eight classes per week That actually prompted me to blog about my relatively light schedule and enabled me to give talks at a couple of big events.

Did I learn a lot in the electives I took? Of course! I really think courses like SMARTS, MFCS & NPSD are value-adding to the MBA student since those subjects, plus the professors, focus more on expanding your worldview and emphasizing on having a positive attitude. I really think that CEM and CMS were professor-driven subjects wherein the classes are really given depth and texture because of the professors who handle them (I can attest that Professors Faustino and Lopez know what they are talking about).

One regret I have for the last term was not taking Direct Response & Relationship Marketing (DRRM) under Prof. Joe Miranda, who was out Marketing Management (MM) professor. I was what my friends were doing for their DRRM class and I have to admit, I was envious. (They crafted ads and communications that elicited reponse from the recepients, things I think are crucial for web sites).

I was pretty inconsistent with Management Research Report (MRR). I started off very well-- I met the recommended milestones and accomplished my documents early-- but in the last three weeks of the term, I was excited about things other than my MRR (like the Poker tournament we had and good old punditry). I even told one of my mentors a few days ago that I've been feeling unmotivated for my MRR and he said that's normal, but he empasized I should shape up ASAP.

Placement efforts also ramped up this term. Companies visited the school often to give presentations and held numerous interviews for placement. We even had our Recruiter's Night event where we hobnobbed with our potential placement destinations (although I don't mind doing my own thing like Paco Sandejas).

Things were generally not as heavy and requirements seemed very manageable for me in the past term. It seems like the third term gave a sense of foreboding, the lull before the storm that is our fourth and final term.