My First week of Pre MBA

It all started with a bang, and just did not stop at all. Right at 845 a.m. on Monday, our Pre MBA started and the best break which we got was only on Friday at 330 p.m. We did not expect that the first few days would be so hectic. The main thing which bothered each one of us was: when shall we get time to arrange our flats, to shop, to purchase car, mobile etc etc. I missed my wife a lot at this point. If she would have been here, she would not only had taken all the responsibility, I would also not had missed my Indian Food. Here people eat bread n only bread. I miss my Parathas n Rotis. Well the good news is that Sherry is coming on 29th Sep.
First day was spent in a business challenge called- Minimax. Tuesday n Wednesday was spent in another business stimulation challenge. We have been divided into teams of 6. One of my team mates has not yet arrived. So we are 5, out of which 3 are Indians (including myself), 1 Taiwanese- Jenny and last is Victor- from Russia. You must be smiling that what sort of MBA is this where there are 3 Indians in a team of 6. Actually as told earlier, this is just Pre MBA. When all the 150 MBAs shall arrive on 1st October, the scenario will be totally different. New teams will be formed.
The business challenges were a great fun and immense learning. The major focus of Cranfield is to make everybody a team player. I had to confront some of the very difficult guys in my team and I must say I did it well. I learnt how one should be patient and a good listener and still should make it a point that one’s arguments are heard well. Though our team lost both the challenges; infact we were ranked last in our group of 4 teams, yet I had some achievements to my name. The most important was the presentation that I gave on last day of the business challenge. We were asked to present a report to the shareholders of the company that we were asked to run for last 2 days. Everybody congratulated me after my presentation as it was real fun. I exhibited dynamism and covered the stage well. I was a bit nervous before the presentation as I had never prepared presentation in less than an hour and gave a presentation to such a diverse audience. The best part was when our instructor-‘Karen’ congratulated me for the wonderful presentation and even told our Pre MBA coordinator- ‘Graham’ about it. I felt on top of world- especially after I had 2 real bad days.
I must say that a team cannot perform well until n unless all the team members gel well. Our team was very fragmented and that’s why we failed to deliver. However, the challenges were a good tutor.
Thursday n Friday went into Introductions to various courses and mean while we squeezed time to resolve all the issues relating to accommodation etc. We also played a lot of games like Football, Basketball n Badminton. But I missed 20-20 World Cup matches, the sexy 6s of Yuvraj and semi final too. Though we have a TV room here but then you have to prioritize time as its limited. Next Thursday is our social gathering where we shall all meet with our families. I am a part of the organizing committee and everyone will be there with families. These kind of parties are common in Cranfield and are famous with the tag of ‘ Thursday Socials’.
My next blog shall be after the completion of Pre MBA. Till then Bye.