Frog to Dragon: HEC MBA & Tsinghua MBA Blog
The quest for wisdom, from France to China, of an HEC MBA & Tsinghua MBA dual degree student (class of 2011)
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Today is the last day of Core 1 and we are having our last Core 1 exam this morning (HR Management).  View of the lake frozen Yesterday, the HEC Campus was graced by snow. Yes! lots of snow! Making the surroundings of the campus really beautiful. Someone organised a snow fight… which I joined ;) During this period, I have learned about:  Snow fight from my window These were all subjects I didn’t know much about, except maybe HR Management. (They don’t teach you much in Consulting…) So, can I say I’ve learned much? Yes! Definitely. Can I say that my Core 1 experience at HEC changed my life? Yes again.
Tags: Academics, Life on campus, Students, TEC It’s been a month since I last wrote on this blog… That’s mainly due to the amount of work we have now.  My calendar for the week of November 16th About workload, since it’s currently the hottest topic on my list, after a (sort of) slow start in September, we reached cruise speed in October with group work on top of classes and other club activities. Then in November we started to get exams at a rate of approximately one each week. So it’s getting seriously tough. Actually, for those of you who are wondering what the workload of an MBA student looks like, I’ve prepared a screenshot of my Outlook calendar. Right now, I can’t wait for the holidays at the end of year. But before that, I’ll need to go through the fire of Core 1 exams and project work. On another note, we’re now in another election period as for the MBAT. We have just elected our new MBA Council and there are quite a few club elections going on.
Tags: Academics, Assignments Last time I wrote about the election campaigns going on at HEC. Well, the vote for the MBAT team were cast today and the Game On team came ahead with a lead of just one (that’s right, ONE) vote! Here’s the trailer :) HEC Paris - MBAT - Game On trailer But, for now on, Game On!
Tags: HEC events, MBAT, Students  HEC Paris - MBAT This week was an election (and electoral campaign) week. Indeed, we had to choose 2 representatives for our respective sections. The difficulty of an election for 2 winners is that we don’t only vote for our favourite participant (such as for a presidential election) but rather for the 2 candidates which will work best together. So I cast my vote accordingly… In addition, and that’s where all the buzz is, we have to choose the team which will organise the 2010’s edition of the MBAT. The MBAT is a sport competition event amongst the top european MBAs that HEC students proudly host (and organise) every year. This year will be the event’s 20th anniversary. So the stakes are important… As a side note, I was very happy to show my parents around the campus on last Sunday. They were quite impressed by the infrastructure and by the lake side (where the MBAT is mostly held btw). We had a quiet afternoon walking around. All good :)
Tags: HEC events, MBAT, Students Many things have happened during the past two weeks and I have to admit that my self-assigned discipline of writing here at least once a week is starting on a wrong foot… Here are a few noticeable things we did. Negosim The second week of classes, basically after a first week of cheering and hugging, we got onto business with a business simulation game called Negosim. We were all dispached into groups of 4 to 5 people and our task, as the board or directors of a B2B company, was to compete with others. It was a fantastic experience for those two main reasons:
Classes We were assigned to our sections (I’m in the bilingual section) and classes started for real on the 3rd week, along with group work and case studies. By the way, one of the reasons why I could not post my article on Negosim last week was because we had a Marketing assignment due for Monday 8am.  Garden of Chenonceau (Loire Valley) This week, I started to realise how crucial good planning is. After reviewing my class schedule and making a quick estimation for class preparation (reading material + preparing cases) I found that I’ll need to spend around 60 hours weekly on studies. Basically, my key is that for each class, I’ll have to spend once to twice as much time for preparation. Holidays are finished for real now… Integration week-end This week end we went on integration in the Loire Valley. It was a mix between cultural visits (to the châteaux here and there), partying (with the regional wine, of course) and fun fun fun :) I feel that by now, I know 80 to 90% of my intake by name.
Tags: Academics, Assignments, HEC events, Social, Students One week has passed and we are now fully into our MBA. We have had a few academic classes so far and I have to say that I have been pleasantly surprised by their quality so far. But before I go on and on describing my life as a student, I wanted to share a few facts about the September 2009 intake:
I like:
Tags: Students Today was my first day at school. After the welcome breakfast, we were quickly dropped into more meaty action with an “ice-breaker”. Lunch happened in the Hall d’Honneur, with a staff presentation and an excellent buffet (incl. wine). Afternoon was for presentations about procedures: medical, visa, IT. French people (who don’t need visas to study or work in France) started working on stereotypes about… French people. Tonight, welcome party :)
Tags: Students  Expansiel corridor  My bed Yesterday was the day when I checked-in to HEC. Youpi! :) I also got the keys of my room at Expansiel (see pictures). The whole administrative process took me around 2 hours. Back to student life again!
Tags: Logistics A week has passed, and the tension starts to build up before classes start. More students arrive in Paris from other countries.  Le Pont des Arts on the day of the picnic As a result, I could see new faces during another HEC get together when we went for a picnic on the Pont des Arts last Friday (Aug 28th). In total, I could meet people from UK, the US, Japan, Hong Kong, Brazil, Columbia, and of course France. On my side, I’ve started figure out what I could bring into my room and I think I won’t be able to do without renting a utility car for moving in. To be continued…
Tags: Logistics, Social I haven’t written much since I came back to France (beside a page about interviews). Indeed, as the day when school starts (September 7th) beckons, more students are gathering in Paris. So last Friday (Aug 21st) we had a nice event where we had drinks and a few of us continued for dinner in the Montorgueil area. All good stuff :)
Tags: Social |
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