News on ESADE in the Economist.com

From economist.com, June 21st.

"European union

France's HEC School of Management and Spain's ESADE business school, already close collaborators, have decided to increase their cooperation substantially. Under a new agreement, students will have the opportunity to study for a time at both schools and take advantage of joint programmes abroad in Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. The schools will jointly recruit and develop new faculty, and they will also collaborate on teaching and research. Bernard Ramanantsoa, the dean of HEC, told the Financial Times that the schools may also launch new executive-education programmes in countries such as the United States."

This is fantastic news, and really opens up the market for all us ESADE students in France, and should they open centres in the US, it will only increase the ESADE name brand even more. Truth be told, I'm somewhat giddy hearing this news :) Giddy indeed.

Wait? I'm leaving the country!!! and how moving & packing is my nemesis!!1

I don't think it's quite settled in yet, but I just came to the realization that I'm leaving the country. Not for a little vacation, a month, an exchange program or some backpacking tour, but at the least two whole years, and more likely indefinitely.

You see, I had this going away party, and a number of friends had asked me if I was excited, or looking forward to it, and all I said, was "meh, not really" – thing is, I should probably be losing my mind, as moving is considered as one of the most stressful activities in life. But who gets stressed out by moving?

It’s annoying, sure, but stressful? Pffft. Garbage! This is my 3rd move in less than 18 months, and if anything, it won’t be the stress, but the packing that’ll leave me with a stroke and poor motor function.

Which I started doing yesterday, packing that is, not having a stroke, and once again, I am reminded how much I utterly detest the activity. Putting all your useless garbage into little boxes, throwing the most useless of the useless garbage out and trying to sell anything worth selling has become such an irritating chore that I can’t even express, especially since I last had this exercise in November.
But that’s why we go get our MBA’s to move ahead in life, prosper, and hopefully pay people to do all this god awful packing for us… anyways, I digress, there’s a cold beer and a box waiting for me.

Lets hope I stay in the same flat for the two years I’m in BCN… until next time, wishing all the other MBAers out there the best.

How I love my new laptop let me count the ways

Having had a Dell Inspiron 8200 for the past three years, and never having any problems with it, I opted to go for another Dell. Sure I did my research, read about the HP’s the Sony VAIO’s Toshibas, and even snagged a look at the new Intel based Macs. But all in all Dell was just the best choice. So what did I get?

A Dual Core Inspiton E1505, it weighs 6.5 lbs and is one fast little rocket. Under the hood I have the following.

2 T2400 Dual Core CPU’s @ 1.83GHz
1022 MB Ram (1 GB)
100 MB HDD @ 7200 RPM
ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 256MB Ram

Then I went ahead installed non manufacturer drivers, Tweaked XP a bit using Tune XP, and the thing cooks like a mofo, is fast and the battery life is just amazing. So for anyone looking to get a new notebook for school, I can, will and do wholeheartedly recommend this notebook. Additionally, I got a great deal on it, as I made sure to buy it with all the fixins, and when doing so, Dell was offering coupons that took 30% off the total price, which led me to pay about $1,700.00 for the whole thing.

Adios Amedica - My Farewell Sendoff...

I'm flying out on the 6th, and my sendoff parte' is on Saturday. Should be good times, I'm having people from life and work coming, the mingling will undoubtedly be interesting. Other intersting individuals who are showing up are the two guys I'm headed to school with, Misha and Jason, as well as future IESE student Niko, and I invited the 4th New Yorker, Paloma, a new additon to the ESADE class to come as well. If it doesn't rain, should be good times. * if the freggin weather gets any better, I'm so sick of this rain! 

Anti Americanism and the World Cup

While we would all like to think the World Cup to be an affair where winners and losers are decided by the feats of the players on the pitch. Recent events, have led me to believe otherwise, and have made me somewhat disgusted with FIFA, and the level of refereeing at this WC.

Lets take the game USA v’ Italy. Anyone who saw this match, even an Italian, will tell you that the U.S. did not deserve two expulsions. Throughout the game, the Italian side would take dives, cry to the ref for free kicks, and surely they were given to them. When the U.S. fouled, it would be a card. And while I wholeheartedly believe the Italian ejection from the match was absolutely justified, the same goes not go for the Americans. Neither one was in effect an offense that justified expulsion. The referee in that match, a Uruguayan with a history of refereeing “inconsistencies” was also banned for a time from international football, and in the farce that was U.S.A. v’ Italy gave the game to the Italians. America, even tired and with nine men, played wonderful football. And I am sure that if it would have remained 11 v’ 11, or even 10 v 10 the Americans would have come out triumphant, of this I'm certain.

Moving on, today’s match with Ghana was nothing short of disgusting. Following the blatant Anti-American display in the Italy match, the German Ref wanted to one up the fellow from Uruguay by awarding a PK for a blatant dive, one that even a local league referee would not have missed, and the horrid foul against Claudio Reyna that saw him removed from the match through injury, and which led to Ghana scoring. Simply put the Ghanaians had 12 men on the pitch today, and with 12 men it’s very hard to win. But this isn’t only my sentiment; the commentator on Spanish Radio in NY said the same thing as I am sure others around the world did the same. Today’s display was a farce!

In all, it’s simply sad, sad that blatant Anti-Americanism was touted in such a way at a sporting event of this magnitude, sad that people hate this country so much that they would go out of their way to prove a point and hurt the players, and fans who carry with them the hopes of generations of immigrants from around the world who have come to shape America for what it is today, and sad that the World Cup was at least in part ruined through the actions of a few.

ESADE en E.E.U.U. (That’s the US of A)

So, when I tell people I’m getting my MBA in Spain, they usually say “oh?” However, I’ve been recently getting conversations that fall more along these lines.

“Yeah, so I’m going to get my MBA in Spain”
“Oh that’s great, congratulations, what school?”
“At ESADE, it’s ranked…”
“The one in Barcelona right?”
“Yeah”
“My (insert any of the following) friend, ex-co worker, acquaintance, etc…, went there, he/she/it is doing great.”
“Really?”
“Yeah he/she/it said it was a wonderful experience, you’ll…”

And then we return to the regular babble of people in elevators / subways / bars, what have you. So, it apparently seems that people do in fact know quite a bit state side about this little school in BCN called ESADE, and they all have very favorable opinions of it. Good to know, that given everything doesn’t work, and I’m forced to return to the good ‘ol US of A, I’m not going to have to explain to every rube and his mother what ESADE specifically is.

Additionally, and as I’m getting gitty, I picked up the Barcelona Time Out guide, in which ESADE is also mentioned as a very prestigious business school. :)

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez!

Another one bites the dust, and $700.oo, sorry $800.oo

I don’t think that I’ve ever adequately expressed how much in fact I despise having roommates. It’s not so much the living with someone else that bothers me; in fact all I need to be happy is the following, (A) a clean bathroom and kitchen, (B) some personal space, i.e. my own room, and (C) utilities to be paid on time.

Now (B) never really seems to be a problem, there was a time when I live in a musician building where my Sundays were usually filled with god awful progressive cello rehearsal, or my next door neighbor playing Chopin the way Chopin never meant to be played (trust me I’m Polish, I know my Chopin) but other than that one time, it’s been pretty decent.

Now… (A) Cleanliness, why that’s a whole other issue. I personally don’t care if my roommate(s) personal living quarters look as if a miniature Hurricane Katrina has passed though, but the living room, the living room however I can deal with, it’s the bathroom. The one thing I cannot stand is a filthy bathroom. My past three roommates have not been able to maintain a level of normal decency in the loo. No. 1 Puked all over it, and then tried to blame me. How??? He was out the next day, with all his crap in the hallway (this was the music building, and there were 3 of us there beside him) No. 2 Was better, but no picnic, he couldn’t really hit the toilet while urinating, and after about a week, it would start smelling like any outer borough subway station entrance. At least he'd clean up after himself. And Mr. Current, No. 3 is so lackluster in the intelligence dept. (Male model, explains it all – right) that even after numerous discussions and even actual physical demonstrations on "flushing the toilet", the buffoon still manages to leave piss in the toilet, and clogs the john at least once a week. How? I ask how, how, how???? Normally, I’d tell him to leave, but as I’m leaving…. Well. Oh and doing dishes, well to all it was about as foreign as Mandarin Chinese.

And finally (C) – the payment of utilities. For some reason, I’ve had the bad luck of landing with two individuals since November, who do not quite grasp the concept of paying on time. My previous roommate, while paying utilities left with an outstanding balance of $1400.oo to the landlord, and Mr. Idjit Model just lost his job, so he can’t pay this months, meaning his security is going to cover this months rent – and I’m left wondering if I’ll at least get the cable/internet money out of this numbnuts before he / I leave.

Oh … and as you can guess, the outstanding balance of $1400.oo – has not been paid, and has basically made my deposit of $700.oo defunct, and while I indicated to Mssr. Landlord that getting a collection agency on my old roommate would be the best thing to do, he is apprehensive as there’s a good chance this place I live in is leased illegally. – Oh, the joys of NY living.

So. I’m thinking, incur the extra cost of a studio or 1br in Barça, and live alone, or pray that whoever I wind up with will at least have the common decency to flush the toilet and pay the rent? Decisions, decisions.

BTW - I’m getting my 700.oo bucks, + the 100.oo for cable – even if I have to sell his shit, call his parents, kill his hamster, whatever! (No he really doesn't have a hamster)

Thoughts on my ESADE interview - From baaaack in the day.

While I only interviewed at three schools, I can wholeheartedly say that the ESADE interview was by far the one, where the admissions officer tried to get a sense of me as an individual, access my talents, abilities, drive, and really see whether I would be a good fit for the program.

I was lucky to interview in person with Mary Granger, who at the time was visiting New York on holiday. I met her at her hotel lobby and we went to a café around the corner for breakfast, where she offered to pay.

The interview began, with her initially asking me about, and if I recall correctly, my accomplishments? I stated to speak, but as my leg was killing me at the time, I was just post-op, and being nervous, as ESADE was important to me I started stumbling over my words. I told her that this was the case, and as any good interviewer, she quickly changed the subject to calm my nerves as to be able to gage the real me, instead of a ball of nerves.

This worked fantastically, and I regained my composure quite quickly, fielding the other questions quite well. Some of the other questions asked went into deeper detail on my professional life, my essays, as well as some that were meant to gage my ability to work in teams, and one in particular that I found difficult to answer. “Elaborate on an event where someone changed your mind on something”. Being stubborn, driven, and set on thinking I’m usually right, this question was really hard to field. But in the end, I prevailed. The there was the quintessential question phase, where I the applicant asked questions a, b, c, etc…

I should also mention that during and after the interview, the topic of conversation would often drift, from the city grid work of Barcelona, to European fiscal policy and it’s need for change, to the need for energy independence, to some lady who owns a restaurant in Barcelona. (I think it was a restaurant, the interview was on April 3rd, my b-day, and although I have a good memory, certain minute details may escape me).

We eventually wrapped up the interview circa an hour forty-five minutes in, and I left feeling that it went exceptionally well.

In comparison to the other schools with whom I interviewed with I can say that ESADE’s was by far the most exploratory of me, and what makes me, me. IESE’s I found to be very cold, cut and dry – points, 1, 2, 3, ask questions, goodbye, we’ll let you know. Whereas RSM’s was conducted by an alum living in NY, and although RSM is great, I found the interview to be more of a pitch about the school than an exploration of me as a candidate and a fit to the school.

I find that ESADE’s approach here makes sense in respect to the school as a whole; they have a program that is very much focused on shaping the individual, and really seek to make exemplary MBA grads instead of the MBA Machine Cookie Cutter 1200 student intakes that are seen at various American Universities.

Letter of Resignation – Submitted

As of yesterday, it’s official – well at least at work it is. I submitted my letter of resignation and will be “officially” leaving the agency on June 30th 5:30pm – for good. And while everyone at work knew that I was leaving, and especially after the debacle of the Big Apple Awards where I got up on the podium, thanked everyone for coming to see me, and told them I was leaving for Barcelona – I thought it best to submit the letter anyways. Oh, and the aforementioned debacle, well – it’s why I’m never drinking at a work function ever again.

Moving on, my director thought the letter to have been written very eloquently, and was glad that my time at the (still) present job was a learning experience, so on and so forth, and while I did, and do complain about my current work situation, and it being one of the catalysts for my going to grad school, I can say now, at the end of this two year stint here, that in some small way, I may actually miss these strange strange people I work with. What I will not miss however, are syndications, dealing with the incompetent buffoons at various banks (who shall remain nameless), fact checking their work for errors, and the lackluster attitudes of many NFP employees.

Behind ESADE's Big Jump

I found a Business Week interview with Gloria Batllori associate director of ESADE's MBA programme regarding the school's continued jump in the rankings. Should anyone care to read it.... clickez ici