FT Rankings are in...

And we moved up to 24th internationally, ahead of Haas, Darden and Cornell, which is nice, in the 10 ten in Europe and in the FT's rankings of rankings we're tied for 9th globally alongside Wharton and IESE.

Not bad, huh? But to look at it all objectively, rankings are somewhat of a farce, it all depends on personal choice, what you're looking out of an MBA programme, the culture and mesh. At least that's my personal opinion, and I could scream and shout about rankings how great they are, blah blah blah, after all we are No.1 Internationally in the WSJ. But as I said, it's a matter of fit between you the student, and the school.

Internships, Andorra y Español

So, anyone know a CEO at a major energy company? Cause daddy needs an internship. I’ve been sending out applications and although a no response is probably better than a ding, it’s still not great, and after all industry does start after consulting and i-banking.

Thus far, I’ve heard back from a company that in my book is tied for the No.1 internship and employment spot, and I’m short listed for an interview, which is good, but not great as I’d like not to have to worry about this any more.

In other news, we’re going skiing in Andorra after the career forum, I’ve got my exam in Español this afternoon, which I’m neither prepared on unprepared for. It is grammar so it will undoubtedly be a killer, but the fact that I can have conversations about Chavez, energy, movies, and god knows what else bears good news about my abilities in Castellan. Whether I can write a report on the subject matter with the same sense and clarity as I have in English, is another story.

Marks are in - passed all my classes :)

They showed up today, and I passed all of them, most were in the 8's, one in the 7's and two in the 6's, and I even pulled off a 8.1 in Financial Analysis :O; though I was a bit surprised with the poor mark in AQM. Could I have done better, probably, am I happy with what I got, I suppose so, term II is shaping up to be a walk in the part for me, so I should be able to bring my overall grade up a bit, and I also can't believe the lack of a 9 in Marketing, freggin' B.S. At least I won't have to take makeup classes like some other people this year. I do feel bad for them though, I really do.

Czasopismo nazywa się "Perspektywy"

Dostałem informacje od mandzera programu i czasopismo się nazywa Perspektywy, ma częstotliwosc misięczna, i nakład ok. 100 tys. egz. Kto by chciał, link na storne czasopisma jest tu a link wikipedii tu.

Nie wiem kiedy artykuł będzie publikowany.

Prawie że niewiarygodne / Nearly incredible

Więc tak, ogulnie to po Polsku chciałem dzisiejszy blog na pisać bo parę dziennikarek miało ze mną wywiad o ESADE do jakiejgoś Polskiego periodku skolasycznego. No poprawia się zycie, poprawia się. Ale bo moja kochana klawiatura Della nie jest ustawiona na jezyk Polski, i mi sie obecnie nie chce jej ustawiać, to konczę i przestawiam się znów na Angielski... więc... sory.

Now for the Anglophones and everyone else, sorry about my last few titles; I know I haven’t been all that creative lately. But! I have some amazing news. 1st of all the final in Competition and Strategy went well, I finished it, some others did not, for lack of time, and there’s another course closer to having an MBA behind my name.

But here’s the rub. Some Polish journalists came through ESADE today, interviewed the program director, and as I am Polish and all that, the administration asked me to briefly meet with them, I did and was unexpectedly interviewed. I was basically asked to talk about my decision to attend ESADE, specifically why there, what I found most interesting about the program, and like I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, it’s the personal attention that the student gets, and the languages. They took some pictures of yours truly and if all goes well I’ll get my 1st quote in a Polish publication at the age of 27. How cool is that.

Afterwards, I heard from the Program Manger, Jeroen Verhoeven that the visit went very well, and honestly, even though I was a bit distraught, just glad I could help.

Le update

Competition and strategy is over, and now the real deal starts. We still have the final tomorrow in competition and strategy, and we’ll see how that goes, probably well as the book is an interesting read.

The 1st weekend back was pretty tame and we had a little shin dig in my apartment where the social gap between ESADE and IESE was bridged, yes, we had a mixed party, and no one left with any broken ligaments, this Sunday’s football match, may turn out otherwise. Kidding, but it was nice to mingle, and cleaning up on Sunday was less than fun.

The new term classes are ok so far, Managing People in Organizations is much more exciting than International Business Law, but then again I feel the same way about law as I do about getting the stomach flu, meaning both make me feel a bit ill, but the stuff today about double taxation will undoubtedly prove useful. Death and taxes and all that. Next up is Español, and then an entrepreneurial networking session with Babson exchange students.

In other news, I’m 100% going into energy, and I’m really keeping my fingers crosses about BP and RDS (Royal Dutch Shell) and have found a few other smaller, greener and really interesting companies here that would also be good places to spend the summer months interning.

As it’s term two and all, I’ve also been thinking a bit about an exchange. South Africa, specifically so I can get a grasp of life / work in Africa, too bad they don’t have MBA programs in Angola or the DRC. That would really be fun.

Back in the saddle again

New York, New York. Vacation was good, saw my parents, saw my cat, saw my friends, stomped the streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan, and it sure is good to be back in Europe. Especially after the fiasco that was Morocco – 10 days of pure and utter adventure. So much fun.

I flew out of NYC on the 28th, stopover in London Gatwick morning of the 29th, Barcelona, argued with the cab driver on the way home cause he decided to take me through mid day traffic hell instead of taking the Ronda and then Diagonal as I had asked. Dropped off my bags (yes bags, my initial luggage never left the Barcelona airport), then back to the airport for a flight to Malaga, met my traveling companions at the airport then to Algeceiras, and finally a ferry to in Tanger on the 30th.

The following few days saw us sleeping in a hotel without windows, going over the Atlas Mts. in a bus without heating and an open window (it was – 4C), sleeping 2 days under tents in the desert, eating amazing food and going by camel to an oasis. Then we missed the bus from Erfoud to Ouzazate as it was broken and by 1980 Mercedes taxi with a cabby who spoke only Berber to Ouazazate, there one night, super experiences with the locals and to Marrakech, where we amazingly enough found an amazing Riyadh for 20€ a person and spent two amazing days there. From Marrakech to Casa Blanca by train, and another two days in Casa at Paloma’s friends house, meeting the family and eating the most amazing couscous ever and then back to Tanger, on a train that was late, without sleep, and finally Spain where another member of our party had some visa issues.

Finally we got back to Barcelona Monday circa midnight and the following day school, which thus far has been kicking us in the gluteus maximus, i.e. working on a project this past Tuesday until 12:30 at night, and still not finishing it, then scrambling to get it done during lunch to get it done, and that is that. It’s good to be back in Barcelona, the weather is amazing, clear blue skies, and it’s fantastic to see everyone again.

Finally, the desert is such a place that you cant help but be at least a little touched. For me, I did some soul searching, and while music, media, advertising and such is all good and well, I think I’m going to focus once again on the energy sector. After all, I am zealously passionate about it and it’s just easier to change the world that way, and any who, that’s what I always wanted to do.

Oh… and I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. Cheers.