Newbies

Aaron Lykken, Manager, Academic Services & Technologies

I have to confess that I’m a bit behind on my posting, but for good reason, I recently returned from a lengthy vacation in Egypt and have been working in overdrive to get TMMBA Class 10 off to a roaring start.  So here we are with a new TMMBA cohort (Class 10), a new year and new challenges.

Class 10 is now finishing off their 4th week of the 1st quarter in their MBA career and it’s certainly been a learning experience for them both in and outside of the classroom.  At part 1 of orientation in December the students learned about creating powerful presentations, as well as how to build effective teams and deal with ethical situations in business.  This warmed their minds up for orientation part 2 at the start of January where the TMMBA newbies sank their teeth into a few of their core courses: microeconomics, accounting, and statistics.  Without a doubt this was a whirlwind of activity for the incoming class and truly tests your dedication and commitment to earning an advanced degree (you can finally grasp what the next 18 months will look like and what it will take).  I guarantee that every single student has realized by now (or earlier) that the most vital skills that need to be developed immediately are time management and teamwork which are absolutely essential to becoming an effective student.  Of course this doesn’t occur overnight, I see students finding the correct balance as early as Spring quarter and typically at the start of Summer quarter.  And while our students work very hard, we are always sure to include social events to let them relax and realize that they’re having a lot of fun too.  For example, during the orientations we had a trivia night, campus tours, networking events, and a social at Big Time Brewery.  Personally I’m looking forward to the quarterly social coming up in Feb., we’re going bowling, a fine time for me to work on putting all the new names and faces together!