Good news everywhere

Well, the best news first. My classmates Jason Schloss, Amberle Morgan, Zack Hall and, XiaoYan Zheng, won the Bowersox Graduate Supply Chain Challenge. They were accompanied by Dr Loray Mosher. The competition hosted by Michigan State University, and held at the Henry Center at Lansing, Michigan. There was stiff amongst the top ranked supply chain management programs.  The teams competed in a simulated real time competitive supply chain scenario and displayed their skills in managing a supply chain scenario, and like I said - WE WON! WPS!

The winning team- Xiaoyan, Zack, Amberle, Jason and faculty advisor Dr Loray Mosher

My whole class participated in a etiquette dinner , as part of a professional development program. The three hour session consisted of a three course dinner and professional advice about the dos and don’t of table manners in a professional setting. The evening was fun and had its share of some pretty entertaining questions. I for one definitely picked up a few pointers for the next event. Since we have a MBA social planned on November 1, I will be applying my newly acquired knowledge.

The MBA Class of 2013 at the etiquette dinner, at Carnal Hall

 Thank God we had a three course dinner. I don't know what I would have done had it been eight course. 

 The student mentors for the incoming batch of MBA students have been decided and I am lucky to be part of the team. Each year the faculty chooses mentors, based on applications.to help the incoming students, mostly by answering to any questions that the new students might have, as well as helping during the orientation process. Can't believe it going to be one year in Arkansas soon. Our team of 7 decided to click a few pictures with the awesome fall foliage.

Huaying, Sara, Tammy , Emmanuelle, me, Nick and Zack (L-R).The student mentors for the MBA Class of 2014 . David Dai, our classmate, was our photographer.

We had a awesome time clicking the pictures and then grabbing lunch at Dickson Street.

Well Halloween is around the corner and I am having a tough time deciding what I want to be for my FIRST ever Halloween. Sara, Samita, Devaratha and myself attended a "Spooky Night" event at the student union. We had a wild time, playing games, painting pumpkins and just acting weird at the photo booth.

Samita wearing really small glasses, Sara in a professional hat with, errr Cleopatra or was it Nefertiti?

The four of us met with Avatar (Micy, a undergrad student) at the photo booth.

Well, I have picked my Halloween costume and I am not going dressed as above. No use dressing up as myself, might as well dress up as something different. :-)

Fall Break

Fall break just ended. I can’t believe that I have already crossed the halfway mark. I had made a promise to blog at least once a week, but sometimes the assignments just don’t make it possible. Take the last two weeks for example.  I am ready to start class tomorrow after a 5 day break. But, it dosn’t seem like there had been a break. I had to submit a take home test, prepare for a presentation, and complete a assignment( a rather lengthy one), before class resumed. Not that I am complaining. J

My roommate, Devavrata took this opportunity to visit Chicago with a bunch of friends. He had an awesome time at the “Windy City”. He says it was a comfortable 10 hour car drive from Fayetteville. I had to stay back to work on my test. Devavrata has taken the finance track, and so he did not have to worry about the test, nor did he have to bear the agony of missing out on Chicago. I consoled myself thinking that I had been to Chicago in February, to visit the head offices of United and Saatchi and Saatchi X. The trip had been sponsored by the university, and four students of our class had been selected for the trip after submitting a letter of interest.  I was lucky to have been part of the team.

Devavrata - At Chicago! Now that's a royal way to spend the fall break. 

Spring Semester - Company visit in Chicago. 

Well, coming back to the present. The fall weather has been unpredictable. One day it’s rainy and cold, and the next you can’t live without the air-conditioning. A few of us friends went down to the Fayetteville Lake to catch a glimpse of trees in various shades of green, red, yellow and brown. It was a fun evening. Sometime last week, Sara and I drove up to Mount Sequoyah one day after class. I didn’t even know that this place existed, and I got a chance to witness the most scenic sunset in Fayetteville.

Lake Fayetteville. The picture is not doing justice to the sights we saw. 

It was a long walk. Only Thibault looks happy. Sara, Samita and XiaoYan look tired.

Sunset at Mount Sequoyah

Sunset at Sequoyah. See how tired I look. That's how hard I have been working. :-)  

Today I got an opportunity to meet Steve Glendinning, HR Director Mr Price. Steve has come down to Arkansas to participate in the board meeting for The Center of Retailing Excellence.  It brought back fond memories of my internship.

Another 2 months, and we will be a semester away from graduation. Gosh! Time really flies when you are at the Walton College of Business. J