Graduate Studies Blog

Article written by Venkatsubrmaniam Wuppuluru
Nanyang Fellows MBA 

College life is FUN! But then, how is life for a Fellows MBA student, studying at Nanyang Business School? Read on to find out, how a typical week looks like for a Fellows MBA student.

Mondays: We usually have one class, in the mornings between 9:30 am and 12:45pm. However, Trimester 2 (T-2) was an unusual case, where we had regular full day finance classes, barring a lunch break (typically lasting 1 hr and 15 mins). It tends to get tedious, specially for someone returning from the corporate world, to concentrate for 7 hours straight. Post lunch, despite the best efforts of our professors, our minds do tend to wander away from class. We do have some exceptional students, who have mastered the art of dozing off with eyes open.

After a long day at class, in the evening, I take a stroll around the campus and walk back to my accommodation. The greenery and pleasant weather, charges me up and by the time I reach my accommodation, it’s time to work on the following days case studies or assignments. T-2, on Tuesdays we had our East Asian Culture and Management Policies classes, which meant lots of readings.

Tuesdays: The day begins with East Asian Culture and Management policies class between 9:30am and 12:45pm. Post which, the class disperses for lunch break (typically in pockets of 3 or 4). Our professor, is a very well read and experienced individual, who incidentally was also the past Dean of Nanyang Business School. His vast experience, background and research, helped us immensely to understand, how business is typically transacted in this part of the world (read South-East & East Asia).

Tuesdays are also reserved to our weekly badminton challenges, wherein 6 of us (Russian, German, Chinese, Japanese, Pakistani & Indian) typically test our limits. While the German & Pakistani are supremely fit, others are fast catching up. Strangely, there is also a brewing rivalry between the German & Indian, although must say, German is winning hands down – for now. Badminton is usually a 2-hour affair.

Post badminton, 4 of us (Indian, Nigerian & Pakistani) head for our usual evening swim. Especially after 2 hours of physically exhausting badminton, a swim in the Olympic sized pool is the best way to relax and re-charge.

Post dinner, again, we head retire to our rooms to prepare for the following days pre-readings/assignments. In T-2, on Wednesdays, we had Change Management & Negotiation sessions.

Wednesdays: Personally, I look forward to our Negotiation classes on Wednesdays. The first half of the class is reserved for theory and the second half, usually the fun part, where we simulate negotiation scenarios. The consensus in the class is to have more time allocated for these simulations, which, at times can really get interesting. We push each other to the core, at times, waiting to settle scores, in good spirit, however at the end of the day, the focus is always on the learnings. This is one of those classes, where, we are as fresh post ending the session, as we were, when we began it.

Post class, we again break for lunch. Usually, I take a bit of rest in the afternoons and head for a swim. Post swim & dinner, I get back to my pre-reading sessions for the following day. Since, Thursdays are usually slotted for Talent Management, the readings can get exhaustive.

Thursdays: Personally speaking, Talent Management classes have been an interesting mix of case studies and theories. Specially, the project where we had to analyze one aspect of HR related task for a company of our choice. While it tends to get theory heavy, our professor’s sense of humor really cracked it up for us. And the case studies were always discussed in the most interesting manner. This is one class, where our cohort usually stayed awake, because the professor has this brutal habit of picking on students, who were mentally absent from the class.

Again, the usual routine of lunch and swimming followed. Sometimes, we also had a session of Squash, to compliment badminton. Fridays were generally off days in T-2 and hence, our group usually discussed our consulting project on this day.

Fridays & Weekends: Depending on individual’s choice, the weekend could either be adventurous or slow paced. We had an interesting mix of students, who had a special class on weekends – termed as Beer class. Being a tee-totaler was a brilliant excuse to not enroll in the Beer class, however the students of this class had fantastic stories to tell. This Beer class students were also culturally most active, since they always chose the venue basis some cultural significance.

Coming from India and being the cricket fanatic that I am, Friday evenings were reserved for swimming and a session of cricket. We have a group of 30 odd people, who play cricket on a makeshift hockey court, under flood lights.

Taking a stroll in the late evenings, when the breeze flows gently is also another way to unwind a long week. Saturday and Sundays, we head out of the campus to enjoy food and explore the city. Also, we plan for the week ahead, case submissions and quizzes.

Whosoever said COLLEGE LIFE IS FUN, well yes, it is fun, but also can push you to your limits with assignments. Apart from the usual classes, this is how MBA trains us on TIME MANAGEMENT & MULTI-TASKING.