Over a week since my last blog?

Wow, time is going by too fast already.

As a child, I never thought I would say this: school is fun!

So far it's been a few classes per day followed by required readings, a few assignments and play time. The purpose of Module I (we have modules rather than semesters) is to focus on creativity, learning about leadership and getting us to step outside of our comfort bubble.

An example is with our recently established (yesterday) creativity groups. We have all been assigned to teams which are broken into categories such as puppetry, music, poetry, improv, dance, etc. My category is fiction and I'm not sure how much of a stretch that is for me. I was hoping for something much more vocal, but I suppose there will be plenty of other opportunities to make a fool of myself. Anyway, we'll spend a few weeks learning about that specific genre then will perform in front of the entire school for about 30 minutes (well, 20 min performance with 10 min Q&A). Yes, this is mandatory for all 1st year grad students. Our creativity consultants are intentionally vague in describing exactly what we need to do for our performances because they don't want us to focus on that yet. So, we'll see what happens.

And classes in this module (and the next few) aren't scheduled in the traditional format. For example, our schedules aren't fixed in the sense that we have Financial Accounting every Monday and Wednesday from 1:30-3:00, Business Law Tuesday and Thursday 10:00-noon, etc. Instead, classes vary based on what they believe you need to learn and when (the only class I'm in almost daily is Leadership Development). They may combine classes, such as Law and Ethics, to focus on a case study to understand both dynamics. For example, yesterday we used a case in our Communications class to write a letter then send it to our new writing consultants, and tomorrow we'll discuss that same case in our Leadership Development class. So this week my class schedule has been:
--Tuesday --
8-930: Biz Law
10-1130: Fin Acct
1230-2: Leadership Dev and Career Dev combined
230-5: Creativity groups
--Wednesday--
8-930: Fin Acct
945-1115: Leadership Dev
12-130: Overview of Babson IT
230-345: Creativity groups
--Thursday--
8-930: Math Skills course (optional)
10-12: Lead Dev
12-1230: Meet w/ career counselor
1-230: Idea lab (brainstorming entrepreneurial ideas)
245-415: Acct Rvw (optional)
430-530: Club Expo
6-8: Pub Night
--Friday--
Team Process Day
--Saturday--
Boston Harbor Cruise
(Note that I picked this week as the example b/c it's the shortest days and easiest to follow of the 5-week schedule that's sitting in front of me)

Hm, what else? Oh ya - tons of teams. It's true that consulting was team-oriented, but I really can't say that when I quit, I got away from teams. So far we've had case study teams, creativity groups, class sections, reading groups, writing and speech teams. Soon we'll have assigned study groups, BCAP teams (more on this some other day), and I'm sure there are other teams I'm forgetting. Plus, clubs and sports have just barely begun and my International requirement will be in a group.

Friday is Team Process Day. We've been instructed to wear comfortable clothing and bring a baseball cap, sunblock and water to stay hydrated. The 2nd years are great at keeping secrets, so they've only told me it's a fun day and includes those corny activities (my words not theirs) like falling back and others' catching you.

We don't even have a final exam at the end of Module 1! How great is that?!? Instead, I'll write a paper reflecting on the things I've learned about myself during this module. Should be interesting.

Alright, time for bed.