If Starbucks were to operate at ESMT, they would make “easy” money. We enter the fourth week of Endurance Expedition. Workloads are increasing with more Module 1 assignments and presentations due this week and next week. Some of my classmates and I are pretty exhausted and stretched. Some of us have been having late nights. For me, averagely fours of sleep a day for the last one week plus and we are only at the start of the journey. And, it does not help that some of the subjects are “dry-ice”. Geez, another 40 plus weeks to go.

The coffee machine dries up before the end of the day. Black coffee and latte macchiato are gulped down by the glasses, Venti–sized. Sooner or later, we will become coffee addicts and zombies.

One thing about my classmates. There are always members who are ready to help one another. For me, this is what MBA is about and we try to encourage this in ESMT Endurance Expedition. Nothing is lost for helping a fellow member. For me, learning comes from teaching others and helping others understand a concept. Nobody is perfect and all-knowing. I don’t and I admit it. The power of learning multiplies exponentially when more heads are put together. This reminds me of the headlamps that we received for our Outward-bound School (OBS) training at the beginning of January. Eight teams were set on an expedition under thick snow and winter chill, with some food and lots of team encouragements. We walked to nightfall and we had to walk in total darkness. Thank God we had our headlights. Individually, the headlights are not bright; sufficient to shine a small spot to lead us on. However, by walking side-by-side and all heads aimed at a single spot, that spot became brighter and larger. We could see further. That’s the power of the light. In similar way, the 40 of us should walk side-by-side for the next 40 weeks and help each other learn. I am sure help is there when help is sought.

A classmate explaining a concept to two other.

We must continue our walk now ………

This is Aswini blogging in from ESMT, Berlin. Dec 31, 2009 was my last day in my office at Morgan Stanley, Mumbai, India where I had been working for four years since my graduation. I was a part of the IT team of the Asset Management Business. I was both nervous and excited about the huge change as I headed back to Coimbatore to spend some time with family before starting the fulltime MBA 2010 program. Now, it has already been a month since I first landed in this “white” city which was dark at 5 in the evening. A nice, international city(well, there is an “Indisches” restaurant in every corner). I am travelling quite a bit from the city to the school and seeing German precision; every day the bus glides into the bus stop at 8:13, the transport system is pretty convenient, infact I am pretty sure I saw a dog taking the escalator in the S Bahn station the other day :)

Getting back to the MBA, it has lived to its promise of being rigorous and fast-paced. The first month has already gone by in a flurry of  activity - assignments both group and individual, lively case study discussions, surprise tests, career counselling sessions and bergfests. Despite the hectic schedule, I am hoping to capture the key moments of the MBA program and as I get into the rhythm of blogging, will try and cover a topic of interest every week.

The title of my blog has been inspired from “Snapshots from hell”, a great book on the life of a first year MBA Stanford student, a former White House speech writer. A very good read for someone who is thinking about an MBA as it captures the good and tough times of the first year very well.

Maaan it’s fast! Never felt the proverb ‘time just flies by’ feel so real. Its been just three weeks, I have yet to move into my new apartment… and guess what, we’re already preparing for the end of the Accounting course. All this time, it has been mostly adjusting to the pace and the hectic schedule, but it has been fun. It’s fun revived after a long break of three years! Undergraduate was an amazing time, but this seems to be catching up quick. An incredible city of Berlin, a diversity in class that translates into 21 nationalities, a wonderful study group and a very able faculty…I feel well-served!

I’m Osman Liaquat, the first Pakistani at the university. Having worked three years in the Telecommunications industry, at Nokia Siemens Networks, I choose an MBA as a step forward.  With a very technical background, the whole business experience is going to be a challenging one. And I wish to get the most out of it. This journey is going to be exciting and fun…I can feel it!

This was my first blog entry ever! And I hope to keep posting. Cheers!

Hello! This is Karan Khurana, a 28 year old Indian national with six years of work experience in the IT Sector. I have worked extensively at multiple locations in India and also spent considerable time in the beautiful city of Sydney, Australia. Sitting here, in the study room of ESMT Berlin I feel great. Although the work is hectic and the deadlines are imminent, the surreal atmosphere of this great institution puts my mind at ease.

 I distinctly remember the first day when I nervously walked around the streets of Berlin, my feet immersed in the snow and my sense of direction numbed by the cold. I struggled to find my way to school but once I saw it from a distance, beautifully located along the River Spree I was enchanted by its mystique.  It had a grand presence, yet an air of nonchalance about it. No ugly signboards screaming its names from the rooftops, just an elegantly engraved name at the entrance, visible only from nearby. This, to me exuded the confidence that befits a leader.

After having spent the first 3 weeks attending lectures, interacting with the staff and fellow students, I already feel a sense of belonging here. The teaching faculty is of the highest quality and the staff in the administration, admissions and marketing departments is also very friendly and supportive. And last but not the least, the diverse class with 21 different nationalities has helped me to get a ’sneak peek’ into many different worlds and thus appreciate multiple points of view. I have enjoyed German Pastas for lunch, Russian chocolates in study sessions and read about American Marketing Startegies for case studies. So life is good, full of variety, hope and learning! Let the good times flow!

When you spent the last 35 years of your life basked in a sunny weather (where I came from, we have two weathers - sun and haze), winter is an experience you will never forget to share with your future grandchildren. What a timing for an MBA program. When most business schools start their MBA program around September/October, EMST chose January. Wise decision?

At the recent ESMT MBA Class 2010 Welcome Dinner, Dean Wulff Plinke quoted the now-famous 1914 advertisement “Men Wanted for Hazardous Journey” by Sir Ernest Shackleton for his trans-Antarctic expedition (aka Endurance Expedition). The advertisement read:

“Men Wanted For Hazardous Journey.
Small wages. Bitter cold.
Long months of complete darkness.
Constant danger.  Safe return doubtful.
Honor and recognition in case of success.”

For ESMT Class 2010, this quote was timely and is a reminder to the 40 men and women who have chosen to sacrifice fledging career to take one year break and join ESMT’s Endurance Expedition at the start of a bitter cold Berlin. I was told that this year’s winter was unusual. More snow than Berlin ever experienced. The 40 of us made the decision for this “hazardous journey” and we cannot turn back. No way. The only way is forward and forward we must.

After the first month, signs of Sir Shackleton’s advertisement began to materialise. Deja vu. We told you so. For some of us, we are still in our study room with less than 4-5 hours of sleep. I am sure my other expedition mates in their respective cabin-apartment are no less lucky.

I am Jimmy Low from Malaysia. I chose to join this Endurance Expedition after working for 13 years in telecommunications industry. I reached the first phase of my career, feeling a sense of achievement. The goals I set in 1998 was met. I am more than happy. After spending two years planning and soul-searching, I made a decision to do my MBA at ESMT in Berlin, Germany. Many people questioned my wisdom in choosing Germany for MBA. Well, my friends, this is my “Antarctic”. And, I am not alone. There are other 39 others who chose Germany as their “Antarctic”.

Success awaits all of us at the next winter. I am sure we will persevere. This is a journey not for individuals. This is a journey for teams. There is no hero in this expedition as for us to survive this journey we need to support each other psychologically and in any way we can. I hope my fellow expedition mates who share the same mission with me also share the same philosophy - we start as a team, we end as a team.

Join me, as I journal our expedition across the “bitter cold, long months of darkness, constant challenges and no turning back” landscape. Pray for our safe turn on 17 December 2010.

God Bless, Class 2010.

Its the first blog entry of the year for me, and as it turns out the first blog entry ever.

Some background: My name is Sean Wiid, I am a 31 year old South African and am married with one child (so far). I grew up in South Africa, studied geomatics, computer science and engineering at the University of Cape Town and have had around 8 years of work experience in various sectors in IT and consulting in South Africa, UK and Mozambique.

My intention is to post regularly both as a personal record and to share my experiences at ESMT for those who might be interested in what goes on here. At a minimum, perhaps it might provide friends and family a window into my world this year, as it seems I won´t be seeing much of them!

I had very high hopes for this year, and so far all my expectations have been exceeded. Where to begin? Its tough to pick an interesting topic for your first blog entry. Do you talk about the impressive building and facilities? Or should you focus on your 40 classmates from 21 nationalities? The constant heavy workload? The group dynamics and learning what teamwork REALLY means? Our highly regarded faculty? 25 world class founding companies? Or something more entertaining, amusing scenes from the last bergfest perhaps?

Or what about accounting? This has been my biggest surprise to date. Far from the tedious, boring and monotonous land of debits and credits I had imagined, our first course in financial accounting has been very interesting and very enjoyable. Professor Leif Sjöblom has skillfullly guided us through the new terminology and concepts with help of some interesting cases and a healthy dose of humour. A good indication of how much we have learnt came from today´s industry analysis group assignment, where we had to determine which of 8 companies belonged to each of 8 sets of figures just by analysing the financial ratios. During a particularly lively part of the discussion, a visiting prospective student asked if all members of our group had backgrounds in finance. Score one Leif!

So its midnight. My wife and son have been asleep for a few hours already. If I push hard, the remaining work for the day should be done in around 2 hours.

Ate logo

It has been just 3 weeks in ESMT and each day I get more convinced about my decision of coming back to college. Partly to learn and partly to enjoy the best of life again. I still rate my time in undergraduate, the best time of my life, but seems like this one is going to challenge that in terms of work as well as of fun.

I am Deepak, from India. I have been living in Germany since last 4.5 years. I came here right after my graduation from India to work for Infineon and have been here most of this time except my holidays, which I have used extensively either to travel European cities or to visit family back home.

I would be posting here mainly about my ESMT experience, both in terms of learning as well as fun as both constitute large part of my daily schedule here.  After the initial turbulence resulting from the drastic change in lifestyle due to coming back to study, I am getting used to attending classes and preparing assignments. I know it is a short and fast journey to learn so much, but I can already feel that it would be very interesting and fun to go through.

Greetings from Berlin, my name is Bernard Wang (American) and I’ll be one of the contributors to the MBA blog.

First a little bit about me: I was born in Taiwan, but immigrated when I was 3 years old to the United States. I completed all of my formal education there, including a bachelor of science in electrical engineering in 2001. Since then, I have worked as an engineer and technical marketer in the semiconductor industry, with stints in the US, Taiwan, China, Austria and Korea. While working in Korea, I met my wife Sophia, and we have been happily married since 2008. My native language is English, but I am also fluent in Mandarin Chinese and German. In my free time, I enjoy the outdoors, reading and traveling.

So now onto more interesting topics. It’s been almost exactly one month since we started our orientation activities here at ESMT and we’re now done with almost 3 weeks of classes. Though the intensive coursework has kept us quite busy, for me personally, my biggest challenge so far has been outside of the classroom, namely finding and setting up an apartment. You see, the vast majority of apartments in Berlin come not only unfurnished, but totally stripped down - no light fixtures, no carpeting or flooring and sometimes even no kitchen sink! Thus, in addition to learning about accounting, marketing, microeconomics, organizational behavior and decision making during the week, on the weekends, I have been learning about drilling through concrete and tile and wiring up lighting systems. These tasks have consumed so much time, energy and nerves that I feel I’m earning a second MBA degree - a Masters in Building Administration. Thankfully, the home improvement projects will soon come to an end, which would allow me to focus on more interesting subjects.

Like accounting. :)

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