Sunday, April 19, 2009
1:47 AM

Breathe!

School. YES! I'm done with all my projects and exams and now I officially do not have any studies to worry about! This has been a pretty good sem I guess, having rather "elementary" modules left to handle - Marketing 101, Strategy, International Econs and Entre Finance - compared to the mug-intensive accounting modules.

Honestly, when people come tell you Entre Finance is damn easy that's cuz they've gone thru, or maybe they're just really really smart? I mean now I think it's easy, but when I was starting to study for my mid term, I was wondering if my friends who told me that were too smart, or was I too stupid. And then, I wanted to tear my hair out when I was trying to figure out how to project the finances of a firm that doesn't exist yet! I have to pluck numbers from the sky, and the worse thing, the numbers were so unprofitable it's unbelievable. With the help of some changes in assumptions, we turned it into a super profitable firm. I don't know the grades yet, but we think we really did a fine job at convincing "VCs" it's a great business. The team wasn't the most ideal, but I could always count on the Wonderwomen in my team. Love them! That'll be one reason why I'll miss projects in SMU!

The wonderwomen from AMA and EF!

Marketing was fun dressing in a lab coat and marketing a new toothbrush as a "dentist", and catwalking down without regards for my "face" (since I'm never going to see my classmates again) to market a weekend wear designer brand. Sometimes the process was trying, but everything turned out great eventually!

Strategy was loads of fun coming up with ways to attain our top position in Glo-Bus as well as coming up with strategies for our beloved Hugo Boss tho we really expected a higher grade! It's enjoyable as my team takes so much pride in our work. Learning about the success factors of profitable businesses like Apple, Google and Zara simply showed that the old-fashioned business is just not business anymore.

IE was our usual project team plus 3 Chinese students. They were unassuming, willing to take critiques and diligent, just needed a little guidance from us. I'm so glad I learnt so much from the meltdown of Iceland, and at least that topic was tested in the exam!

BB. My final sem in SMU also included a 1-month Crackberry trial! It's great cuz I can do BB chat w my friends w BB from all over the world, check email or surf the net on the go, type on QWERTY keyboard, etc. But after a while, overly high technology just becomes a pain in the neck. Being able to check email on the go makes you overly connected sometimes you have to tell yourself to savour the moment without distractions. Deleting a mail on your inbox on laptop doesn't do the same on your BB, which means I have 50 unread emails on my BB, when I actually read them on my laptop alr. The browser is so small it's very irritating as I often click on the wrong thing and everything I typed gets wiped out. Using BB causes me to neglect my Thinkpad, and despite its ugliness I still love my Thinkpad! But BB is really smart to come up with such a scheme to get pple to choose BB over HTC or iPhone. Ah well, guess I'll be getting a BB from the company, and that'll be when I wouldn't want it!

The sleek BB Curve!

Breathe. Breathe was finally over, which means I can finally breathe. I didn't have to do much work for it beforehand, so it's more on-the-ground effort during the event, and it was a myriad of emotions for me. For one, some people just love to criticise and think they know best. They don't know when they're hurtful and when to be constructive. Others are so rude I want to slap them hard. I asked one of them to go home, but he was apparently very drunk and born rude. The event also affirmed that SMU students are great drinkers.

There're also great pals who came to support the event, I mean not just for me, but for themselves as well, whom at least I was glad to see enjoying themselves. Many others I invited weren't present too, but I guess it didn't make a difference with the great turnout. Why did I even volunteer to organise this man? Forget it, for all the trouble, at least a more tangible benefit is the direct contact I'd need in the future. More work in the future with their HK chapter in the plans. Ah well. The moscato and some talking cock definitely cheered me up. I'm glad I can breathe now!