some nice cornbread with cranberry and butter...
Williams students were obliged to sing their College's song...
You can see that in addition to taking 6 courses during Michaelmas term (e.g. Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Microeconomics, Statistics, and Strategy), we also have 8 group-work assignments due. These assignments range from 1,500 to 3,000 words each with another few pages of charts and Excel calculations included in the appendices. These are huge undertakings that would not be possible without the combined efforts of our Study Group members: Babacar, Christoph, Emily, Mosima, and Keerti Prasad. Some other MBAs aren't so fortunate.
Our group has now submitted 5 out of 8 group-work assignments. There is no refuge, however. One assignment is due at 11pm, and before you have a chance to celebrate another one is due just 22-hours later...the onslaught continues. My advice to incoming MBAs would be to stand back and take a healthy perspective. For example, our iconic Accounting professor Tomo Suzuki said, "while it may be discouraging if a teammate is not pulling their weight, that is okay, provided they reciprocate later in other ways, such as with a job". Tomo is a very practical man!
Last year when I was first considering B-school, I remember leafing through the latest Oxford brochure and reading how they were different because MBA students were fully integrated into the University. Over the past five weeks I have come to realize what this really means. For example, during matriculation, our College 'Freshers' photo included both incoming undergraduate and graduate students, which is uncommon in the States. And of course there are also the University wide public lecture series, and recruiting fairs that MBA are also able to attend.
But perhaps most enjoyable has been my time spent rowing for the Exeter College Novice B team. Along with my fellow 'boaties', we row three times a week on the Isis, sometimes as early as 6am in pitch blackness. Rowing at Oxford is a big deal, in fact, 1 out of 3 students row at some point during their Oxford studies! And although the penultimate manifestation of rowing revelry is the annual 'Boat Race' that has been taking place between Oxford and Cambridge since 1859, students of all ages and abilities participate. 
New students take warning. When you are invited to a BBQ at the College boat house during 'Nought Week' you will be put on an erg machine and tested for 1-minute to see how fast you can row. After wolfing down my hamburger I managed to get on the erg machine and row about 38 strokes per/minute. Later I found out that this was good enough to put me on the Novice B team. Exeter had four boats this Fall: A, B, C, and D. It works similar for women's rowing, as well. Most of the graduate students rowed on the C boat.
For those of you already familiar with Oxford you may remember that the school year is broken up into Michaelmas (Oct-Dec), Hilary (Jan-Mar), and Trinity (Apr-Jun) terms. Michaelmas terms is dedicated to Novice rowers; those who have never rowed before. You train all term for the 'Christ Church Regatta', which is a 800 meter sprint where you row side-by-side with another boat trying to overtake them. The event takes place over four days (Thu-Sun) - weather permitting - beginning around November 27th. The more ambitious rowers can participate in the warm-up event, called 'Isis in Winter', which our crew participated in on Sunday, November 14th. The big difference between the two events is that Isis in Winter is 1400 meters long, and you are only racing against the clock. 
If you have rowed in the Christ Church Regatta, then congratulations - you are no longer considered a novice! Now you can go on and compete in 'Torpids' during Hilary, and finally 'Eights' during Trinity term to complete the Oxford rowing trifecta. But it's an incredible commitment of time and energy, so maybe I'll see how my job search pans out before the end of Michaelmas before I decide whether or not to continue on. Although I have lost 10lbs so far rowing, so maybe I'll stick with it a little longer to get into shape for my wedding next October.
England is a land of many unique, and sometimes perplexing traditions. Back in America, we usually celebrate Election Day during the first Tuesday of November, but here in Oxford we celebrated "Guy Fawkes Night" to commemorate a foiled plot by disgruntled Catholics to blow-up Parliament on November 5, 1605. Things didn't work out too well for the poor "Guy" who was subsequently hanged, drawn, and quartered. Now every year people light fireworks and burn effigies of Guy Fawke as they recite the poem: 
One of the best parts of being an Oxford MBA is the chance to meet new and interesting people. Only time will tell what these relationships lead to, what new businesses are launched, and who is running for President of which country (over 50 world leaders were Oxford students). Who knows what the future will bring for us all? All I can be sure of for now, is that Tommy will continue to keep me on my toes with his consistent tennis serve, Mike will protect my identity with RFID technology, and Bo will inspire me to go to an election party, an Oxford Union bop, and the Bridge nightclub all within a 12-hour period and still make lunch at the Eagle & Child the next day!
