A week of culture and politics.

So, here we go! 3 months into the IE-Brown Executive MBA and I am flying out later today on BA from Heathrow to JFK, stay over in NYC to see friends, colleagues and clients then jump on the Acela Express to Providence in Rhode Island. I will stay in Providence for a week to attend the second face-to-face session. 3 months ago this week looked like it belonged to another age, its amazing how fast its come round.
4 days a week for the last 12 weeks I have been taking part in the online debates, the other 3 days have been spent studying, and trying to prepare, for those online debates. Add into this 10 hour working days, 2-3 hours travelling, a young family and all other manners of time demands and 3am finishes are not unusual. I can see the times my fellow students are posting comments so I know this is not an unusual occurrence.
Being totally disorganised and more than a little lost really doesn’t help. I’ve also learn that my bad habits are deeply ingrained, that I need other people around me to help me learn effectively and that I have a crushing disposition to daydream!
It’s a week of Brown and liberal arts (no accountancy/finance for a week!!) so we will be covering psychology, culture, politics, and the arts, philosophy, innovation, health ethics and society! One of the highlights will be a concert featuring the Barenboim-Said Conservatory in Nazareth, Israel. This part of the programme was a key selling point for me and, I am sure, the rest of the class. We got to know each other quite well in the initial fortnight at Brown, the ensuing 12 weeks have allowed us to deepen those relationships, it’s going to be great to spend more time together working on this part of the programme.
A really good friend, someone who has been a real rock for me in an extremely difficult 18 months, asked me recently if I would recommend the MBA to her; my answer was to ask whether she had a spare 40 hours a week. On reflection that was a poor answer. I will revisit that question after my week of culture and philosophy; I can say with impunity that I have never before had a week like this in front of me. it was described as the hippy week, appropriate I suppose. Seeing as its Glastonbury week!