One year over, another MBA year begins

It's not often I'd be up particularly bright and early on New Year's Day, but with exams kicking off in Thursday 5th January that was certainly the case for 2012. With exams for modules in Business Finance, Strategic Management, People Management and Macroeconomics there was a wide range of variety of content to get to grips with. I found it particulary interesting that so much of our Macroeconomics content is so visible in media headlines at the moment, which really helped keep both class discussions lively and (slightly) eased revision.

Barely an hour had passed after the last exam paper was closed and our entire cohort was bundled off on a coach heading north to the Peak District for a weekend of Organisational Behaviour & Personal/Professional Development. From rock climbing at the aptly named Windgather Rocks (see left) to orienteering and personal reflection, the programme was stretching all round. What was inspiring to me was how much people supported each other in a whole number of ways, from physical to emotional, and how much people pushed themselves to overcome challenges. And of course, there was time over evening dinner & drinks to get to know other people from a range of cultures and backgrounds much better. I've added the weekend to my list of course highlights and, as we returned to Cranfield yesterday to dive straight into a solid week of lectures, I felt it had been a breath of fresh air in more ways than one.