4.03.2004

It didn't take people long to start trying to cash in on the Todd Bertuzzi incident here and here. Pick a side and have your credit card ready. (hat tip: Trev)

The first year of my Rotman MBA is drawing to a close. It is still too early to have perspective on the experience and I'm still too busy with my studies to take time to reflect much on it, or to think about the difference between where I was last summer and where I am now. Without any doubt its been a worthwhile experience, I can honestly say I've never been around so many bright, motivated, passionate, enthusiastic people in my life. When you walk in off the street and into the Rotman building it takes you to a higher level. Just being around the place keeps me challenged and stimulated. But is it everything I hoped it would be going in? Probably too soon to tell.

The Integrative Management Challenge course held the first session of union labour negotiations this week. Our team was up against a union rep from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. We had a negotiations class in the second quarter, but this experience is of much more use. Being up against these professional negotiators is like attending a lecture about how to swim, and then being thrown in the deep end of the pool to apply your knowledge. That said, our union counterpart is a classy guy and a pleasure to deal with.

One of my regrets from first year, is not blogging more. The funny thing is a really enjoy writing, referencing pop culture and keeping track what I've been up to. As Lester Bangs said in Almost Famous:

"I used to do speed and sometimes a little cough syrup and stay up all night writing and writing, I mean like 25 pages of drivel about, you know, the Guess Who, or Coltrane, just to f#@king write."

But that's tough to do when you have an exam or a paper due the next morning - the writing that is. Taking speed with cough syrup is just good common sense.