My two cents on Queens

I really want this blog to be as informative as possible for anyone out there thinking of getting a Queens experience. In my very biased opinion I think this is the best B-school there is in Canada. The best B-school of course for me. See I think that is the key to feeling like you are in the best school there is in this world.

I'm going to tell you what made this the best fit for me when I was looking to get into business school. I get easily distracted and so i needed a school where the pressure would be on all the time so what better place than a 1 year program. If you are anything like me you like living on the edge. ( trust me from my appearance you probably can't tell but from my life experience I have found myself to be much happier and more fulfilled and produce my best work when the deadlines are looming and the pressure mounting.

I felt happier designing and implemented solutions for my clients @ my old job, trying to find a way to get our services to match their needs and selling them the idea just as much as I liked just talking and kicking it with them. When I was handing over, I spent three months away from the fun and excitement and I was really almost pulling out my hair with boredom. I actually ended up leaving my job a month earlier than I had planned to do some traveling and such just to get some of that zing of life back. Now at Queen's the zing isn't a total match. I mean these are assignments and exams so its a whole new level of pressure. While at the same time, you are supposed to be actively trying to place yourself in an after school employ so research careers joining clubs juggling your personal life which can get a bit DEAD. But not to worry your Queen's classmates will be your new social life and best friends. Its not a cliche. Trust me you'll see. But all in all it all adds up to one thing. A super busy super engaging lifestyle.

On the downside; it is emotionally draining and you can feel super lonely especially when the work just piles up and your teammates suddenly seem like slave drivers and not the lovely supportive people you knew a few days ago.Sometimes, you crash, and for the most part it happens when you have a day off. For me it was our one week of in the summer. We had no assignments and a CAP ( career advantage program) week to start of right after the break so all in all more relaxing activities. I slept like I had never slept before on my break. I visited canada's wonderland with my friends in Toronto and just let loose. It felt as if I had become the routine. But thats a story for another day.

The team emphasis at Queen's was another of my number one reasons for picking this school. I am a firm believer in working together with people and have been learning how to make interpersonal relationships work for a looong time. Now as I said before i had experience working with clients, and I am considered a great people person by my friends. However, I wasn't sure I really kknew how to work in a team. My job placement so far was mainly in leading teams but not directly outside of the leading role and that had really been the story of my life. I was always the one who took charge, the prefect etc, I needed to be in an environment of equal leaders. I had anticipated I would have a pretty easy time with my team but I was in for a surprise. Don't get me wrong, my team is the best team on the class of '08; unfortunately I had set myself up for disaster by concentrating on my weaknesses in team working skills for most of my module 1 and 2 and spent much of that time trying to fit into a mold I assumed was ideal.

Turns out, as with most things in my life, I am not comfortable in molds and need room to stretch and grow. I also realized that the reason my team was flourishing so well was what I find works well in my own relationship with my boyfriend. We aren't trying to make each other be anyone other than who they are, AND more importantly, everyone does exactly what they want to do and what makes them happy. Why is that a good thing, its good because we all came on this program to learn and complete it successfully, if we each follow that pursuit because it is what we want then..... we do our assignments to the best of what we can and we maintain some level of sanity and doing it. We also have come to accept each day as a part of itself and any disagreements are resolved head on and forgotten.

OK

I'll leave it at that for now especially considering I have an elevator pitch to deliver tomorrow and assignments to do, and an info session to attend...did I mention the finance test I have day after tomorrow that I must study for.....

later