First year of the Rotman School of Management MBA. Check. Summer 2007. Check. Fall 2007. Check! Two and a half months into my second year as a Rotman MBA student, I have to pause and reminisce about my experiences over the past year.
As I look back at my first year as an MBA student at the University of Toronto school, I realise how far I have come since starting my journey.
When I arrived at Rotman, my understanding of the capital markets was rudimentary, at best. Since then I have immersed myself in learning all about capital markets and their players, while getting to meet a large number of professionals here in Canada, courtesy of my affiliation with Rotman.
Nothing sums up my first-year experience as an MBA student at the Rotman School of Management as my response to the question: “How do you value a company?”
Two years ago, my response would have been the staple answer I had mastered over my career as a Certified Public Accountant. “It depends”.
In those days, the response would have been accompanied by a sly smile – possibly betraying my uncertainty.
Now when asked, I still respond by saying: “It depends.” I still have the sly smile because old professional habits die hard. But the smile now conveys a quiet confidence of a number of approaches at my disposal in valuing a company.
The first year was a whirlwind seemingly geared to doing one thing: teaching me “by fire” to prioritise my time.
It also became clear that business school is not about absolute smarts since you and your classmates already represent the crème of the crop.
Rather, business school is about how your smarts stack up against your classmates and this proved to be both humbling and, for some, hard to deal with. Especially when you are used to being top dog in your pound.
The summer at the end of our first year offered respite from the hectic pace. Most of my classmates were fortunate to get internships in the Greater Toronto Area. A few ventured off to the US and Europe too. Some even took the summer off to travel around the world.
For me, summer turned out both very active and relaxing. This past June, I sat for the first level of the Certified Financial Analyst exam. In contrast to six years ago when I registered for the exam and did not sit for it since it was not required or encouraged in my career as a CPA, I was determined to do well.
I have to admit that in preparing for the exam, I realised I’d learned a lot about finance and capital markets at Rotman. The material made total sense and fortunately so did I, since I found out two months later I had passed the exam. I am looking forward to taking the second level in June 2008.
Over the summer, I returned to my old accounting firm in Maryland to complete some consulting projects, do some equity research for a portfolio I have been managing, and then I finally took time to do some travelling in Europe.
Additionally, all through the summer I took the opportunity to network with Rotman alumni in the Toronto capital markets to gain a deeper understanding of their “street” experiences and consequently what I wanted to do upon graduating from Rotman and heading back to the real world.
I also took time to re-acquaint myself with my passion for motorcycles, riding again after a two-year hiatus.
Second year in the MBA programme is starkly different from the first. While the constant pressure remains, the sources of the pressure have morphed.
It is no longer an option to be unsure where you want your career to go after Rotman. For those who have not yet received full-time job offers, the pressure of uncertainty is constant.
However, the focus of our second-year existence has shifted more to working in groups academically, as well as leading school organisations and facilitating events.
That’s right: the neophytes of the first year have become bossy second-year students! Moreover, it is amazing to watch my classmates in action as leaders.
That’s when I get to see them. One of the downsides of second year as an MBA student is that with everyone strictly taking electives, our schedules are no longer similar. So for a significant number of my classmates, I can count on my fingers the times I have seen them since the school year started.
But it doesn’t hurt that we got to choose our second year classes.
This semester I am taking the value investing and securities analysis and portfolio management classes.
One of the perks of these classes (besides the super learning) is that we get to fly out to Omaha in Nebraska next February to spend a day with the oracle himself, Warren Buffett. While this is a big bonus in both these classes, the draw for me was the opportunity to learn about an approach to investing that has gained popularity over the years.
So what lies in store for the rest of the semester? I have signed up for a number of events including the Asset Management Association’s five-month Investment Challenge Competition because it was so enlightening last year.
I am also setting up a Stock Talk Forum I hope will bring together me and my finance-interested schoolmates weekly to discuss and analyse companies as well as relevant issues related to the capital markets.
Then, of course, there are the networking and social events that cannot be missed. After all, what would the MBA experience be without them?
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