Episode 15: End of the First Quarter
Drawings courtesy of S. Avellar
Listen to My International MBA, episode 15 here:
Podcast transcript will be available soon!
Episode 14: Nearing the End of Fall
Hiking in Boulder.
Listen to My International MBA, episode 14 here:
Or, if you prefer to read, here is the transcript:
Hello and welcome to My International MBA podcast, episode number fourteen. My name is Helene and thanks for joining me today.
And just like that, the month of October is rolling to a close, and so is the Fall Quarter. Only in the previous episode did I say that I had just finished my midterms. Now, I am on the precipice of the final few weeks of the quarter.
This Monday, I will register for my Winter Quarter classes. My plan is to take three classes on Mondays and Wednesdays and one class on Tuesdays and Thursdays with all of my work-study hours on those two days before that class. Then, I can have my Fridays free next quarter. That will be a good change for me, considering I feel I’ve run myself ragged this quarter with the full schedule.
Not to say that taking on one more class next quarter is going to make my workload any easier. Let’s just hope I don’t end up walking around like a zombie …
Speaking of zombies: this past week I practically was one since I found myself running around every day and with little sleep. Ok, I know, I still managed to get an average six hours of sleep each night. But the older I get, the less that amount will cut it for me for a well-rested night!
I am happy to report that so far my academic progress is looking up: A’s in my classes for now. Group synergies are working together a lot more, although I do notice there are some growing tensions within the cohort itself. Diverging paths, diverging attitudes: the newness of the program is wearing off and our true colors are showing up.
My statistics class is amusing me quite a bit. This past Wednesday, as I reviewed over material with my professor, I realized that knowledge of multiple regression analysis would have been helpful in my previous job. Although I do admit that I don’t like the act of doing statistics, the theories themselves intrigue me. Note to self: hire a statistician when I get my company up and running.
No special plans for Halloween: I’ve never been one to celebrate Halloween even when I was a child. I went to Yelpapalooza 3.0 this past Wednesday and saw some awesome costumes there: Cookie Monster, Homer from the Simpsons, and twin penguins. On Halloween night, I will go to my first National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) Kick-off Party; even though I began participating in NaNoWriMo in 2007, I haven’t had a chance to attend a midnight kick-off yet. Looking forward to meeting other novelists here in Denver!
If you have any questions, feel free to leave comments on the blog post transcript of this podcast. Also, if you are tuning in via Audioboo or iTunes, be sure to visit myinternationalmba.wordpress.com for today’s transcript and the previous episodes.
Take care and I’ll see you guys soon!
Episode 13: Leading at the Edge & Midterms Time
Changing leaves on campus
Listen to My International MBA, Episode 13, here:
Transcript below:
Hello and welcome to My International MBA, episode number 13, lucky number 13. My name is Helene and thanks for joining me today.
Yes, it has been a few weeks again; seems like a frequent occurrence this quarter. This past week was midterms, so definitely a lot of things have happened since Leading at the Edge weekend. That was Sept. 30 – Oct. 2 for me.
At Edge weekend, we were in Florissant, CO, up in the mountains with fresh air and nice summer/fall weather. We didn’t have to bundle up in snow clothes like our colleagues had to do this past weekend.
In Florissant, we did orienteering, which means we were working with compasses in teams to get from point-to-point on a map. On the second day, we did the high-ropes course: let me tell you, that was my first time to do something so physical outside. I tried to climb up the wooden ladder with one of my teammates but I could not physically do it. However, I kept persevering with each activity, such as the rock-climbing wall.
The last day was quite epic for me. We walked through the woods to perform different activities. In one activity, we had to rappel down actual rocks. At first I was ok, but then I looked down and my slight fear of heights kicked in at that point. I froze and started to cry, but I broke through that moment of panic. I’m happy to say that this made me feel relieved that I could overcome that fear. My teammates were proud of me for getting through it.
Since Leading at the Edge, it has been pretty crazy around here: lots of papers, projects, but not many exams. I had one exam in my Statistics class and that went pretty well.
I’m definitely making more connections here: I met with the President of Bridge on Wednesday, and today I met with my friend Young, an idea-coach. I am definitely making progress on my company, but a lot of vague details for the time being. It’s always good to connect with others though. It’s a great feeling!
By the way, I will be the team captain for my Race & Case team: a case competition and a ski race, combined into one competition. I am excited for this competition; I’ve definitely become more assertive being the team captain. I’m reminded of my case competition team my senior year at George Mason University: we prepared very well and were able to win the school-wide competition. I hope to achieve a win once again!
All right, if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment on this blog post or send me an email. Take care and hope to update you all next week!
Episode 12: First Two Weeks Down!
Daniels Day at the Rockies, Sept. 10.
Listen to My International MBA, Episode 12, here:
Or, if you prefer to read, here is the transcript:
Hello and welcome to My International MBA podcast, episode twelve. My name is Helene and thanks for tuning in!
I’m two weeks into my graduate studies. What can I say about the first two weeks? The big theme from the past month (or two?): OVERWHELMING. Yet, I feel really great. I have met so many people through orientation, classes, student groups, etc. I feel energized from all the interactions.
Of course, it is also very hectic. I need to start using Outlook for its calendar purposes because my little Moleskine planner is not cutting it for my full schedule.
So, when I started classes on September 12, I thought Mondays and Wednesdays would be my two-class days. Not so: this quarter, I am taking International Business Law in place of Accounting. My law class is on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the evenings. So now those two days are JAM-PACKED. I have also registered for a morning boot-camp on those two days, and this was before I knew I would be taking an evening class.
Needless to say, yes, it is tiring. But like I’ve said above, I feel fine. It frees up my Mondays and Wednesdays mostly so that’s good. This past week I was able to take Wednesday off since my “Essence of Enterprise” class did not meet that day. So I had a mini-vacation in the midst of the crazy week, or, as one of my classmates said “the calm before the storm.”
I’m excited for the coming months. I’ve made connections with a few people in my industry of choice so I am hoping things will fall into place soon enough. It’s all nerve-wracking yet relieving at the same time!
Next weekend I will be attending my “Leading at the Edge Weekend”. I’ve heard many people talk about how great and profound their experiences were. So I’m looking forward to the high altitude, the team-building exercises, and just admiring nature in general.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave comments on the blog post transcript of this podcast. Also, if you are tuning in via Audioboo or iTunes, be sure to visit myinternationalmba.wordpress.com for today’s transcript and the previous episodes.
Take care and I’ll see you guys soon!
Episode 11: Orientation & Blast-Off!
A few of my cohort-mates with me (I'm in the back).
Listen to My International MBA, Episode 11 here:
Or, if you prefer to read, here’s the transcript:
Hello and welcome to My International MBA podcast, episode eleven. My name is Helene and thanks for tuning in!
Hm, yes, I know: it has been three weeks since my previous episode. To sum up the month of August: it was very overwhelming. It took me the last part of the month to really get used to everything in Denver. Hence, I needed time to myself to get into gear.
And boy, this past week I got myself into gear! Orientation began on Tuesday and didn’t wrap up until yesterday. I attended a few optional sessions for the Executive Mentor Program, Presentation 101, Advanced Excel Techniques, and City Treks Program. These are all extracurricular programs that I may be interested in joining; it’s always good to gain a little more information about the different activities going on in Daniels. I am highly interested in the Executive Mentor Program, so I look forward to seeing the list of mentors next month and then starting the program in January.
The main part of orientation was very inspiring and motivating. Although a lot of the same information was mentioned in different ways, I felt the fire inside of me grow so much this past week. I loved hearing current students’ enthusiasm and alumni expressing praise. I AM SO READY TO GET GOING WITH BUSINESS SCHOOL AND MY CAREER. I have already started discussing my business idea with a few colleagues and have received insightful feedback. Now, to gain more connections, work on my business plan, and my elevator pitch!
My cohort-members and I have been hitting it off pretty well so far. We did a team-building exercise on Thursday by stacking colored index cards to make “the tallest castle”. We were competing with other groups for the activity. Sadly, when it came time to judge the castles, ours fell over from the wind! So we went ahead and described the situation as “the Big Bad Wolf blew our castle down.” Now one of my classmates has been dubbed “Wolf.”
You guys should see my planner right now: for this next week (and probably the rest of the quarter) there’s a lot piled into my weekly schedule. I am taking fitness classes at the fitness center as well…to give myself a bit of balance from academia. I’m sure once the graduate student groups start creating events and meetings I’ll have more to add the planner. Thank goodness the Coors Fitness Center is handing out complimentary student planners right now. I need more room to write down assignments and other tasks.
Whew, and that’s a wrap!
If you have any questions, feel free to leave comments on the blog post transcript of this podcast. Also, if you are tuning in via Audioboo or iTunes, be sure to visit myinternationalmba.wordpress.com for today’s transcript and the previous episodes.
Take care and I’ll see you guys next week!
Episode 10: The Calm Before the Storm?
See, water lilies are inspirational to me, especially on campus.
Tune in to Episode 10 right here:
Or, if you prefer to read, here’s the transcript:
Hello and welcome to My International MBA podcast, episode ten. My name is Helene and thanks for tuning in!
If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you may have noticed that this week has been quite busy. So busy that I didn’t have an inkling of time to get an episode out on Tuesday. Oops.
So, I’m just going to give you a rundown on all that has happened in this past week:
- One of my Cohort-member has created a private Facebook Group for our Cohort. This coming week, we are meeting on Thursday night to get to know each other a bit before orientation.
- I began my work-study position at Daniels on Tuesday. So far, I am working on opening mail, filing papers, and other miscellaneous duties. Apparently, it’s a crime that I work so fast. Haha, of course I kid about that, but I feel that each task given to me is finished before we know it…
- I’ve gone out exploring on RTD! I am beginning to see the differences between RTD and Muni (in San Francisco). Of course, only time will tell what the real differences are. So far, am enjoying RTD more, but it does have a few lines that come less frequently around the DU area. Too bad!
- Today was a pretty packed day. I went out driving with my new eGo carshare membership! I ran errands up and down South Colorado Boulevard. Lately, I’ve been in a big craft phase: had to ask a sales associate at Michael’s Craft Store about what kind of yarn to buy for a pouf project I’m planning. Every shop I stopped into, there was someone there greeting me warmly. I sure do like that feeling.
- Tonight, attended my first Yelp! Elite event in Denver. It was held at Eden, a new lounge in the northern part of the city. I got to meet the Yelp Community Manager, Tiffany, and a few other Elite members. Felt nice to get to know more people in the city, and I know I’ll definitely be meeting many more in the coming weeks.
There’s probably a lot more that I’ve left out, but that’s the gist of the week! Base camp sessions for accounting and statistics are coming up soon, and so is orientation. I’m planning on doing podcast episodes on Saturdays only for the next month…just to give me time to focus on school-related things.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave comments on the blog post transcript of this podcast. Also, if you are tuning in via Audioboo or iTunes, be sure to visit myinternationalmba.wordpress.com for today’s transcript and the previous episodes.
Take care and I’ll see you guys next week!
Episode 9: RTD, Walking, Organizing…
Water lilies on campus
Click below to listen to the podcast episode:
OR, if you prefer to read, here is the transcript:
Hello and welcome to My International MBA podcast, episode nine. My name is Helene and thanks for tuning in!
Well, since my family left on Tuesday, I have been putting in more time walking the area near campus. I’ve been relying on my trusty Mapquest app on my phone to direct me to certain places nearby. Sadly, some of the information I retrieved online was incorrect, so I didn’t find a few stores I was looking for (mainly, King Soopers). The good thing is that Safeway is not too far AND it has Wells Fargo inside. Plus, Walgreens is right across the street from Safeway.
Yesterday I got my Pioneer ID card along with my ECO pass, so RTD here I come! I remember I briefly took RTD the first time I came to Denver in 2008. I only took the “0” line I think…it wasn’t too bad! I transferred around Civic Center and took a bus down to Englewood that time.
Now, I will get a chance to explore more of Denver with my student pass. As I stared at the system map yesterday, I became so overwhelmed! The RTD reaches beyond the city of Denver, so I gotta be careful which direction I’m going.
Then again, I became seasoned with riding MUNI, BART, and CalTrain in San Francisco for four years, so adjusting to RTD here should be a breeze, right? And, I’ve heard that RTD or at least Denver’s public transit, is number one in the country. Good to know!
I am supposed to start work-study next week, but still no word on my schedule. I’m holding off on making any more plans/errands for this next week since I don’t know if I will be called in or not. I’ve contacted my employer about my start date and schedule, but no response just yet. The summer quarter just ended yesterday (and there was commencement as well!), so I’m giving the benefit of doubt that my employer has been working on end-of-quarter tasks and my request got bumped.
Today, finally got my room organized! Pictures to come very soon. I still need to fix the over-bed drape I have since it hangs a little low. Good thing: my floor is clear of any piles! Progress, progress, progress…
If you have any questions, feel free to leave comments on the blog post transcript of this podcast. Also, if you are tuning in via Audioboo or iTunes, be sure to visit myinternationalmba.wordpress.com for today’s transcript and the previous episodes.
Take care and I’ll see you guys on Tuesday!
Episode 8: Hello From Denver!
My parents and I at Daniels!
Click below to listen to My International MBA, Episode 8:
Or, you can read the transcript below:
Hello and welcome to My International MBA podcast, episode eight. My name is Helene and thanks for tuning in!
Wow, seriously two weeks have passed by and so much has happened since I last posted a podcast. I just got back today from an accepted graduate student event at Daniels. I got to meet some faculty, staff members, and classmates. It was good to mingle a bit before we start classes next month.
So in the past two weeks, I’ve done a lot of traveling. I spent time in Montana for a week; went on a scenic raft ride. Then, this past week I have been settling in here in Denver. Last Wednesday my family and I went to the new IKEA here in Centennial. The crowd is crazy, a mix of back-to-school and grand-opening frenzy. Anyway, most of my furniture is from IKEA, and the rest of my necessities are from Target. My family and I visited Target so many times this past week that I’m sure the employees recognize us by now.
My thoughts on Denver so far (since it is my first time to stay here for more than a day): luckily with the higher elevation I’m not having too much trouble adjusting to it, but I do feel the sun’s rays beating down on my skin a lot more harshly than when I lived in San Francisco and Virginia. I notice people are very friendly here. Yesterday, I went out walking for a bit and struck up conversations with a couple strangers. It didn’t feel awkward at all!
I’ve walked around campus a bit, but haven’t been to the northern part of the campus yet. Since my apartment is in the southern part of the campus, I’ve become acquainted with this area more. It’s quiet out this way, and I’ve been doing a lot of redecorating here. My roommate is not due to arrive until early next month, so we’ll see how things go.
For the next few days, I’ll be out running errands. Let’s see how much more I can get done with organizing my place so I can get going with school-related tasks.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave comments on the blog post transcript of this podcast. Also, if you are tuning in via Audioboo or iTunes, be sure to visit myinternationalmba.wordpress.com for today’s transcript and the previous episodes.
Take care and I’ll see you guys on Saturday!
Episode 7: Final Week Before Moving
Click below to listen to My International MBA, Episode 7:
Or, you can read the transcript below:
Hello and welcome to My International MBA podcast, episode seven. My name is Helene and thanks for tuning in!
My, oh my. Don’t worry, everyone: I’m not usually off-schedule like this. Today is Sunday, and if you ask me, this week has been pretty hectic. A lot of cleaning, a lot of packing, a lot of good-byes. Doesn’t really help that I feel so ready to get going with my classes yet also trying to focus on the present moment. Does that make any sense?
Anyway, I had a bit of fun with my statistics pre-course work this week. Binomial distributions! I know, it sounds scary by name, but actually, once I figured out how to work the formula, it was fun to work with. Something that I find intriguing from math textbooks is that they almost always have answers to exercises in the back, but only answers to the odd-numbered problems. Why not the even-numbered problems? Why don’t they get any attention? That’s kind of weird.
So, I have been learning a bit about co-working through following a few Twitter accounts. I am interested in doing co-working when I get to Denver, although I do know that I can do my studies for free on-campus (with co-working, you have to pay a fee). However, I do think co-working would be a good idea for when I want to do more company brainstorming.
Speaking of Twitter, I’ve received some feedback on this podcast. I do appreciate any kind of feedback, so, as long as you are being respectful, drop me a line on Twitter, Facebook, even on this blog! So let me know how I’m doing with this, and what else you want to know about the International MBA life, or life in Denver.
So here’s a question I’m posing for you guys for the next time: What kind of foreign language do you want to learn? The language can be either for business or leisure reasons. I would prefer a slant towards Asian or Middle Eastern languages for the purpose of my research.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave comments on the blog post transcript of this podcast. Also, if you are tuning in via Audioboo or iTunes, be sure to visit myinternationalmba.wordpress.com for today’s transcript and the previous episodes.
Take care everyone. Special note today: I will be traveling for the next week or so. Therefore, no podcast episodes until August 9. That will be a week after I have moved to Denver, so it should be a pretty special episode. Tune in, Tuesday August 9!
Until then, enjoy the rest of your July!
Episode 6: A Few Non-DU Updates (Denver-related!)
Dir en grey in Englewood, 2008
Note: I spoke a bit loudly into my mic for this episode. Make sure you don’t have your volume up all-the-way. I don’t want to make your ears bleed.
Click below to listen to My International MBA, Episode 6:
And, for those who prefer to read, here is the transcript:
Hello and welcome to My International MBA podcast, episode six. My name is Helene Kwong and thanks for tuning in!
Yes, today is Wednesday. This is the final week left before I go out West, so I’ve been in a strange mood since yesterday. It’s kind of like I’m a ghost wandering around.
Well, I am moving along in my pre-course work and my packing. My sister and I just packed a large box of my winter clothes last night. Tell me, Denver people, does it really get so cold that I need so many jackets? Because I have a lot!
So, looks like since I will be moving in earlier than other incoming grad students, I will be able to get my Pioneer ID card early as well. Yay! So I will be able to use the fitness center on-campus and also start checking out books from the library. Those are big pluses. Yay~
Have to say, as an aside here, that Twitter has been quite a big help for me to connect with Denver locals. I have already exchanged messages with a few Denver residents and they are making my transition a lot smoother.
And another random piece of news: my favorite Japanese rock band, Dir en grey, is returning to the US for a tour later this year. I believe they had a tour last year but I missed out since I was recovering from my accident. This year, I might as well enjoy this concert more. They will be in Denver on December 20. Maybe this time around I can actually meet the band members and talk with them.
Yes, this episode consisted of not so much school-related news, but that’s okay. I will have a lot more information to share with you all once I get to Denver.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave comments on the blog post transcript of this podcast. Also, if you are tuning in via Audioboo or iTunes, be sure to visit myinternationalmba.wordpress.com for today’s transcript and the previous episodes.
Take care and tune in again on Saturday for the next episode!
