Continuing education?

It just so happened that the years I graduated, there were also some sort of recession or global financial crisis going on.

In 2002, I finished my undergrad and it was almost impossible to get a job then. 9-11 happened a year prior to that and in NYC, businesses were cutting back and going through a hard-time. Even people with years of experiences were out of job and the competition was fierce. There were huge lines at various job fairs and we couldn’t help but hear how unemployment rate was going up in the news. My internship paid off as it put me ahead of my fellow students when it came to hands-on experience and during interviews. Crain’s New York Business actually conducted a brief interview as I happened to be one of those few who managed to land a job despite our so-called disadvantage of requiring someone to sponsor us for a job visa (H1-B).  Things went smoothly I have to say…

It took me about two years to take GMAT (a standardized entrance exam for business schools) as I slacked off with tons of excuses. Meanwhile, I saw my classmates already in grad schools as they couldn’t find a job and continued on with their studies.

Finally, I got in one and took me about 5 years to finish the whole program. This time, I went only part-time and even took a semester off in between as I was switching jobs and stuff. I found myself surrounded with a whole new set of students. I didn’t find such drastic difference in grad and undergrad as far as studies and workload were concerned. Well, that’s not true. Two things were obvious. One, we ran the risk of public humiliation if we slack off as we had to do presentations in front of the whole class in every single class. Second, I found the students way smarter. While I was undergrad, I found myself average or maybe even a bit above average. If I didn’t do well in a test, I would still come off with a decent grade; not in this grad school though. I had to really ramp up.

Well, now that it’s over I was wondering what’s next. The economy has been in recession since last year and haven’t heard much great news yet. In the meantime, I was thinking maybe I will continue trying out some free online courses to keep abreast with current matters. I found a few useful options and thought I would share them here too. I tried a few courses from UC Berkley and love ‘em.

Check this out: 

http://www.mytwodollars.com/2009/10/15/how-to-get-a-free-education-online/

Podcasts and Webcasts of UC Berkeley: http://webcast.berkeley.edu/

MIT open courseware: http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm

Online students

It’s amazing to be exposed to so many students living in various parts of the country. Most of them are from wild wild west – Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Idaho, South Dakota. I thought NYC had the most diverse students as most students, including me, came from other parts of the world. But we did share sudden commonality – i.e we used the same subway system to go to school, worked in the day time and bore hectic city life. Here, the experience is really different. They all seem to be born and raised in the United States, much much older and loaded with a wealth of experiences.

My textbooks still haven’t arrived yet! I am very nervous at this point as I can’t run to Barnes and Noble on the 5th ave or at the school bookstore. I never had to worry about getting books – they were always at my disposal. This time, for once, I ordered the books one month in advance. Never have I been really this diligent throughout my school life -both grad and undergrad. And yet, I still don’t have the books. The very same book would have been delivered with the ‘next day’ delivery service in New York and free. These times, sure enough, I really really see why people like to stay in America or big city. It’s just convenient. But then again, it has its own baggage – tiny spaces, crowds, higher living costs, etc.

One of the classes requires that we call in once a week and convene. The time differential is really in favor of me and I am going to be on time for once.

later for now.