Networking/Donations = 99% Luck

I had a very interesting "networking" conversation with a very resourceful person at school today.

I am heading up Rotman Photography Association (RPA) this year. RPA is in its second-year of running - it is a constant challenge to live up to its members expectations and to diversify the activities/workshops. We have a great team - very artsy people, who are genuinely interested in photography. We had 35 members sign up for the club, which is absolutely awesome!

I have been trying to get my head around different ways I can make this club exciting enough so that the members think - "wow! I am glad I joined this club". The biggest challenge is that being a new club, we have yet to prove ourselves. The second challenge is getting funding for RPA.

A few weeks back, I mentioned to my resource (let's call this person - Windfall) that RPA needs some "aha" factor to engage its members. Windfall promised to do something about it. Today, I ran into Windfall and it was mentioned that Windfall can fly in last year's National Geographic Photography's winner to Rotman (at Windfall's expense) to give a workshop on landscape photography!

WOW! was my response and I could not stop jumping around :)

Then, there were two other options:

1. Studio Photography from another reputed guest speaker.
2. Lighting Techniques from yet another guest speaker.

Today's conversation was all about luck! I will be so very grateful to Windfall is I can get this National Geographic person to Rotman for RPA.

Not only does Windfall know this National Geographic person, but Windfall also knows this Rotman alumni whom I have been trying to connect with since last year! I know if Windfall sees a fit, I might get connected to this alumni for a full-time opportunity within the industry I want to work in.

Getting a job, getting a donation, and getting connected to National Discovery people is all about being at the right place at the right time. 99% of times it is about luck, remaining 1% of times it concerns voicing out what and why do you want something :)

Innovation, Foresight, and Business Design

I am taking some very interesting courses in my second-year at Rotman.

Some of the courses are designed to make you think NOT like a business student - they are designed to simply make you think and not download. I find Innovation, Foresight, and Business Design very intersting. The Professor- Alex Manu is from Ontario Colleage of Arts and Design (OCAD), so you can imagine how "un-business" like his teaching style must be.

His power-point presentations are stellar - the slides communicate his ideas, both visually and verbally in two lines! The slides show what a MBA will communicate in two pages can be well-communicated with visual framework. In addition, he brings toys to class, has a great sense of humor, and gives us tools to THINK.

The first question, he asked was,"If you could talk to your toilet, what would you say"?
Weird question - ain't it?

There were numerous hilarious answers, but the key to this question was - what benefit would the question have for us?
Key possible answer - Am I Healthy?

He made us work on another 12-question exercise: we had to ask ourselves a question, which was on our mind at that time and answer 12 questions (2 minute/question) in written. The purpose of the exercise was to realize something new about yourself.

What is the point of this blog entry?

I found out that if I said to Hitesh tomorrow, I want to be a farmer, he would support my decision! Also, I found out that I am a risk-taker. Therefore, worrying about current recruiting at Rotman, worrying because future looks blurry, and worrying because I am unable to let go of my fear is not the way to go.

I felt at a lot more at ease with the decision on Friday. There is a slight question (sub-set of the bigger question) that still needs to be answered though - I am sure it will come to me sometime soon.

Decisions, decisions, and decisions!

I am a mental wreck these days - confusion or blurriness of thoughts is making me extremely moody. I am loosing my sanity!

A few years back, I told Hitesh I would move to US with him once I get my citizenship. It is about that time now. This means, I should not apply for jobs in Canada. It also means that I should start building my network within US, which is a little hard to work on while physically being present in Toronto.

I started off great - I have been slowly building my network. First week into school, and bam! reality hits me. I see my classmates applying for jobs through Rotman's postings, I see jobs getting posted that I would like to apply to, and I see people getting intereviews.

Result 1: Temptation to apply to jobs!
Result 2: US economy's condition - would moving to US be a good desicion?
Result 3: Extreme irritation with everything in this world.
Result 4: Extreme sadness on the decision to move away from Canada.
Result 5: I am sad that my sister & I will once again be living in different cities.

For the last 4 days, I have been all over the place in my head and am unable to think straight. Today, I applied to 3 jobs through Rotman's posting. I feel like a horrible person - not letting Hitesh know what I am doing. In addition, I am ruining someone else's chances of getting short-listed for interviews.

Well, I could say that I should be selfish and at least apply and see how things move along.

Today I asked myself,"what is the worse thing that could happen to me?"
It could very well happen that I'd be unemplyed after an MBA. That scared the hell out of me! Also, US economy could be down the drain when I graduate, so it would be even worse.

Biggest Hindrance:
I am bound by time - when we put time constraints on ourselves, we tend to get nervous if the time seems to go by fast. 8 months seems like a short-time.

I feel so unhappy even while writing this post - I hope I am able to clear my head and think through my future plans.

On the brighter side, life will be so much happier if we move to San Fransciso - I shall be able to breathe the ocean air yet again :)

Canada's East Coast - Nova Scotia

Every 3-4 months, I need to get away from the city.

At the end of my 4-month internship in August, we planned a 5 day get away to the East Coast of Canada - Nova Scotia. One of my friends at school is from Halifax in Nova Scotia. He often mentions that he hates NYC/Toronto, because there are way too many people in both these cities. I could never understand his comment until I saw the kind of life people lead in Nova Scotia.

Top 5 reasons to visit Nova Scotia:

1. People are extremely friendly - canadians in general are friendly people, but people from Nova Scotia are super friendly.

2. East Coast is extremely scenic - we drove around Cape Breton National Highlands Park and Bay of Fundy. It was very pristine and the government has done an excellent job in preserving the natural beauty.

3. Atlantic Salmon tastes different and yummy.

4. Bright colors make everything in the province much brighter - I was most fascinated by the colors of boats, storage places, and houses there - bright green, red, and yellows.

5. Nature plays tricks - around Bay of Fundy, when the tide is low, you can actually walk on the ocean floor! when the tide is high, the water looks quite scary and angry. On one of the beaches, water was jet-black in color!

There was so much to explore around the East Coast - I felt content, happy, and relaxed while I was there.

We took the subway back to our place when we entered Toronto. I can confidently say that I had a cultural shock - the number of people living in Nova Scotia is probably less than the number of people who take Toronto's subway every morning!

Well, and I completely understand what Trevor means when he makes a face and says," I hate NYC - there are way too many people in that city".

Wall Street - Impressive!

I appreciate the wisdom of Finance, but I can confidently say that I am a Finance "admirer" unlike a Finance "Worshiper".

A recent trip to NYC has changed my perception of Finance to some extent. I was most impressed with Wall Street - the architecture, the aura, and the energy around Wall Street is impressive. Although I walked it on a Saturday evening, I can only imagine the hustle-bustle and energy it must have during day-time with a zillion i-bankers/traders hovering the city every day.

I like Wall Street as much as I like being at a beach in Vancouver or being close to the Sea. This is so bizzare. Even as I am writing this sentence, my brain is signaling something is wrong with me! It was one of those "aha" moments, which made me say to myself," wow! wouldn't it be cool to work here?" Oddly enough, architecture is enough to make me make such a statement. I should possibly explore the industry so I can find out whether finance really piques my interest or whether architecture does!

In all fairness, it could very well be the fact that I have been at Rotman - a school well-known for finance, for a year now and have had awesome professors to teach me all along. Possibly and probably, Rotman's influence could be the reason for my very "unlike Shalu" comment!

Shoe Shopping in NYC

Don't you just love it when you find that perfect shoe, which slips in your feet as if it were made only for you? Not only does it fit, but it is also available in six different colors! You rejoice, you can not believe your luck!

I recently had such a lucky encounter at the Nine West store in NYC. Oh! I loved the way these certain sandals looked on my feet. I wanted the pair in all the colors :)

Day 1: I check out at one of the Nine West stores (at 5th Avenue & 40 something Street, location: unusually hidden). Price = $29.99! I can not dream of buying a Nine West shoe for $29.99 in Canada, simply because it is a US retailer and is priced at $129.99+ in Canada. It is priced as a "higher end" brand in Canada, which sucks for us - the Canadians. I stopped myself from buying the shoe on Day 1 due to guilt spasms, which occur when either I have been shopping a LOT, or when I have been SHOE shopping a LOT. Well, let's just say, in the past two months, I have had the privilege of shoe shopping a bit :)

Day 2: I arrive at the Nine West store at a different location (around Union Square) five minutes it is suppose to close. The guilt spasms are gone! I am drooling over these sandals. The person who was helping me out could tell I meant business. He gives me his undivided attention. I try on the sandal in three different colors - I want all of them!

And, just when I said to myself,"boy! I am lucky to find these sandals again", I see the price. The price has gone up from $29.99 to $34.99 for the pair in green and the beige and the white are priced at $39.99! Damn, these retailers! I always encounter a price difference. Why should this instance be any different?

Retailers have an interesting way of pricing their products: in the heart of Union Square i.e. a place with posh restaurants, endless stores, and lots of hustle-bustle, Nine West tags the sandal at a higher price. Furthermore, since Spring is gone, so is the color Green. Obviously, the retailers need to get rid of it. Hence, the green-colored pair is priced lower than the others.

I guess the challenge for the customer is to find the shoe store with the perfect price for the perfect shoe. I wish I had one more day to spend in NYC, I would have gone back to the store on 5th Avenue and bought the shoes at a steal deal.

Oh well! I bought the sandals anyways without any guilt attached to the purchase :)

Second-Year Course Bidding (Part 2)

The results of the bidding were listed today - I got 9/10 courses I bid for!

It feels like a big accomplishment :) Okay, that statement is a little inflated. But, I am quite impressed with my application of game theory in predicting the bidding points. However, there was one course that I really wanted - Design Practicum. I am number 5 on the wait list. I have a feeling I will get it by the time add/drop round finishes.

Key Lessons learnt:
1. Excel Sheet DOES work - I have a whole new level of respect for excel sheets.
2. "I think you will bid blah points..and I know you think I will bid blah points" DOES work to some extent.
3. Mathematics and number tweaking DOES yield desired results.
4. Either bid high or do not bid at all for the courses you REALLY-REALLY want.
5. Either bid extremely low or literally zero for the courses you will not die for.

The bottom line of this exercise was that I was able to balance both, my course load and my desire to take classes with some of the renowned professors at Rotman. In addition, I was able to keep four days free in my schedule (in both, Fall and Spring).

Key Point: I can manage an investment portfolio quite effectively :)