Inside the London MBA

Sex and the City

Saw the movie and thought it was fabulous. I had never seen the series before thus had to quickly acquire all knowledge of it. Somewhat corny but so funny! Strongly recommend it - to girls I guess...

Mountain Biking Around London

Yesterday I took a 4-hr mountain biking course for beginners with Surrey Hills. The place is a two-hour drive away though only fifty miles from St. John's Wood. There are bikes and relevant gear (helmet, gloves and water bottle) for rent thus it seemed all quite easy. I got no pictures but promise the forest was beautiful and the trails challenging. I learnt a few basic maneuvers (e.g. moving along the bike, braking, corners) which I tried to set in practice unsuccessfully, evidenced by my biggest fall ever. Fortunately I came out in a reasonable shape though not spotless. I strongly recommend the experience but definitely upon practice in easier terrain and preferably on your own bike.

Some other MBAT notes

I should also add a few lines on my MBAT experience. Awesome!

I was part of the x-country race in which twelve of us ran seven kilometres across hills and mud around the HEC campus. I was also the captain of track & field events: 100, 400, and 1,500 meters; long jump; shot put and relay. In both: x-country and track & field, London Business School came first.

Indeed, there were some very skilled people out there, for example: Christian Wentzel got medals in the 100-meter race, relay, long jump and shot put, while Karen Milligan came second in x-country and first in the 1,500-meter race. People like Peter Biskup also did a great job putting the teams together and coordinating the events on the day.

It is by far one of the best events of my MBA experience and strongly encourage you all to be an active part of it in any way you can.

Beautiful European Places

After twelve weeks of hard work, I decided to take a break in Nice, Monte-Carlo and Luzerne. These places are so beautiful. For months I limited my weekends to Amsterdam and London and only by accident I ended up in Southern Europe, from where I moved to Switzerland by mere luck. I liked Switzerland and Monaco the most. Luzerne is so small and authentic, and with places like Mount Pilatus (2,132 meters high). Monte-Carlo is charming and just beautiful, and only a few minutes from Nice. This time I limited my travel to Europe because I had to be back in London for my last school term. Yet, there are many others who are either already working, or taking a long time off to do more serious travelling around Asia or South America. Indeed, our flexible MBA programme has given us a broad range of options to develop and enjoy.

Milton Keynes Half-Marathon

A week ago, five of us travelled to Milton Keynes for a half-marathon. Steve McCurry rented a black Golf at Streetcar, and drove us there and back. The race route was hilly and with a few narrow paths but enjoyable. By chance, we ran into Nely Villegas, a Mexican studying at UCL and attending Entrepreneurship at London Business School. The six of us - all with different fitness levels, proudly made it in under two hours (and a few minutes). It is the first time I am in a race with friends and I really liked it. Karen kept smiling throughout the race and pushing me beyond my speed boundaries. Nely and I will likely run Paris marathon together next April and that will be awesome!

Tien's Happy Birthday

Yesterday was Tien's birthday. She is a wonderful girl from Taiwan, with experience in P&G, and planning to join an oil major upon graduation, next July. Her birthday party took place at the Ordnance Arms pub in St. John's Wood. I could see a few people coming and going, in the few minutes I was there. Here they are - in the picture: Tien and Christoph. Christoph is a German guy who used to work at Merck and is not joining a top consulting firm. They are both really cool. I hope Tien had a great time.

More pictures of the event

Brighton Half-Marathon

Yesterday, I ran the Sussex Beacon Half-Marathon in Brighton in 2:05hrs. The race and the city were a great experience and strongly recommend it. Leaving at 07:11hrs from London Bridge at 0 C was odd but by the start of the race (09:45hrs), the weather was much better, even sunny. The run was pleasant: through the city and then along the beach. I stayed at the New Steine Hotel (a few steps from the start of the race and from the beach), went to the pier and ate tasty Thai food. I really liked Brighton - so different from London: small and quiet and yet, a great quality experience and only an hour away!

Kyle's Birthday

Yesterday's was Kyle's birthday. He is an American man with a big smile and charming personality. I remember him most with a beer in his hands, when at the pub, or with glamorous movements, when presenting in class. Stream B (made of 70+ students who shared the classroom during our 1st year) and others were invited to the event. We drank, ate and laughed a lot. Interestingly I did no take a single picture of Kyle but here are some of others.

A Tennis Experience at Regent's Park

Today I played tennis for the first time, at the Regent's Park Tennis Centre, for only £6.5/hr. Not sure this is a good or a bad price but I had a great time. I also enrolled in formal tennis lessons (6x1-hr lessons for £72 for the very beginners) and will attend on Thursdays from 8:00 to 9:00pm. I hope it is a good experience while I get out of the running shoes, for a change. I took a picture with the freezing ducks in the lake.

'Crack-a-Case'

The Consulting Club continues to deliver one-on-one 'crack-a-case' training sessions, getting students ready for consulting interviews on campus. We have delivered over 700 sessions during the first four weeks of the 10-week term. The sessions, delivered to first-year students by second-year MBA students, demonstrate the commitment of our student community, career services and the Club, to help others achieve their dream jobs. Last Friday, five of us, who last year prepared to achieve a full-time offer in top consulting firms, hosted a second workshop on how to structure a case interview. This is an example of the Club's efforts and the eagerness of fellow students to help out. I am really proud of our training initiatives and hope we can continue to make a difference.

The first weeks of Spring term for us 2nd years

Mohit's farewell party became hillarious when Shri invited Mohit for a dance. Khizar Khan was enthusiastic about the event too. On the other hand, our Brand Management week was made of friendly encounters after a long time no see.

Still Jet Lagged But Enjoying My Year 2

I came back from Mexico three weeks ago to dive into my Brand Management course. It was a very interesting and cool block week. Two weeks ago, I started two more electives: Financing the Entrepreneurial Business and Venture Capital & Private Equity. Although there is overlap, each course has its own style, cases and passionate professors. I am revisiting Finance concepts I had managed to forget and partnering with people I like and can learn from for group work.

Last term was difficult for various reasons: came back exhausted from two summer internships, did lots of work for the Consulting Club and even took somehow part of the Milk Round for full-time jobs. This term, having spent a full month of freedom and love in Mexico, I feel revitalised (though with a never-ending jet-lag).

I am devoting my time to school work, my second year project, running, the club and myself. I will give swimming and tennis a try too. 6 1-hr swimming lessons at 7:00am on Mondays at the school's pool for £30 seems not bad though too early for the least exciting day of the week.

Last Wednesday we had one of our best Consulting Club meetings at the Hob Goblin by school (see pictures). We laughed a lot, had a good meal and a few drinks. I have enjoyed and learnt a lot from my contribution to the club. This role is by far one of the best experiences I have had at London Business School.

This term is looking really good. We are all set with job offers and only a few courses. I am having a fantastic time!

The end of the second autumn term

My second autumn term at London Business School ended a couple of weeks ago. I am now in Mexico, enjoying a great life! (see my sisters and mom in picture)

Last term, I invested most of my time in activities related to the Consulting Club, lectures and travelling. There was some running and even some learning about opportunities in Private Equity and Venture Capital (surprisingly, the job search never ends)

My experience as head of training for the Executive Committee of the Consulting Club was really worth it. The club is really demanding, being the biggest club on campus, and is also a great opportunity to help and learn. Last term only, we delivered over 670x30-minute 'crack-a-case' training sessions and improved the quality of trainers by recruiting more experienced 2nd-year students to help out. This is a considerable improvement over last year's figures. I am really proud of this

My electives were Project Management, Analysis of Marketing and Decision Making, and Thinking Strategically. The latter, delivered by Jean-Pierre Benoit (one of the best professors at school) became one of my favorite lectures in the MBA programme

I continue to appreciate living in London, able to travel to other European countries so easily and even enjoy such a dramatic weather. Last term, my mother and aunt came to visit and we went around France, Spain and Netherlands. Again, a great time

The good habit of long-runs over the weekends has come back as we prepare for Paris Marathon in April 6. I am so excited and hoping I do better this year

Finally, the never-ending job search might actually have ended, difficult to tell. There are some untapped opportunities I cannot neglect and must try

A Mexican in the Middle East

Places: I work in Abu Dhabi from Monday to Thursday evening. The rest of the time I work and enjoy my stay in Dubai. The trip between the two cities takes an average of ninety minutes. Note that the time could be dramatically reduced by those who drive at 160 kph, which is a pretty normal speed in UAE.

People: Mostly passionate Lebanese who travel back home almost every weekend. Lucky them! There are also many others who come from Germany, UK and other interesting Middle Eastern places.

Aaron Deste, former COO at Schlumberger and currently based in London, is my job manager. I am happy and lucky to have him as our shared background makes me feel 'at home'. Aaron is smart, practical and just 'cool' about everything.

My official mentor is Ibrahim El-Hussein, leader of the Energy Practice in Middle East. He is obviously bright and very supportive.

Chady Zein (see picture) is my junior mentor, a gentleman from Lebanon, who with only a year in the firm appears to me incredibly competent. Chady has done a great job getting me up to speed and leading by example. He is the source of my inspiration.

Hotels: I tried a few and decided that the Grosvenor House is the way to go. Rooms and suites are of a high standard, service could not be better and, food and gym are really good.

Running: Steady but limited to a few kilometers per week. I am afraid food and drinks have outpaced burnt calories and will need to get back to normal very soon.

Life: Simply great. Tonight I am meeting Nivi and Neville, two current classmates, for drinks at the Budda Bar, also in the hotel. I am expecting it to be great!

New bloggers, welcome to the best business school in the world!

I am moved by reading the posts of the new bloggers. Welcome to London Business School!

I can't believe time went by so quickly. A tiny Mexican already a second-year MBA. I am looking forward to being back on campus after two 8-week internships. My experience this summer was hilarious but school awaits. I will be there soon to meet all these new 'younger' people who are like me, eager to learn, be and do better.

See you all very soon.

Cool Dubai

45C is more tolerable than I thought. In fact, the weather has been really cool by desert standards: only between 40 and 45C.

I arrived to Booz Allen Hamilton Dubai two weeks ago and immediately joined an oil & gas project. In spite of six years of oil & gas experience, I am learning a lot about the industry and the consulting world. I am using my experience and business school tools on top of everything I am learning here. At the moment, my team is out of town but we will meet in Abu Dhabi next week for what I hope will be intense teamwork and thought leadership.

I am excited about everything. There are lots of people with different nationalities working on different projects. It feels diverse and busy. Projects are big, interesting and with significant impact on the region's development. The office is huge, new and with lots of heal thy and non-healthy food.

Dubai is better than I could remember. Tall building rising across the sandy landscape and ever more great places to shop, eat and look around. Did I mention night-life?

Rewarding experience at BP Solar this summer

Today is the end of my seventh week at BP Solar. My experience was rewarding and worth it.

I was recruited, together with three other London Business School colleagues, to become a Helios Summer Intern. BP's Global MBA Program aims to recruit experienced professionals with an interest in a long-term career at BP and with the potential to become the future top leaders of the organization. My experience has been good for the following reasons:

I have met great people. Brooks Preston, the Global Business Development Manager for BP Solar, who was a great coach. Helios fellows like Carlos Reyes who already work full-time at BP and gave me great insight into the group and career as a whole. And, intense personalities like Deb Grubbe, Vice-president of Safety at BP, to whom I was really pleased to talk specially due to my passion for Safety.

I have learned a lot about the business, BP and myself. I developed self-awareness at a steep rate. My mind was more mature, or at least more ready. A safe environment and transparent communication with Brooks contributed too.

Finally, my project was particularly challenging in different ways and very material. I am pleased with the results and proud of what we accomplished. I am so glad I came to BP this summer.

Next week is the final week of my internship. On Thursday, twelve of us will present our achievements in front of a panel. We will have both technical and competencies-based interviews. I will do my best; wish me luck.

London Business School Sailing Team Victorious Again!

Our sailors have scored another big victory!  This past weekend in Portsmouth, London Business School took the grand prize at the International Business Schools Regatta (IBSR), hosted by Cranfield School of Management. Racing over two very intense days in a fleet of 21 yachts, the student team scored a 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 1st place, in the four races.  The competition was stiff and despite a strong performance on the opening day, any one of the top four yachts could have won the regatta by winning the final race.  Especially close was the London Business School Alumni crew, who pipped Durham and Smurfit (Dublin) for 2nd place overall! This is the first time that London Business School has won the IBSR.

Hot on the heels of a student crew victory in the Athens Global MBA trophy in April, the IBSR prize firmly places London Business School as a favourite to deliver an unprecedented treble this year. In September business schools will once again race at the SDA Bocconi MBA Cup in Portofino, the final major trophy of the year. We expect to once again see the London Business School spinnaker flying proudly at the front of the fleet!

Congratulations to the student crew: Bruce Clibborn (skipper), Lottos Gutierrez, Edouard Jozan, Cristi Micu, Jose Moreno & Lucia Lopez-Rua, Richelle Twomey and Diego Echave (MBA 2009). 

Congratulations also to the alumni crew: Klaus Rasmussen (skipper), Mark Buckle, Rob Cotterill, Syn-Yee Ooi, Matteo Pozzi, David Salzman, Roland Schotte and Michele Trusolino.

See attached pictures of the student crew celebrating their victory, and click here for more pictures of the event: http://picasaweb.google.es/josete

Edouard Jozan and Brendon Moss on behalf of the Sailing Club at London Business School

An evening with Benjamin Zander

Three London Business School students organised an evening with Benjamin Zander. He is full of life.

Benjamin empowered us to opt for possibility rather than resignation or anger. He suggested ways to generate "out of the box" ideas by pondering "what assumptions am I making that I don't know that I am making?".

He then told us the secret of life: it is all invented. "Who am I being that that person's eyes are not shining?". Then he explained Rule # 6: "Don't take yourself so damn seriously".

Finally, we all sang "Ode to Joy" in German. Unbelievable. He fortunately empowered us not to fear mistakes but believe them fascinating.

He played the piano, I remembered how much I enjoy classical music, he fined tuned a musician's cello style and I realised "possibility is only one sentence away".

It was a great evening. Join him if you have the opportunity. Benjamin, by the way, was just a guest speaker to the Creativity and Personal Mastery class at school.

My Summer Internship

Almost three weeks ago, I joined BP Solar as a Helios Summer Intern. It has been both awesome and tricky. Awesome because I am finally back to work -after one and a half years-, Solar Energy is one of the fastest growing markets at the moment -therefore extremely exciting- and BP is simply a great environment to be in. Not to mention my boss, who is a really smart and cool man. His name is Brooks Preston, who holds an MBA from Stanford.

The tricky issues are the fact that I started working two weeks before the last final exam was due and the novelty of commuting. I had little sleep and did little running but survived and I am almost back to normal. This weekend in Amsterdam will fill me back with energy!

About Commuting. I commute a total of three hours every day. Yes, three hours! And, it is tiring but there is plenty of time for introspection.

Finally, prior to Business School, I held different technical and operational roles throughout my six years in Oilfield. Now I realise that the transition to where I am now -at BP-, would have been very difficult without the MBA. Therefore, I am very pleased that I decided to take two years of my life for further development and exploration of alternative career opportunities. I think it is worth it!

Our Field Trips + End of Markstrat

Almost 3 weeks ago stream B -about 70 enthusiastic students- travelled to Leipzig for our Operations Management trip to Porsche. The factory was awesome and those nights out were some of the best. Other streams are travelling to Italy next weekend while others have just been to Amsterdam.

These are all good learning experiences that happen to be great night outs too. A highlight of the class, other than our Italian professor Andrea Masini, was the on-line Littlefield simulation. It was constructive but also fun and for some people even addictive. Needless to say, most teams did better than the "donothing" team, which shows we actually learnt something!

The end of Markstrat was quite an event for B6 -my study group-. Markstrat is a simulation that resembles a business environment in which firms compete for market share, launch products to market and aim for the highest stock price index. Teams -study groups- made decisions over several periods without really knowing the dynamics of the simulation. Just like in the real world of business, we had to make educated guesses, based on past data.

Peter Kolev, Diogo Vasconcelos, Rajat Maaker, Vivek Kohli and Andrew Bate, my study group members, beat everyone else by reaching the highest stock price index. Stories like this don't happen by chance. A lot of planning, effort, passion, individual and teamwork went into it. Well done team!

Marthita Marathon

Difficult to believe but I made it to the finish line after 5 hours. This was my first marathon, which filled me with great excitement on the day. However, my smile only lasted about 20 miles, after which, it was really difficult to keep going. The running club and Steve -blogger-, did a great job getting me ready for the day. Other than my foot injury, it all went as planned. I am thankful to those who supported me on-line and in practice. It was a fantastic experience; I already want to do it again.

Pictures: 17 hrs before the start of the race, I went to pick my number and bought a couple of souvenirs. Minutes before the race, drinking, thoughtful. And, after...

End of Spring, Beginning of Summer

Last term went too quickly. Summer job search was exciting, time-consuming, tough but fun.

After a couple of tests, we celebrated the end of last term with Salsa and Sangria, an annual event organized by the Spanish and Latin American clubs. We listened to some "flamenco", "Los Hombres G" and salsa, of course. We had a great time!

The break was quick and short too. Time just flies. Some people went to Japan, others to South Africa; I travelled across The Netherlands and Belgium. Bruges was awesome.

We just came back last week. Seven courses this term seems to put me under lots of pressure but I am, once again, excited by the experience. My electives are Finance 2, Strategy 2 and Mandarin - my favourite subject. We will see how it goes!

Last of all, the marathon is next Sunday. I hope my "injured" foot does not let me down.

The Greek Party

Julie Velissaratou shortlisted a few to attend a Greek party at No. 5 Cavendish Square. Greek music, which seemed Arabic to me, was really good. We had a great time! Greeks from everywhere and non-Greeks like me danced a little, drank a little and had lots of fun.

What did I do last week?

First of all, I sprained my ankle due to 'overuse' and have not run for days. I hope I can soon recover for the marathon in April. -Feel free to sponsor me please!-.

On Monday we had our last Decision and Risk Analysis workshop, then Mandarin in the afternoon, which was enlightening as usual. Next week we have our final Mandarin oral test. Khizar Khan and I are aiming to practice over the weekend trying not to make a fool of ourselves.

On Tuesday morning I attended breakfast with Costas Mitropoulos, founder and CEO of Kantor, the first cosulting firm in Greece. He spoke of challenges in Eastern Europe and how he went about starting his firm. It was a very pleasant discussion.

Our major task for the week was to prepare for a Trade Show as part of our DEO (Discovering Entrepreneurial Opportunities) class. The objectives of the project were to discover unmet needs and develop a prototype to demonstrate our idea to challenging judges. It was hard work to get it done and fun to be there for two hours, listening to Rajat's pitching.

John Mullins, our DEO professor, did a great job preparing us for this event. He even brought the press (Rajat's favourite moment of the show) and an interesting audience of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. He is passionate about instructing and got the key learning points across really well. I enjoyed the cases and meeting the ’entrepreneurs in the cases' themselves.

Some Winter Ball Pictures

Nicola Blue and team did a great job putting the event together, like Manish said in his last post. I cannot help adding some pictures to this web space for you to get a taste of it. It was dynamic and fun. Even Haitong, our Mandarin professor, was there. I had a great time!

A bit more on our lectures

Decision and Risk Analysis, delivered by Bert De Reyck, has become my favourite lecture. Bert is dynamic, friendly and fun. He is constantly testing our decisions.

Last Wednesday he challenged Aishwarya Dahanukar (from India, whose last job was Consulting for Ernst & Young in Germany) to bet for whether a tack would fall pin up or pin down. She even lost £20. Crazy!

We worked on a wine-related case and we even got to taste a bit of Freemark Abbey’s fine wine. I am truly enjoying and at the same time learning a lot from the class.

Other than that, Diogo, Peter and I hung around school for hours tasting beer while working on our Marketing project: segmentation, targeting and positioning for Guinness.

Last of all, Steve is organizing a 20-mile run tomorrow. I will tell you whether I made it or not next week.

We are half way through

School is half way through. I have been extremely busy interviewing with different firms seeking for that exciting opportunity. I got great support from the Consulting Club, Career Services and colleagues. I am now to decide what I want to do over the summer.

In the mean time, things are still happening in the classroom. I am still passionate about Mandarin, which I have not had enough time to learn this term – I am at least 200 characters behind. Our final written test is in a week so that I’d better catch up.

How is the Consulting Club doing

The Consulting Club at London Business School has done a tremendous job getting us ready for the Milk Round. A couple of weeks ago, the club organized the 3rd Annual Boutique Consulting Forum. We had the opportunity to talk to consultants of over fifteen Boutique Consulting firms. I was impressed by companies like JRBH Strategy & Management and Gallup Consulting. JRBH is a five-people organization with a variety of clients and a strong advisory board, whose founder, Jennifer Harris, was named "Young Business Woman of the Year". The Gallup Organization has developed a proprietary model that describes the "linked path" between every employee's individual contribution and the organization's ultimate financial goal.

Last week, A.T. Kearney delivered a Team Dynamics Workshop. 42 of us were lucky to attend. We each filled out the Belbin questionnaire and gained insight into our personality type and our contribution to a team. We really enjoyed the session led by A.T. Kearney Consultants. As part of this activity, we had to build a tower of marshmallows and spaghetti sticks. The tallest tower (at least over 20 inches) was built by the team in the picture. Each of them got a bottle of champagne as a prize. Well done!

Finally, the Consulting Club organizes weekly Crack a Case sessions delivered by MBA students with previous Consulting experience. These sessions are extremely useful to get ready for the real interviews. The Club has done a fantastic job overall.

A Picture About Discovering Entrepreneurial Opportunities

Sean said it all about our Discovering Entrepreneurial Opportunities class. I can only add the picture of The Stag and Groom's creator.

Last week, at the end of this class, Terry Rhodes, co-founder of Celtel International and current Entrepreneur-in-Residence, gave us a short and inspiring speech. He encouraged us to think of what we can do different and better. Since then we have been working on identifying latent needs of people who carry. It is all cool and for some of us, totally new.

John Mullins, our professor, does a tremendous job inspiring us to apply what we learn and be creative.

About the Milkround + Classes Started

Last week was the beginning of the milk round for us, first year MBAs, hoping to get a summer internship.

I attended recruiting events by Goldman Sachs, American Express, BP, Booz Allen Hamilton, The Boston Consulting Group, Accenture and Bain&Company.

I was Bain champion as part of the consulting club at school and had the opportunity to open the recruiting presentation (a 30 seconds speech). Some people had the chance to meet on a one-on-one basis with Bain&Company consultants to discuss about what it is like to work at Bain. Small things like this are motivating and the first step towards getting to know a firm better.

Yesterday, classes started. We had Organisational Behaviour in the morning, in which we discussed about the collapse of Barings Bank in 1995 and Nick Leeson's role in it. It was an interesting start to the different frames to apply to leadership challenges. In the afternoon we had Finance again with Joao F. Cocco, who is absolutely brilliant.

This morning I barely cracked two case studies together with Nick Ashley-Cooper. I am back now to prepare for Marketing and continue to work on my applications for summer internships.

My first 2007 day in London

After 30 hours in either a taxi, a bus, 2 planes, 3 airports, a train or the underground, I arrived at London. Got home, no hot water and had to rush for a dinner with Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH). I got to see some old "new" faces and got to meet very nice women from Booz. One of them was Anna Burrage (see picture), a London Business School sloan fellow. She has a PhD in Energy Physics and is now a Senior Consultant for Booz Allen in London. No wonder her experience is within the energy sector. She was only one of the four BAH women at our table. It was a great welcome back and an effective way to interact with people from Booz. This interaction matters not only for fun but also because it helps figure out whether there is a good fit between this company and myself. Yesterday, I felt connected to them, relaxed and interested and this "good fit" is now a big motivation to join them.

Holidays

School finished on December the 15th and only a day after I took the first plane to México. I have really enjoyed the break. I needed the time off after the final projects, tests and all crack a case sessions last year. Both, Strategy and Managerial Economics final exams were take home individual tasks. However we did have Finance, Financial Accounting and Mandarin in-class final tests. It was a big challenge for me to balance my personal life and all school workload towards the end of the term.

People travelled to many different places, others stayed in London and wisely devoted time to all pending issues. I decided to share these days with my family in Chiapas, Oaxaca and Veracruz: beautiful Mexican places.

Next week I am back in London for a series of recruiting presentations. I start Monday with a dinner with Booz Allen Hamilton organised by the Women in Business Club. On Tuesday Goldman Sachs, on Wednesday AMEX and BP, on Thursday Booz Allen, Boston Consulting and Mckinsey.

There are other presentations delivered throughout the week and plenty of others in days to come. Classes do not start till the 15th of January so that we can focus on recruiting only, at least for a week. I am looking forward to all of it.

Two Lectures Over the Weekend

Other than running, crack a case sessions and the Consulting Club events last week, my life turned around B6 and Mandarin. Yesterday we had the last lecture of the Strategic Problem Solving course. This short course had the objective to help us structure our logic and communicate effectively in a MECE way.  Today we had a tutorial on Finance to prepare for our test next Saturday. Francesca Cornelli was kind enough to devote over two hours of her Sunday to us. I found both, yesterday's class and today's tutorial, very useful.