Riding into a new adventure

 

By Regina Yim, current part-time SMU MBA student

11 October 2014 marks the end of my first 8-week-long term in the Singapore Management University Master of Business Administration Program. To be honest, I was pretty apprehensive about the workload at the start of the program. The first few weeks had been pretty tough for us part-time students, as we had to learn to juggle both our work commitments and school schedules. For many of us who have left our memories of late-night mugging sessions and exams far behind after university graduation, it was like trying to ride the bicycle again for the first time after 10 years. But with much help and support from our family members (a very supportive husband for my case 🙂 ), fellow classmates, Professors, and faculty staff, we were able to ride through the first term with much success.

For the first term, we covered Financial Accounting and Operations Management, taught by Professor Themin and Professor Wee respectively. Classes are held on Mondays and Tuesdays, 7pm – 10.20pm with a 20-minutes break. For Financial Accounting, we had great exposure to the different formats of companies’ annual reports and even had the opportunity to deep dive into selected companies’ financial statements to assess investment opportunities. For Operations Management, it gave us a new perspective on waiting times, queues, process flows, and line balancing. The contents covered in both courses were very applicable to our daily work, unlike the usual ‘theoretical’ curriculum in our undergraduate days. There were assignments and projects for both courses that we had to work on in groups, which allowed us to get to know our classmates better, share industry knowledge, and gain new insights through open discussions. Especially since our classmates are from diverse backgrounds, nationalities, and industries, it gave us more opportunities to learn new things from each other.

8 weeks flew by quickly, and before we knew it, new textbooks have arrived in the bookstore and new course outlines are out. For the second term, we will be covering Decision Analysis and Managerial Economics. This time, I feel more confident about what to expect in the next term, and excited to gain new insights and apply them in my daily work.

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My group for the first term, celebrating classmate Wei Jun’s birthday during one of our group discussions.