Central Asia and Advanced Corporate Finance...
After reading my blog, some people have come to wonder whether I do any studying at all at Tuck. So, I thought I will reflect about some of my courses.
Today was the first class of Doing Business in South East and Central Asia. I was expecting to be taught by professors who are knowledgeable about the geography. But what I am getting has blown all my expectations. One of the professors, a T'61, spent 6 years (till 2001) living in Central Asia and headed the biggest investment fund in the region. He apparently knows personally the presidents of 4 of the 5 countries (and has briefly met the president of the 5th country). The introduction he gave to the countries were much richer since he was speaking from personal experience. Some day, I want to travel to Central Asia and just see what is happening on the ground. The geography is made out to be a treasure trove of natural resources.
Advanced Corporate Finance is another fascinating course. Taught seminar style (we are 14 students in the class!), the course involves surveys of academic literature in different corporate finance topics - ranging from underpricing of IPO's, pecking order theory and dividend policy. The professor has quite a unique style. "There seems to be a growing body of evidence that companies try to match earnings to analyst expectations. Does this mean analysts know the industry better than the companies themselves? If this is true, if a market pulls down a stock price after an M&A announcement, should management drop the transaction?" This is just one of the puzzles we grapple with in class. Now, that is so much more fun than learning how to price a new product or implement a new employee reward system.
148
Pounds is what the scale said I weigh. And that is a whole 4 pounds more than what it said in early March. When I look closely at myself in the mirror, I can easily put a finger on where all that weight is going!! Now I realize it wasn't a great idea to stop working out.
So, the new fitness regimen will consist of daily workout sessions - but I won't be doing any cardio exercise. I will rely on my thrice a week squash sessions to compensate for that.
On the study front, life continues as ever. I am planning to take on an additional mini course about Doing Business in South East & Central Asia. The set of speakers lined up for the course is interesting. Topics covered include dealing with corruption. I just hope I am not biting off more than I can chew.
Started studying for the CFA Level II exam. The exam is on June 4th and I am probably the last candidate to start studying. My aim is to get done with the studying by mid May and devote time after that for taking mock tests. If I actually pass the exam, I will be extremely surprised.
Between now and early June, I want to do at least a two hikes in the beautiful countryside. The Appalachian Trail actually runs through Hanover and I have done just one hike so far. I also want to go kayaking on the Connecticut river at least once before we break for the summer.
Here I am on a Sunday evening working on a proposal to run TuckStuff for next year. TuckStuff is a student run, school owned business. Our team has 5 students and 2 partners. We have a bunch of ideas to drive sales and increase profitability. We are competing with 3 other teams for the rights to run the business. Watch this space for the results!
Spring!
“Mirror, mirror on the wall, which term’s sickest term of them all?” asked the trembling Tuckie. “Why SPRING of course” replied the magical mirror with a rogueish wink. As spring term gets underway, we urge you all to remember the words immortalized by Edward Tuck as he ceremoniously trowelled the final brick of Tuck Hall into position:
"Too much work
And not enough play,
Makes a Tuckie into
A Harvard MBA"
Hanover, c1900
Thus started the mail from our social chairs when spring term started. And spring term so far has been wickedly fun. I am taking three courses (Advanced Corporate Finance, Managerial Accounting and Operations). Fortunately, I was able to get an exemption from a core course Strategic Analysis of Technology. Another course on technology and my geek number would hit 100 :). The courses are quite varied in their content, teaching style and workload. Advanced Corporate Finance requires us to read research literature (the kind published in Journal of Finance) about topics ranging from IPO underpricing to capital structure issues. While I like the course, I am pretty certain I won't be pursuing a Ph.D in a hurry! Managerial Accounting and Operations are more conventional - Managerial Accounting is taught in a problem solving method and Operations is case based. We are also doing some work for a technology start up for our leadership forum project.
So much for the boring stuff!
The weather outside is beautiful. I am playing squash on week day afternoons. The bunch of classmates I am playing with has expanded and there is more heterogeneity in skill levels. More often than not, you will find me running around the court like a headless chicken while my opponent is smugly hugging the T. It had been a while since I worked out - so have begun exercising again.
The admitted students weekend begins tomorrow. All of us are gearing up to welcome members of the incoming class and give them glimpses of our life here. We are having an Indian table at the food festival and making food for 50 people. I am also helping host a dinner at a friend's house on Friday and going out with a bunch of admitted students on Saturday. Sunday, we try to get our wicked lives back into shape and get ready for the week ahead!
When I look at my calendar, I am surprised at how fast time seems to slip away. Just a week ago, my calendar for this week had tons of white space. And now, if somebody asks me can we meet up sometime, my first reaction is "Can this wait till next week?" As I peer into my summer, I realize I am already making plans for the weekends in June & July!
Oh yeah, the talk of summer reminds me that I need to find a second internship. My first internship (10 weeks, Sales & Trading on Wall Street) finishes mid August. School starts mid September. I want/need to be India in the interim. I don't know which city I need be in. This is one of those happy things when you don't mind not having certainty. I am going about getting leads on possible internships. I kickstarted the hunt after a conversation with a Tuckie (who graduated more than 10 years ago). My areas of interest for the internship encompass Real Estate/Hedge Funds/Venture Capital/Strategy for technology companies. If you come by any such opportunity - pls drop me a note!
In just 6 weeks, the term will be over. The wheels of time are really moving fast. But, till spring turns into summer, I plan to have a good time. And to quote our social chairs again, let me go back to "getting happier than a tree frog having its toes licked."
Back to Hanover!!
After a whirlwind trip to India, I am now back to good ole Hanover. What a difference 2 weeks of time makes. The winter is gone, and spring is here. The day before I left for India, we got 12 inches of snow, and now there is not an inch on the ground. The temperature is a warm 50 F and everybody is energised by the change of seasons.
The trip to India was extremely satisfying. I met with tons of friends and got together with family. I was so busy that I couldn't meet many people I had planned to meet and couldn't even speak to some people I wanted to speak to. My friends were all extremely accomodative and I was meeting people for breakfast, lunch and dinner!! There were times when I got in the morning knowing fully well what I was doing at each time of the day. And I was on VACATION!!
Now that I am back in Hanover, and the jet lag is behind me, I can only reflect on the wonderful time I had there and savor them till I return.
Back at Tuck, life has quickly become hectic. Coursework is in full flow and the partying goes on. Last night we had the Latin Party. Brazilian Caipirinhas, Cuban Mojitos, Mexican Tequila and Puerto Rican Rum. Oh yeah, how can I forget the ice luge! Wicked stuff!!
Yesterday I played squash after a month long break. I hope to start on tennis lessons at Dartmouth next week. Right from the time I watched Martina Navratilova and Hana Mandlikova play the Wimbledon finals, I have wanted to play tennis. This term is dedicated to becoming fit. When in India, friends and family had different opinions to offer on how I looked. Some people said I looked 'athletic', some said I had put on weight in the right places and some said I had become 'fat'. Next time around, I want some consensus!
