To different people, the end of terms signifies different things. For many, the immediate priority is to prepare well for the exams. Term 2 continues to be a roller-coaster ride in terms of academics; on one hand the Marketing simulation game had kept us engrossed for hours on multiple occasions, and all the strategy discussions and decision making we went through is going to be as much a part of the preparation for the exams as the concepts taught in the class.

On the other hand, Competitive Strategy classes, which have been a treasure-trove of learning about clever strategies that firms ought to employ, are leading up to a full-blown 4 hours examination consisting of a complete case study. (And guess what, we won’t be allowed to write anything for the first two hours… now isn’t that interesting!)

Meanwhile, many people are busy working on a number of other activities, including pitching for their Experiential Learning Program projects to prospective clients (there are almost 20 projects available in the 1st Round), helping out with the PACIS conference, planning the professional and personal club activities for the rest of the year, working out their own entrepreneurial plans or just planning a trip to one of the several interesting places such as Goa. And a few, such as me, are planning to visit family for the first time since joining the college. Yay!

All the while, interesting activities continue to happen on the campus. Today my section wore blue and pink to observe the last day of the term, and took snaps with our teachers. It was heartening to see Prof. Lahiri, who teaches us Marcoeconomics, sharing a joke or two in his trademarked style.

Student Village 4 is on its way to completion – the huge chessboard in the middle of the Village is ready and a mini-basketball court is going to come up soon. I am eager to get to see a few games from my window; reminds me of how ancient kings played chess in stadia, sitting high up on their thrones.

Let me take the liberty of reminding you to keep checking the blog (also possible through RSS or Twitter) and keep looking out for constant updates from the class of 2010.

I particularly enjoy the time I get while waiting for the food to heat, because I do nothing else during this time except for displaying Pavolvian reactions at the prospect of being able to eat food, and because I use this time to reflect.

The ISB experience can be pretty overwhelming, and I speak solely for myself when I say that it is like throwing a person who can’t swim for his life into the deep end of the pool. Except that the admissions committee has chosen wisely enough to know that the person will not sink, at least more often than not.

Do not mistake the previous statement for arrogance of the chest-thumping kind. It is more a reflection of life-experiences most students have had, which temper them for tougher challenges, the kind that this course seems to be throwing at each and everyone of us faster than we can dodge them.

The water in the deep end is cold, and it does suffocate you at the outset. But once you get the hang of things, you begin to enjoy the feeling and eventually revel in it.

When I was told about how we’d have classes four days of the week, my mind set out to make numerous plans regarding the various things I could do over the weekend. But alas, the amount of work during the weekends prevents one from taking the day off completely.

This is not to say that you don’t have time to do what you’d like to. Aside from working on individual assignments, group assignments, post-reads to understand what was taught in class, pre-reads so as not to mumble incoherently when cold-called and so on, there are many other things on campus that ensure that one doesn’t need to go out.

Nonetheless, I’ve been able to put together and conduct a quiz, have timed electric wheelchair runs around the student village thanks to my quadqie having sprained his ankle, worked on preliminary plans to form a band on campus, read fifteen pages of Slaughterhouse 5 and watch a few episodes of 30 Rock in the middle of all this.

I’ve been told by most of my friends who’ve graduated from B-schools that you end up having a fair share of “What in the name of God am I doing here?” moments. So far, I’ve had none, but even if I do, that feeling will be ephemeral at best, and that is something I can say with absolute certainty.

The ninety seconds had elapsed by the time these myriad thoughts had rushed through the recesses of my mind at breakneck speed, and it was time to head back and begin work on the Global Economics assignment due the next day.

I also realize that I have a class at 0845 in the morning. Sheesh.

Lots of happenings on campus in the past 2 weeks – elections for club presidents, section representatives, subsequent selections for club posts, inter-section sports competitions, CAS information session, Dean’s ‘Take Charge’ address, corporate speakers sessions/interactive sessions, blood donation camp, and of course parties!

We had a huge ‘Bring down the class average’ party on Friday, or so I am told, but I missed it after having gone to sleep by 11 PM since I had donated blood that evening and was too tired to stay up. To compensate for my absence, I will attend the ‘Bring up the class average’ parties in our LRC this week! Mid-terms are round the corner, so its time to hit the books again with a vengeance.

In other relevant news, I am the Section A representative for Academic Affairs. My study group, as a result has an Academic representative as well as the Student Life Council Director, Abhishek ‘Party’ Shah. How much more diverse can a study group get?

Academic Representatives need to interface closely with the Academic Affairs Council to deal with anything related to our studies, and address all grievances effectively. I’ve always been a good student, and I think I will be able to do justice to this role that I’ve been elected to.

Subjects in term 2 are interesting – Competitive Strategy, Marketing Decision Making, Global Economics and Decision Models and Optimization. Most of these subjects are inter-related and this makes learning them that much more interesting. Its time for me to head back to my huge pile of assignments, and so I bid you goodbye until next time!