Illuminations at Blackpool & Diwali at Preston

Sounds like a bus/rail route isn't it. Well, that was my agenda on Sunday! After a nice Diwali special potluck lunch at the campus, I along with Seeba and Lawni, headed to Blackpool. After an hour's bus ride we arrived at Blackpool, a relatively big city compared to Lancaster. 4 hours of walk along the shore helped us cover a good number of places - the war memorial, the blackpool tower, the pleasure beach, the coral island, Madame Tussauds, and ofcourse the beautiful facade of the Irish sea. Pictures and walking kept us busy. We stopped by at Coffee House to get some refreshments. And then began the much awaited Blackpool Illuminations. The whole city was illuminated. Beautiful decorative lights all over. It was an amazing sight. Pictures cannot do justice. Visit Blackpool especially when the illuminations are on! Spotting these on Diwali was the icing on the cake.

From there, I headed to Preston to join a few more friends. We visited a temple and then witnessed fireworks - the immensely noisy ones though! Awesome food, amazing company, can't ask for more. Called it a day and arrived back in Lancaster late in the night.

Monday morning! Accounting lecture! Assignment on cards! I am liking the fact that there is a little bit of everything - traveling, cooking, studying (well, this one's a lot not a bit) and I am glad I still have time to blog. Until I key down again - have a great week ahead!

Illuminated Blackpool Tower	At Coffee House	Random Selfie
With SD!	Potluck time!	With Shiksha & Deepika at Preston!

Just a month or more?

Well, I didnt opt for the usual 'Already a month' phrase! Because though it has been 'just a month' for me here, it already seems like way more than that. It was a month ago I was in the Emirates and it appears as if it has been quite a while now. I thoroughly second the statement that the Lancaster MBA starts on Day 1. As someone quoted today, being a Gemini, I like to keep myself occupied and thoroughly busy and I am glad it is that way. An absolute packed, planned and perfect 1 month I would say. Amazing and remarkable!

Continuing from my previous post, Friday was a relaxed day with classes starting a little late and ending early. Chess competition against the master Dr. Alexander Matros was on cards. Well, we all lost against him - the cards did predict it though. We were about 20-25 of us who played against him. Before we made a move, he used to make his move on the 24 other boards and would be here to make the next move. Doesn't that sound supernatural! I have a recorded video of this, which I will probably upload soon. Fun-friday, we accepted defeat and that was not it. Halloween night it was!

My first experience witnessing Halloween - a thing of the US or the West? Either way, loved every bit of what I had seen and what I had engaged with. The campus was buzzing all the night. 

Woke up to a cloudy, lazy and rainy Saturday. Got on heels to finish my weekend chores. Some cooking, a little entertainment, a bit of shopping, super talking and of course studying. Apparently, we are going to start day light savings tonight. I wish we do it every night, so that the year progresses a little slowly! #LovingLancaster

 

The number play begins!

After 3 weeks of soft play, we pulled the engine to full throttle by launching the Accounting, Finance and Economics modules this week. Well for someone like me, who is an amateur in these topics, it definitely takes time for these to occupy a space in the brain. But I am learning and trying to learn, slowly and only slowly. These are not as bad subjects as I had thought. I used to wonder how people manage to understand those scrolling numbers with red and green arrows on CNBC or Bloomberg. I guess I will be skilled at doing that myself soon. It is interesting and I am trying to keep myself awake during the 'graveyard' hours as well. Would leave it for you to decide what that would mean! :)

Besides that, it is getting colder here in Lancaster, autumn is in the air and it is orange everywhere. 

Workless weekend!

Well, it was definitely a 'workless' weekend for me. Saturday started off quite early with me deciding to hop onto a coach that took me to York. A beautiful historical city worth visiting. I along with Jen and Nathalie toured the city the whole day - castle, museums, the minster and not to forgot the heritage walk guided by Peter along the walls of York. A day well spent.

Sunday was off to a very slow start - got some good sleep. Made a good number of calls talking to friends and family. Visited the Williamson Park, St.Peter's Cathedral and Ashton's memorial - the sites I missed seeing on my previous visit. Back home, did some work on an itinerary for the vacation in December. Off to bed in a while, but I thought I should close the weekend on a 'working' note. I will leave you with many pictures this time. :)

Heritage walk with Peter	River Ouse	Lendal Bridge
Us at York Minster	Constantine!	Us along the Walls of York
Along the walls of York	Minster in the background	Lendal Bridge landing
At Williamson Park	Lancaster City Council	Ashton's Memorial
At St.Peter's Cathedral	Lancaster City Council	Ashton Memorial
Williamson Park	Williamson Park	Williamson Park

An evening with Derek Walker!

We all had the opportunity later on Thursday to hear from Derek Walker, Former Careers Director at Said Business School. We spent an impactful 2 hours with him. I personally liked the many real examples and practical situations that he had quoted during the time. It was to me a launchpad session to begin thinking about my future and the approach I should be following towards finding my target and eventually hitting it. Definitely one of those inspirational sessions that kept me thinking through the night. 

Friday again was a session related to Careers and was hosted by Cana Witt. Very useful insights on writing cover letters and a neat exercise to improve our own ability to draft one by assessing some good and bad pre-written letters. One key takeaway - always start with a blank piece of paper while writing cover letters. One phrase that made my day - 'Making friends and funds!' (courtesy: Cana) :)

Overall, a remarkable 2 full long days ending with hanging out at the Grad Bar. Back home, spent 2 hours talking to my flat mates on some real interesting topics. Truly loving this experience. #LoveLancaster

Getting Kintished!

Networking is all about building relationships! Thursday was off to a powerful start with Will Kintish coming in from Kintish Co. to help us with networking skills. The thing I liked about this workshop was that Will pointed out gaps in us that we were to fill if we wanted to become more confident and effective networkers. He also suggested ways and techniques to fill those gaps. Many practical aspects were demonstrated and I had some 'Aha' moments as well. Being a presenter and speaker myself, I was inspired by the presentation skills, the atmosphere that Will had created and most importantly the fact that we got 'Kintished' - what an original and unique way to build a personal brand! The little tiny booklet on networking tips was the cherry on the cake. 

Getting Kintished!

The booklet of networking tips!

Visit to the Quarry Bank Mill

Just about time when the BRICS Summit 2016 ended in Goa, we here at Lancaster were discussing with Prof. Oliver Westall on Modern Capitalism and how things have progressed since the British Industrial Revolution. While I am not that sharp at understanding economics, capitalism and related topics, I did manage to understand stuff given that we traveled back in time and traversed back all the way till the 21st century. That did make a lot of sense in understanding the topic and brought in a lot of relevance. 

That wasn't it, to make this learning more profound and comprehensive, on Wednesday we went to The Quarry Bank Mill, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. Understanding how the business model in 1700s was built, how machinery was introduced, how trade began and flourished, how finance and social security was provided, was great. Lots to learn and lots to reflect on how things today connect back to the 18th century. The place is now maintained by the National Trust and is a heritage site. Indeed it is! A long day but definitely worth it.

The resilient red buddy!

Introducing you to the dedicated, resilient buddy of our class - The Red Catch Box! A tiny little widget - in fact 2 of them that get thrown around in the class to amplify our voices. Basically a microphone embedded in a nice cushion case so that it doesn't hurt even if it hits you hard. Just love this buddy! Doesn't complain at all.:)

Water clouds and work clouds!

Sunday was off to a rainy start, put us off from visiting the Williamson Park. Plan to catch up soon when the weather is back to being sunny. Got to finish off the regular chores before I sounded the gong on the 'starting-to-pile-up' work. After a few hours of intense study, I decided to take a stroll around the campus - a leisure walk around the sports centre and the large and lush grounds, a visit to the meditation centre and back. 

Monday was here! Happy and cloudy! Started off with this intense and a striking quote by Dr.Lenney - 'If you are not fired with enthusiasm you will be fired with enthusiasm'. Delving deep into the subject through the rest of the day, I also had some thoughts on how the learning can connect back to my experience in Social Business. Plan to chalk out a case study on this soon. All through the day, I was observing that there was one guy that was busily engaged - dedicated, resilient and most importantly amplifying our voices. Watch out for my next post to find out who this buddy is! Assignments, books and tests, calling!

Fall starting to set in!

The football fields

The huge sports centre

The second week comes to a close!

Sometimes it is daunting to see how time ticks, but here at Lancaster every moment is exciting and worth living. Mid-week we were engrossed in revising our CVs to ensure that we put our best foot forward in our future endeavours. Later in the week, we had a workshop on 'Presenting' hosted by Career Keystones. A very useful and informative 2 days indeed. While I have learnt a good number of things earlier either by experience or self-study, I think the key takeaways are the 2-3 strong items that really come alive while participating in the activities and tasks. And probably that is what adds up to the 'MBA'. One very interesting thing that I have noticed so far here is that, there is always a link or bond between modules or subjects. None of it is taught independently, instead every module is structured and built around the core. I personally appreciate this aspect.

Later, on Friday, we all geared up for what was called a cultural night. Dressed in traditional attires, savoring the desserts from across the world, getting to taste the local Lancashire cuisine, each of us were engaged and enjoying in our own way. Performances also adorned the night. Yet another opportunity to interact with the cohort, the staff and getting to know each other better. The weekend sets in and has thrown a traquil cover over the campus. Everyone is busy sleeping, cooking or out in the city shopping and I am home giving some rest to my aching limbs.

During the workshop on 'Presenting'	Japanese Origami with Kenji
Finally, one picture which is not 'selfie' obsessed	Desserts from around the world.