Today I skipped a class... A crime at one point in time in my life...

looking back the past one year, if I were to be absolutely blunt with my views about classes, fellow classmates and the education I have received, I should say, things could have been better and I could have done better... Though I don't regret anything...

Looking back, I realize that the major difference between a one year program at ISB and the traditional two year program is the amount of work one has to put in. If that sounds cliched, read carefully. If one has to gain the same level of depth of knowledge and the same level of comfort and understanding that a two year program will provide, I think the average student has to put in more than twice the effort. Just to give you an example, my fellow classmates on exchange at Kellogg and lbs say they are finding the schedule there simply too relaxed for comfort. Guys at Kellogg have one class of a particular course a week, that too for an hour and 10 minutes. We have two classes per week for each course and each class if two hours. While the guys at Kellogg say they have that much more time, anyone at ISB has to work really hard if he has to keep pace with all the reading and case analysis for each class. That requires effort and self discipline. At Kellogg, these guys say, there is more than ample time to sleep and enjoy life. Of course these guys may be biased after having gone through 6 terms at ISB, but the fact still remains. No one will prosecute you if you did not do the readings. You will probably look like a dumb dodo in the class, especially if the prof calls on you out of the blue. But at the end of the day, what separates the guys who go out of ISB will the same level of preparation as the ones from a two year program is sincerity and dedication to the coursework throughout the year. That requires some serious hard work and time management.

the profs I have been under have been generally excellent. There happen to be exceptions here and there. We provide out feedback in such cases. For the profs, its a different experience teaching at ISB. They teach probably one class a week back home in the US or Europe. They probably teach only one of the semesters. At ISP, they have atleast 2-4 two hour classes every week.

my fellow students, I know many of them read this blog, have been generally amazing to be with. I had my expectations in terms of intellectual ability and maturity from which I cud gain when I came here. While there may be exceptions at times (I am sure some of them think I am an exception ;), in general, I have learnt more by observing my classmates, listening to them and getting inspired by them, than in the class room. There are people who have managed to cope up very well with the workload from the beginning. Others adapted as the year went by. Others still haven't managed and have made tradeoffs to survive. There have been classes with brilliant discussions and others as drab as it gets. There have been classes where the whole class reveled with wonderful arguments and counter arguments and others where majority did not bother to read and come. Though class experiences have fluctuated at times, most of the time, I have enjoyed the learning to the hilt.

throughout the year, I thought I had seen the best course and the best prof until I saw another one in the next term beating all records. I had been pretty satisfied with all the strategy courses I had done until the last term, but none had really excited me, also because strategy is not my favorite area. But the course last term by Prof.Phanish Puranam (LBS), on managing strategic partnerships, was so enjoyable that there were classes when I did not look at my watch even once, for I did not realize time passing by. He was unbelievable with the concepts, the way he handled cases and the way directed our discussion. Stupendous in one word.

its been a wonderful experience. I am going to miss the learning experience once I leave this place. Sometimes I wish I cud stay on for another year and relive the whole experience, with a wiser brain... If only...