End of Induction Shindig

What a Thursday evening when all hands were on deck for our first bash that was planned by students and UTT IIEM staff. What a privilege!!!

Who knew all of this was a part of our program? I guess as much as we have to work hard is as much as we should plan to have fun!!!

I would really like to say that it feels really good to be among a class so full of an enthusiastic spirit;  to put on an event like this in minutes... The decorations headed by Nalini was most festive. The resident DJ Joe couldn't have been better. The of Master of Ceremonies Marcus was indeed the Master :) The ladies and gentlemen who performed left me stunned; it was out of this world because I didn't know what to expect. But what had us really rolling was Nalini's genius idea of merging class and lecturers to partake in a lil' Pictionary/ Charades on each other.


Take a round of applause people, take a round of applause... Well Done People... Well Done...

Marisa 2010

IIEM: My new found love...or is he?

Greetings ALL

I will track my journey in IIEM through the phenomenological lens of someone who wants to experience love in its purest form. The IIEM program is my potential lover and right now we are in the very preliminary stages of "like".

Our gazes have just met (because we are now three weeks into the program) and there is an excitedness occuring within me, you know like the butterflies in the stomach, but yet still I communicate with my eyes that I want more...I want to engage deeper. I'm throwing caution to the wind because...well there's no reason not to! But do I even know what I'm doing? Am I asking for trouble?

All the questions point to one answer: I'm in this for love. The love that engages that connection with my spiritual self and the excitement of possibly getting to know my potential lover beyond a superficial level. The love that catalyses the evolution of ignorance into knowledge, lack of insight into wisdom and insecurity into fearlessness!! 1 John 4:18 "There is no fear in love but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love's complete perfection]."

Right now I am afraid which means I am immature, fractured, insecure and unbelieving but I want to dive in head-first to develop maturity and wholeness and the qualities (strengths) I heard he possesses. I'm undeniably disoriented, taking calculated risk, I'm not entirely sure if I'm experiencing infatuation. All I know is that I want to get to know my potential lover on a personal level for now aand I eventually want to experience love. He knows a lot about business and entrepreneurship and in order for me to get the knowledge that he has, I need to connect with him on a personal level first. But how?

It's amazing how much of entrepreneurship is about people skills. We (the class) are being encouraged to develop these skills to heighten our sense of self as well as an awareness of others. I appreciate that we are receiving guidance to help us connect with people apart from the technical knowledge we are taught.

Having the most accounting knowledge or the best marketing strategies means very little if one has no relational skills as an entrepreneur. So knowing myself better through "people-sensitivity" training is important because I will need it to communicate on a personal level with IIEM even if our relations do not develop into a loving one ( I really hope it does though; he's got swagger like no other and an intense energy). I just dont want to be overwhelmed by his presence in my life, you kno?

Apprehension aside, I hope IIEM makes the first move, walks over here and starts a convo. I hope he teaches me all I need to know, takes me seriously despite my youth, says everything I want to hear, doesn't keep me up late at night and basically makes my life easy...that is if I can make it beyond the first phase of a potential courtship. But I'm getting ahead of myself here, he may not even be interested in getting to know me, still I await his first move with baited breath and I will let you know what happens. I'm in, but is he?

Salam

Aripo Retreat

Breakfast was served on our arrival, nice and hot - sweetbread,  hotdogs, coffee and tea provided by the amiable staff. We were given the opportunity to soak up our sublime surroundings; the lush greenery, picturesque views and natural ambiance away from the bustle of society. Then we got down to work.


*First activity -

• We separated into groups (I's E's & IN's) according to our preferences in the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment which were previously determined
• we listened to jazz music
• chose an instrument which we thought best described our personality
• shared the reason for our choice of instrument
• created an analogy of a musical orchestra/band in which all the musicians have different personalities and different instruments but whose common goal was to create quality music
• concluded that if we all have a common goal we can put aside our differences in order to achieve a shared, desired outcome

*Second activity (after a hearty lunch to celebrate the Eid-ul-fitr holiday)

• Same groups walked around the premises with the aim of fully observing their environment
• noted that different people observed different things
• concluded that the sharing of observations, ideas and perspectives was important in painting a more holistic picture of what was seen than the sole perception of any one individual

*Third activity

• Switched groups (P's, TJ's and ?)
• we were given the interesting task of creating a story using unrelated words which described a character that the group developed
• concluded that given the same resources to work with, when people are allowed to be imaginatively unrestrained, they can interpret and use their resources differently to produce an inherently unique output

A day well spent.


By: DR