Week 0 - Done!!!

Week 0? Why week 0?
Things are a little bit different here in Oxford. First of all, Oxford students study in Trimesters...they are called Michaelmas, Hillary and Trinity. Each term is eight weeks long. Therefore, Week 1 -8. But, since many students arrive in the 2 weeks before the term starts (induction events) and stay in Oxford for another 2 weeks after the end of the term (exams), there is naught week (week -1), week 0, week 9 and week 10.
And that's just one of the many unwontnesses in Oxford life.

I have survived the parties of naught week and now I have also made it through week 0. It was a tough week! It was an amazing week! It was a fun week! It was an overwhelming week!
What happened during the week?

Monday - read previous post

Tuesday - more induction events (including a team-building event...the business school has a partnership with a consulting firm, who offers one-on-one sessions to MBA students for skills training, self assessment, etc...the good thing is, that it is included in the tuition fee)

Wednesday - kick-off meetings for Oxford Business Networks (OBN) in Management Consulting and in Private Equity; OBNs are interest groups for MBAs who are interested in this sector, students organize speakers, meetings, conferences and network in the industry of interest; I went to both kick-off meetings and it seems that it is comparatively easy to attract top industry leaders to come to Oxford, although, it is additional work for us and one can only actively participate in one/maybe two OBNs; today was also my first formal dinner in the college...suits and dresses...good food...eating with the professors in the Hall (see picture in next post)

Thursday - more OBN kick-off meetings; I went to the finance interest group...sounds really interesting; afterwards, I went to the Fresher's Fair with Diliana and Daniel, where all Oxford clubs and societes try to get you to join them; it is unbelievable how many societies there are...seems like there is a club for every interest (from political via origami to legalize fox hunting), sport (from soccer via decathlon to salsa dancing), culture (from norwegian via chinese to hindi),...I joined the arabic society, the fencing club, 3 finance societies and the scuba diving club, we'll see what I'll be able to do once week 1 has begun; at night I attended a panel discussion on "Capitalism: a force for good"; 3 entrepreneurs talked to us about how capitalism can be utilized to make the world a better place; one was an ex-Goldman Sachs investment banker who is now involved in fund-raising for several charities, one was a hedge fund manager who only invests in "social & sustainable" businesses, and the third one has founded several companies that make money by helping the community (I wonder how that works?!); after their presentations we had the opportunity to ask questions, but the really interesting part came when they turned the whole thing around and started asking us questions...and their questions were tough! Although I have a hard time connecting to that kind of thinking, it was nevertheless a very interesting and inspiring event

Friday - more OBN kick-off meetings; I went to the energy interest group; seems like only a few people are interested in this field - somehow I became the temporary chair of the OBN; my task is now to set up the next meetings and come up with an idea of how we want to organize ourselves and what we want to achieve during the year; I have decided to be actively involved in the Energy OBN and go to most of the meetings of the Finance OBN...I probably won't be able to participate in the other OBNs because a day has only 24 hours (sadly); I spent the rest of the day updating my outlook calendar for the next 4 weeks...took me about 4 hours...the opportunities are unbelievable...some many choices to make every day; honestly, every day there is always at least one company presentation that I would like to go to, a speaker I would like to see, an sports event that I want to attend...oh, and by the way: I have classes that I have to attend!
My college had one of its famous BOPs (oxfordish for party) that night: School Uniform BOP...unbelievable...if you know what I mean ;-) It was definitely a wild party!

That was my week 0! How was yours?