Quick Note from Tim...

Many have asked what's going on with me, so here's a typical 'day in my life'. It isn't nearly as exciting as the activity of Sonja and the kids.

We are in full swing academically. I am taking four graduate level business classes (Financial Accounting, Microeconomics, Marketing Management, and Probability and Statistics), and we are convened from 8am until 5pm. We will complete a semester's worth of work in about five weeks... I have my first mid term exam Monday! This insane pace is required to complete all the required coursework in one year. If you are interested, the course curriculum can be seen here.

Much of time is spent doing individual work, as I have to be prepared to contribute to our group case work. My study group is quite diverse - myself, Ramesh (India), Luis (Portugal), and Charlie (South Korea). We usually meet after classes to discuss our case summaries and prepare other assignments. The study groups are combined with others for larger project assignments, so one of the challenges has been prioritizing all of our waking moments to maximize the use of our time together. I've even been on a four-hour Skype teleconference with a meta group to complete an assignment... All in all, I'm doing ok (averaging about 5-6 hours sleep per night).

I get up around 0500, study until 0630, and at around 0700 I walk down the street to Cushing Square, where I catch the MBTA Bus 73 to ride to Harvard Square. There I board the T (the subway), which I ride to the Kendall/MIT stop. Total time in transit is never less than 30 min or more than 40, and is always standing room only. From the T station at MIT, it's about a five minute walk to the Sloan school (with a small detour into Au Bon Pain for a cuppa joe :-) We do get breaks between lectures, which are almost always occupied with small group discussion, problem solving, and coordination. The hardest part is the inevitable comparison with my undergraduate days, where I spent a good 2-3 hours out of class preparing for each hour in class. If I tried to apply that ratio here at Sloan, I'd be working 27 hour days, not accounting for sleep, hygiene, and family!

So at the end of the collective school day (which comes at a prescribed time, otherwise we'd work continually), I reverse the process - walk to the subway station, ride the T to Harvard Square, then catch the 73 bus for the return trip to Cushing Square. I get home, walk to the house, collect the mail, then hit the books...

It is becoming routine. Most of us are in 'barely hanging on' mode. I never had to do anything approaching a medical residency, but if this is a hint, I'm glad I didn't choose that career path - plus the fact that continual sleep deprivation really impairs analytical processing!

On a positive note, I took a break Wednesday evening and watched the Space Station and Shuttle fly over - WOW! The shuttle had separated from the ISS the day before, and were still within a few degrees of each other as they passed almost directly overhead (Rachel was the first to spot it!) We watched for a good four minutes, and it looked like a dog-chasing-cat race across the sky, with both about as bright as Venus.

So - it sounds tedious, but the course material is fascinating, and when I have time I'll write more. The faculty are all world-class, and the PhD students leading the recitations are excellent as well. The courses all dovetail, so there is clearly a common thread.

Finally - the other fellows are a fascinating lot. For example, one of my new friends owns a private equity firm in Switzerland, and he is a big proponent of "Web 2.0". From his idea, we have had about 1/2 the co-hort set up profiles on facebook.com. If you haven't checked it out yet, and you are so inclined, do so. Alfonso said, "It's the next Google." That may be a big exaggeration, but there is rationale behind the statement.

Cheers!