Of results, incompetence and nostalgia...

Well, here I am back from a self-imposed hiatus. Not sure why I did this, but there is a LOT that has happened in the last week.

First, we got our results from P1. I did pretty much as I had expected, which implies that I am satisfied. Passed all subjects comfortably. No danger of failing anything and equally, no danger of being in the Dean's list. Now, grading in INSEAD is relative to how everyone else in class performs and the scores are distributed over a Z-curve. I.e., the grades are spread out over a normal distribution. This necessitates a clear and equitable differentiation amongst the student body's grasp of concepts and overall performance. May explain why so many of the tests were so darned hard. Most of the people I have spoken to are either happy or philosophical about their results. Oh, there was this controversy about the relative weightage of case write-ups and final exam being changed last minute in one of the courses. I have my opinion about this, but more on it later.

Next comes the finalization of our CVs for the official handbook. Now, I must admit I had heard the Career placement office was not the most effective one going around. But their level of utter incompetence in organizing basic meetings is astounding! CV group meetings have been arranged with subsequent individual follow-ups. But with a class size of 150 students, all of whom are successful, confident and demanding professionals, you gotta figure quality time with each candidate is a must. Or at least basic reserach to guage demand. Hastily arranged 15-minute sessions, in all catering to about 20% of the class is NOT the way to go about changing apparently justified perceptions; perceptions that lend credence to the cliche that perception equals reality.

As for P2, half the classes for Finance-II are over. HALF THE CLASSES! Wow! Seems like we were applauding our P1 profs post-last-class just yesterday. Still, the cases come and go...burying us all ever deeper in the avalanche of information that refuses to abate. I'm enjoying Finance, enjoying Operations to an extent and not much else. I wonder whether I've peaked midway through P2?

The P5s have 2 weeks of classes left and we see a cloud of forlornness descending ever-increasingly upon the confines of the Lily garden everyday. Many are ready to move on, many already have, but a few face a very uncertain future...indeed, an uncertain life. My sense of sympathy is tempered by the realisation that I face precisely the same fate in the not-so-distant future now...