Class Session 1: Managerial Marketing and Economics

Tonight is our first night with the professors. I am so impressed. Class does not become any more relevant than this. Not only is the text enriching, the professors bring personality to it.

We began the night with Professor Michael Warren and Marketing Management. Michael has a great sense of humor and quickly built class consensus and buy-in.

At 15 past 8:00 PM Dr. JoJo Estrada made Managerial Economics understandable. In his understanding of economics he notes that we have a finite number of resources, including time. For this reason he doesn't want to incorporate homework and quizzes. What a wonderful idea that this professor understands the demands for time, and how education relates to a 24 hour day. When we get done with the class, JoJo wants us to leave as an everyday knowledgable consumer of economic ideals. He says, "Economics transcends everything you do. It should not be left in the classroom".

Tonight the 4 hour timeframe was a little tough on the tailbone, but there is a promise of providing the crew with a light snack next week and weekly some coffee to keep us going. Its these little touches that make us feel special here at Concordia.

Launched into my MBA

Last night was the first night of my MBA program at Concordia University Texas. Being in the first class of this program, I thought it would be interesting to chart this path through a blog. Prior to last night, we had an Orientation which was helpful in answering some of your basic questions as you return to school. We had the opportunity to get parking permits, student ids, library cards, and take a class photo. The orientation provided a decent 5,000 ft overview of the program, but last night we covered the program in greater detail, and got to meet our cohort specifically.
The nights highlights:
We had a pre-assignment of taking one piece of the oil spill and had to write a small brief, followed by 2-3 questions. We then took our pieces and put them up on the white board with magnets, and were tasked with finding the common links and organizing them by relation. My greatest take away from the exercise was understanding that this MBA is designed for the messiness of life. Unlike a linear thought process that can be forecasted, We are diving into highly complex situations that are underway, and Dr. Linda Ford promised us that this MBA is designed for the messiness of life.
We also came together as groups and combined our individual questions for what we hope to get out of our MBA.

I left the night ready to get started. It was great that several of us were able to share we are anxious about getting back in the swing. I am specifically because I came to the program with none of the pre-reqs, as my undergrad is in Theology, Spanish and Psychology. I know that once we dive into the books and are discussing the topics I will feel a lot more comfortable, and maybe a bit more enthusiastic.

I'm excited about what next week has to offer! For now, I have to read the first 3 chapters in our Managerial Marketing text book, and finish up on the "Economics Refresher" from the Ivy software program.