Saturday, December 17, 2011

Other Side of the Coin

Starting January, this blog will take on another form as instead of posting articles about being a student, I'll be posting about my experiences as a teacher. I never thought I would reach this day but I'm glad it did. I'm looking forward to learning and giving my brain the much needed exercise.

Some say that teaching is really a vocation and is not very materially rewarding. I hope that I will end up liking this and will make it as a second career like my father-in-law.

Wish me luck!

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Missing School

I miss school. I took a leave this term in lieu of my new job and am missing it. I don't know if I can keep the same schedule that I had next term as we'll be having our audit on September. The nights are unpredictable as we have meetings that last till 7 or 8 pm! I hope I can do this. Worse comes to worse, I'll be taking Saturday classes.

Saturday, April 09, 2005

Two down, one to go

I submitted my final paper for manacct last Thursday and I think, successfully answered the questions that my professor posed.

Morever, we also managed to successfully present our final paper in prodman. Not only that, I got a freaking 100% in my midterms!!! I was so surprised when I got my midterms exam. Well to be honest, it was not 100%. I got 106/100 :D Hehehe.

Sorry, I could not help but brag about this. This subject was such a killer. Nevertheless, the professor was the best (for me and my SO's). I felt that I got my money's worth this term because of him. He is SO practical and his tips are indeed very helpful. He encourages, no, FORCES the student to think. It was so difficult at first since his class is 830 in the morning on a Saturday. Half of the class population are still asleep and it was a challenge for him to keep us awake. But he managed to do that (well, I think he did).

He poses questions which would really make you think. The best one that he gave us, which we still can't answer, was what was the purpose of the that table/divider between the teller and the customer at the bank. He shot down all our answers (security, convenience) with other questions. The lesson here is that he wants us to question everything that comes to us. We should not accept "it's the standard" or "as per (fill in the blank) regulation" anwers. He taught us to ask "WHY"?!

Come to think of it, it's a really practical lesson. All our school life (even up to now), we were taught to think that this is the way things done so you should follow it. We were never taught or encouraged to think outside the box. Maybe because people are so wary of the upheaval that any change will bring.

I will really miss him and his out-of-this-world questions. I wish other professors will be like him. He inspired me to REALLY think and to aspire to be better.

Oh, and did I mention that I'm the class president. Hehe :)

Monday, March 28, 2005

Killer Term

Ever since I started my MBA, I never came close to quitting until this term.

This term is the worst that I ever had. I thought last year's ManSci and FinAcct combo was the worst. I didn't learn my lesson and combined Prodman (which comes next after ManSci) and ManAcct (which comes next after FinAcct) this term. Not only do I have to struggle with numbers, but getting along with my groupmates as well. Never has been my social skills been tested up to this degree.

Three weeks to go until I get to relax. My official last day of finals is on April 14. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a passing grade for both subjects.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Operations and Production Management

Ever since this term started and we first met with our teacher, I knew it was going to be an interesting term.

Operations and Production Management basically deals with learning how to allocate resources in the operations and production part of your business. It's interesting because it not only covers operations in factories, but in regular offices as well. Our professor teaches practical ideas and not just theories. Although at times, his ideas borders on being unethical and its saddening that they are actually being implemented (hiring contractuals is considered unethical and frowned on by La Salle).

One of his course requirements is for us to visit at least two production plants. This afternoon, we went to Asia Brewery over at Cabuyao, Laguna.

Before the tour started, our professor told us the things that we should watch out for. Most importantly, to look out for things that are supposed to be there but did not see. And we observed a lot of the latter.

The AB plant is considered an old facility considering that it has been there since the 1980's. According to their brochure, they have been in existence since 1982. Not surprising that if you go up to their penthouse where their so-called "showcase" is located, stepping out of the elevator, you feel like you stepped into a 1980s movie set. From the lights down to the floor. It actually looked retro!

Anyway, I'll save my other observations for the reaction paper that we're required to submit.

Monday, January 17, 2005

Grades

What do you know? I made the Dean's List once again.


Second Trimester, SY 2004 - 2005


Student No. 10385819
Student Name DAVID, CATHERINE SUNSHINE PANGANIBAN
Degree MBAr
College GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS









Subject/s Sect Units Day/s Time Room Faculty Name Grade
BUS8300 GRB 3 T 1800-2115 RCBC MAPA, DOMINGO L. 4.0
MKT511M GRD 3 H 1800-2115 RCBC PERLAS, ERNESTO JR. 3.5
Term GPA 3.750


Final grades as of: January 07, 2005

Sunday, January 02, 2005

2nd term SY 2004-05

I had two subjects last term. Pretty easy ones. Business Ethics and Marketing Management. Hoping for good grades on those two subjects. Hopefully I'll get my grades tomorrow. Hope they will meet and exceed expectations.

This next term will be pretty tough. Management Accounting and Operations and Production Management. Both highly math subjects, I think. I'm glad I'm taking both with Leo. It will be a chance to see how we will work together.

MARSHMALLOW SHMALLOW

Been a long time since I posted here.

Anyway, I found the Marshmallow Test article which I'm posting here. I'm posting it here instead on my usual blog since I think this is more particular to my MBA and career development. Even if I did not take the marshmallow test before, I have a feeling that I could've failed. It takes a lot from me just to wait for something.

Here's is Ronald Gross' article about the test:

What's Your Marshmallow?

Ronald Gross


One of the most profitable lessons about self-management is best conveyed through "The Marshmallow Test." The lesson is about your capacity to achieve
your goals -- in your work and in your life.

As the audience takes their seats, they notice that at each of their places, there's a marshmallow.

And up front, on my podium, there's what looks like a giant marshmallow, as big as a TV set.

Imagine that you're 4 years old, and participating in a little experiment. A friendly adult welcomes you into a room and sits you in front of a marshmallow. "This is for you," she says. "Before we start , I have to do something down the hall. You can eat the marshmallow any time you like. But if you wait until I get back, I'll give you two marshmallows."

The researcher leaves the room. It's just you, and that marshmallow.

Children react differently to this situation. Some grab and gobble the marshmallow by the time the door closes behind the researcher. Others seem fixated on it -- looking, smelling, touching -- but hold back from eating it. Others take steps to distract themselves -- singing, walking around, listening by the door.

Black-out. Lights up -- fourteen years later. You and hundreds of other kids who took the marshmallow test are tracked down by psychologist Walter Mischel, who conducted the original experiment at Stanford and is now a colleague of mine at Columbia.

The findings are dramatic. The youngsters who, at four, had waited to win the second marshmallow, tended to be rate high on the skills that make for
success -- in school, at work, in life. They had many of the "habits of successful people" -- confidence, persistence, capacity to cope with frustration.

On the other hand, the one-third who had wolfed the marshmallow, had a different overall profile. They had trouble subordinating immediate impulses to achieve long-range goals. When it was time to study for the big test, they tended to get distracted into listening to a favorite TV programs.

The character traits highlighted by The Marshmallow Test persist in adult life. They effect our performance in every area. Once you start looking for them, it's easy to spot the "marshmallows" in our professional -- and personal -- lives. They are the activities which give us immediate gratification -- but undermine longer-range benefits.

The desire to please everyone is a "marshmallow" for the manager who let's herself be "interrupt-driven" . To get those immediate smiles or words of praise, she spends the better part of each day responding to random requests to do this or that, help this person or that one -- and never gets around to pursuing her own projects. She needs to occasionally shut the door, have the calls screened, and focus on the greater gratification of achieving long-range goals.

The current "cash cow" may be a "marshmallow" for the CEO who just wants to continue milking profits from "what's always worked and is still working for us." In failing to push his people to explore new products and services, he may undermine the organization's capacity to keep its edge in the future.

The question I like to raise with audiences is: "What's Your Marshmallow?"

It may be something even more commonplace than those mentioned above. For example, here's a "marshmallow" that almost all of us reach for occasionally, because it provides fast, fast, fast relief from anxiety. (At this point I reveal that the giant marshmallow on the podium is actually... a bed sheet-covered TV set.)

Successful people have developed habits which overcome the marshmallow temptation: Self-Restraint, Focus, Prioritizing, the Long-Range View. The marshmallow test is a telling way to catch people's attention for a presentation on these strategies, which are so essential to success.

"Your marshmallow has become part of our 'corporate culture,'" reports the meeting manager of a major association in the pharmaceutical industry.
"It reminds us to put first things first, to subordinate the immediately gratifying, to the longer range goal. I use it at least once a week to remind someone on my staff not to get distracted by the seemingly urgent but unimportant, and neglect what will really make a difference in our profitability."

Copyright © 1999 Ronald Gross