Interview With a Former Part-Time MBA Student

Marci Reynolds, 42, from Boston, MA, completed her associates, bachelors and masters degrees part-time, while working full-time. She is currently a Vice President for a large, publicly traded corporation in the New England area.  I recently had the opportunity to interview Marci about her experience with part-time degree programs. Heres what she had to say: Q: You earned an associate, bachelors, and masters degree in part-time programs. Did you work full-time throughout all three programs? A: Yes, I worked full-time throughout the entire process. I started working full-time right after I graduated high school, then started taking evening college courses in my 20s. Some years, I took 3-5 classes, other years I took only 1. It would depend on the responsibilities I had to fulfill in my full-time job. Q: Was it difficult to find time for both school and a career? How did you make it work? A: Time management was definitely a challenge! Since I am a morning person, I would often get up extra early, ex. 5 a.m., to write papers or do homework. I studied during my lunch hour at work. And, I would go to the library on weekends to limit distractions and get as much work done as possible in short time increments. There were several occasions I used vacation days to study for major exams or finish large projects. Q: Did your employers help you with your tuition? A:  Yes, I was lucky to have tuition reimbursement from every employer. At the very end of completing my bachelors degree, I was bulking up on classes and had used up the company policy allotment of reimbursement. I appealed to senior management and got additional funding for my last three to four classes which was awesome! Since my masters degree was much more expensive, tuition reimbursement only covered about 50-60% of the costs. Q:  Were there any drawbacks to receiving tuition reimbursement? A:  Other than the small amount of paperwork I needed to submit to human resources, there were no drawbacks. Q:  Like any programs, part-time programs have their pros and cons. What would you consider to be the biggest pro? A:  The biggest pro was I could pick exactly which classes I wanted to take on what nights or weekends with which instructors. I had total control and could best align the schedule with my work and personal life. Q:  How about the most obvious con? A:  In addition to the time management challenges, it took significantly longer to complete my degrees. I also missed out on the full time college experience that many adults talk about for years to come. Q:  Was there any aspect of attending school part-time that you hadnt considered prior to enrolling? In other words, was there anything surprising about your part-time experience? A:  The MBA program in which I enrolled catered to full-time students more than part-time, and the homework requirements were not always realistic. I also did not expect to have full-time students in their early 20s, mixed in with the part-time students, mainly 35, in the evening program. This caused challenges, especially on group projects. Q:  Were there any differences between a part-time undergraduate program and a part-time graduate program? A:  In my experience, yes. The part-time undergraduate program I attended definitely catered more to part-time students, and the attendees were almost all working full-time and going to school at night. The graduate program I attended had many younger students and mixed full-time and part-time students in the same classes. Also, there was significantly more homework and more group projects in my graduate program. Q:  I get a lot of letters from students who are worried that part-time MBA programs will not provide them with the same type of recruiting and networking opportunities that full-time programs can. Did you encounter fewer opportunities in your part-time program or were you satisfied with the level of resources made available to you? A:  Since almost every class I attended had a different mix of students, every class presented new networking opportunities. But, in a part-time program, you need to make more of an effort before class or during breaks. After class, everyone is running to their cars to get home for the evening. I do hear that full-time students have more networking opportunities with their professors. In night school, you dont have that opportunity unless you proactively request one-on-one meeting time. There just isnt time in class. Since I graduated, Ive used Linked In to stay in touch with several students and professors I met in night school. Q:  When you think about your part time MBA experience, what stands out? What were some of the highlights? A:  There were two experiences I want to call out from my MBA program that were particularly rewarding and great learning experiences. The first was a two week trip to Japan. At my university, they offered international travel business electives. For my trip to Japan, we visited about 12 Japanese businesses and learned a lot about their culture. We were graded on several large papers we had to write. I had never been to Japan and it was quite a journey! The second experience was a one-week intensive course I took on World Class Business Operations. I got permission to take five days off from work without using vacation time. The class visited eight New England companies who had won Best Place to Work Awards. We met with senior management, got tours of their operations and learned more about their unique offerings. It was fun and I learned a lot of relevant info I could then apply to my day job. Q:  Overall, are you happy with your decision to earn your degrees through part-time programs? Do you ever wish you would have chosen to attend school full-time instead? A:  No, I have no regrets. Because I went to school part-time, I have a lot more work experience than other working women my age. In this challenging economy, with a lot of competition, I now have both the degrees and the work experience. As someone who has done a lot of interviewing and hiring of employees, I have found that the mix of experience and degrees helps to set an applicant apart from other candidates. Q:  Do you have any additional advice for students who are considering a part-time program? A:  Even taking one class en route to a degree is valuable from a personal development and a resume perspective. Employers like to see that you are striving to complete your education. Also, taking classes that relate to your full-time job will often lead to better job performance. If you dont have any college experience, think about getting a certificate first. Complete that, and then enroll in an Associates program, etc. This is a positive, rewarding path to follow, and when you complete a step, it feels great! Last, if you are getting your MBA, do some additional research to learn more about the ratio of full-time and part-time students in the night classes. I would recommend schools who have fewer full-time students in these classes.

The Night - Original Writing - 1666 Words

She rushed home after work telling Rachael of her dinner plans for the night and she promised she wouldn’t interrupt them. She did however want a full report of the night’s events the following day. Lila had decided to go with something more casual since they weren’t actually going out for dinner this time. She settled for a pair of jeans and soft green sweater. She twirled around a couple of times happy with the way things fit, put on her coat and headed out. As she rode up the elevator to his apartment, she was becoming nervous. She wiped her hands down the front of her jeans silently praying they weren’t going to be sweaty all night. It wasn’t as if this was their first date, it wasn’t. But things seemed be different now. She wasn’t†¦show more content†¦It was her belief one must always wear an apron in the kitchen as to not spoil your clothes.† He placed a glass of water in front of her with a flourish. â€Å"She sounds like a very wise woman your grandmother,† she smiled. â€Å"She was quite the individual,† he said as he finished bringing the rest of the dishes over to the table. Once everything was arranged the way he wanted it, he removed the apron laying it on the counter top before taking his seat. Lila filled her plate. She never was one of those girls who believed in eating like a bird when out on a date. She never understood the mentality behind it. If you were hungry, you ate, simple. She doubted anyone was ever fooled by the three bite girls and claims of being full. Not only was it a waste of a good meal, but they would end up at home stuffing their faces afterwards because they were starving. How they figured they fooled anyone was beyond her. She put a piece of the duck in her mouth and closed her eyes. It positively exploded with flavor in her mouth. Keith sat back and watched. He was happily surprised at her reaction to the food as well as the amount she had on her plate for such a little thing. The look of bliss on her face made it all worthwhile. She had a quirky, adorable demeanor about her and seemed well grounded in addition to being inquisitive so far. The obvious pleasure she was getting from simply eating made her an absolute treasure. He smiled to himself and started to eat his own mealShow MoreRelatedNight Nights - Original Writing845 Words   |  4 Pagesuntil night time. We all would camp out in the living, our parents would tuck us in and then it was off to bed. Sleeping peacefully until one of my cousins woke us all up screaming while she was sleeping. Night after night we had to deal with this. The following year I as well as all of my cousins anticipated the same thing. Peacefully sleeping only to be awaken in the middle of the night by shears of horror. But to all of our surprise my cousin sleep peacefully all the way through the night everyRead MoreThe Night - Original Writing1183 Words   |  5 Pagesfell to the floor convulsing in pain. She was turning and realised that no one could save her. She took her last breath realising she was going to become like him. A vampire. Experiencing the final stages of her turning her back arched. That was the night of her transformation. Read MoreThe Night - Original Writing792 Words   |  4 Pagesenlightning. My parents died. I was six years old. They died, because of me. We got in a reasonable argument about Clifford the Big Red Dog, of all things. I stormed out of the house at 8:00 pm. I remember how glistening the stars were that night, how the colors of purple and dark blue collided in the sky and how the moon was full and shined with what seemed like a never-ending light. I just kept running, laughing like the obnoxious six year I was. They ran after me calling my name, I justRead MoreThe Night - Original Writing1528 Words   |  7 PagesAfter a long restless night, Allie had a servant draw a hot bath for her just after daybreak. She stepped in, sat down, and then let her entire body slip beneath the water. She held her nose as she wet her copper locks and soaped her head. She intended to bring the shine back- she did not like the dull creature that stared back at her from the mirror the night before. The hot water was soothing; it felt good on her tired body. After washing, s he lay there and let the warm water soak the tirednessRead MoreThe Night - Original Writing1580 Words   |  7 PagesEverything was beautiful that night. The sky was as clear as the spring water. The weather was so beautiful that we thought that we were not in the summer. I was sitting outside the house in our garden with my parents. We were having a nice chat after a delicious homemade crispy chicken with fries that my mom usually do. Everything was just perfect until my father received the unexpected call. The call that I wished my father didn’t receive. â€Å"Hello†¦what! What are you saying! Calm down I’m comingRead MoreThe Night - Original Writing906 Words   |  4 PagesEvelyn peeked down the hall from her bedroom making sure the light to her parents’ room was off, indicating that they had gone to sleep. When she saw the darkened hallway she knew that her parents had gone down for the night. Her younger sisters, ages 10 and 8, had been put to sleep a couple hours before. There was no one watching. Evelyn tiptoed down the stairs—thank God they were carpeted, which helped shield the noise of her steps—and she grabbed her mom’s car keys carefully exiting the houseRead MoreThe Night - Original Writing1004 Words   |  5 PagesThe crowd filled out of the arena, the buzz and excitement leaving with them. Dark walls echoed the heavy sounds of the metal equipment as it was scraped across the floor by the road crew. In the absence of the band, the crowd and the music, the atmosphere seemed as ble ak and empty as the crowd floor itself. Suddenly, echoes of past joyous screams were replaced by a single, blood curdling scream coming from the direction of the cloakroom. The sound, filled with fear, tore through the arena and bouncedRead MoreThe Night - Original Writing1332 Words   |  6 Pages Waking up to the smell of strawberry jam and toast coming from the kitchen, Dan looks over at his clock to see that it is 7:30. Forcing himself up, he throws on a set of clothes and tiptoed down the stairs to be sure not to wake up Lisa. When he got to the bottom of the stairs, Dan sees both his parents, father at the kitchen table drinking coffee and reading the newspaper, and mother at the counter spreading the jam on the mountain of toast beside her. The quiet morning is comfortable and pleasantRead MoreThe Night - Original Writing723 Words   |  3 PagesDuring the summer you can find the same scene on any Saturday night. I see an elderly man near the entrance setting behind a table covered with stacks of booklets. I can tell he is employed by the park by the dark green polo shirt and tan ball cap he is wearing. Even from a distance I can hear him shout, â€Å"Programs! Get your programs. Three dollars!† As a middle aged man wearing a dark t-shirt and baggy blue jeans wal ks through the door. It becomes obvious that he is experienced with the process.Read MoreThe Night - Original Writing859 Words   |  4 Pagesfriends ran out to see what all the laughing was about. They watched the video and began cracking up too. After, we all went back inside due to the amount of bugs outside. We spent the rest of the night talking and laughing until we all fell asleep at around two in the morning. This was the last night we all spent together before heading off to college. Even though it was in the middle of the summer, life took over and we were all busy on different days. The one way that we were able to keep in contact

Anti Competitive Behaviour

Question: How the Practise of Competition Commission Concludes Retail could have interpreted using an Anti Competitive Behaviour. Answer: Perfect competition, the utopian situation is the only case where anti-competitive behaviour does not takes place. Under perfect competition welfare is maximized as both consumers and producers are able to extract the optimal amount of consumer and producer surplus. On other hand, under the monopoly market welfare loss takes place as consumers are deprived and producers extract the maximum possible producer surplus. As per the report given by the Competition Commission two groups of people have been identified namely the supermarket owners and the property owners or property developer. It has been observed that both the groups have been engage into anti-competitive behaviour either willingly or forcefully. The first group that is the supermarket owners are showing anti-competitiveness practicing oligopolistic nature. Oligopoly is that type of competition where few firms cater to the demand of large number of consumers (Bloch, Eaton and Rothschild 2014). There can be existence of other firms as well but these few firms dominate the entire market and influences in quoting price and making business regulation in the particular segment in which they deal. Under this structure there is existence of market failure where social welfare is lost in the forms of forgone high price. The oligopolistic economy has kinked demand curve. In the given report there is existence of three major supermarkets namely Spar, Pick n Pay and Shoprite dominates the market. They have been strongly engaged in dominating the property owners and thereby showing anti-competitive behaviour. According to the Commissions report, these supermarket giants have forcefully tied up the property owners into such an agreement that they cannot deviate from their state and lease the land to some other retailers. Through this tie-up the landlords are facing hindrance in leasing the land to the competitors of these leading supermarkets even if they are ready to provide a better deed. This has been possible because the supermarket has been operating under oligopoly, which is characterized by highly inter-woven system. A single move by any of the competitors results in consequent movement of the other thereby maintaining the cartel that was previously agreed (Ellickson 2013). On other hand, the behaviour shown by the second group namely the landlords and the property developer are also anti-competitive in nature. The landlords are sometimes forced to show this behaviour by the lease agreement and coercion of the supermarkets. But it has been observed that the property developers give the power to only supermarkets to carry on trade in their property. They have been solely guided by the motive of profit. They are able to charge higher rent from the supermarkets than they would have been able to do for small retailers. Other than the above mentioned lease agreement practices, the buyer power, information exchange and category management also showed anti-competitiveness in the system. The general people are the buyers of the retail and grocery products. With the existence of the supermarkets, the buyers are left with no choice but to purchase their daily requirement from those markets. It has also been seen that to save the time and to get everything at same place, consumers themselves are reluctant to visit these malls and markets. Hereby it can be observed that the competitiveness have been slaughtered by both the buyers power and choice and the big markets in the nation. Information exchange can also lead to anti-competitive behaviour of the market. If the information is not timely spread out or has been misinterpreted, then it may lead to lack of scope for other competitors to evaluate and extend their business in market. In this way, lack of information exchange can lead to collapse of competit iveness of the market and give way to anti-competitiveness. Thus, it can be said that the existing market is far from being perfectly competitive. In reality, each segment of the market shows some degree of imperfection. It has been observed that the greatest level of imperfection lies in the supermarket with oligopolistic market structure. References: Bloch, H., Eaton, B.C. and Rothschild, R., 2014. A Dynamic Model of Oligopolistic Market Structure, Featuring Positioning Investments.International Journal of the Economics of Business,21(3), pp.379-411. Ellickson, P.B., 2013. Supermarkets as a natural oligopoly.Economic Inquiry,51(2), pp.1142-1154.

Western Art Music Secular music of the middle ages Essay Example For Students

Western Art Music Secular music of the middle ages Essay Hundreds of these songs were created and performed and eventually notated by bands of musicians flourishing across Europe during the 12th and 13th centuries, the most famous of which were the French trousers and troubadours. The monophonic melodies of these musicians, to which may have been added improvised accompaniments, were often rhythmically lively. The subject of the overwhelming majority of these songs is love. Most of which are performed by wandering minstrels. Instruments most probably used in secular music during the middle ages may include drums, harps, recorders, and bagpipes were the instruments used in secular music because they were easy for the traveling musicians to tote about. Instruments were taught through oral tradition and provided great dancing music and accompanied the stanzas well. There are many composers which composed secular music. These composers were known as Troubadours and trousers. They are French nobles. Among the best known of these poet-musicians are were the troubadour Gallinule X, duke of Aquatint, from southern France. We will write a custom essay on Western Art Music Secular music of the middle ages specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now As well as trouper, Chasteness De Couch, from rather France. Not all were men, Beatrice De Did was a troubadour who addressed songs to men. Western Art Music Secular music of the middle ages By Tom-Torn 1300 and Died in 1377, he was famous as a musician as well as a poet, An avian garden or Vanguard which means someone who leads to make a development of new ideas. Composer, poet and most known representative of the Ears Nova tradition. He was respected, not only in his native country, but also in Italy, Spain and other parts of Europe. Born in the French province of Champagne. Around 1323, he became secretary and chaplain to John, King of Bohemia, whom he accompanied on trips and military campaigns throughout Europe. Spent most of his years in in Reams, where he served as a church official. Gallinule also wrote sacred and secular polyphonic music. He traveled to many courts and presented copies of his music and poetry to noble patrons. These copies made Gallinule one of the first important composers whose works have survived. Among his works are 42 ballads 23 motets; most known of which is Messes De Monster Dame. Another composer is John Denotable born in England around 1385 died on December 24, 1453 in London He was also known as John Denotable; one of the leading English composers of his time. His works influenced other composers including Gallinule Duffy and Gilles Ponchos. Aside from being a composer, he was also an astronomer and mathematician. He wrote sacred pieces, secular songs and motets. Some of his known works are: 2 complete masses, 3 incomplete masses, and 14 individual mass sections. Geoffrey Chaucer There are many secular compositions during the Middle ages, some of them are