My First Week of Accelerated MBA Graduate School at George Washington University

GW AMBA

In addition to switching jobs, I am now starting my Masters of Business Administration at George Washington University. Why? Because I don’t have enough going on in my life, what with a new job, a wife, two kids, a dog, house, and all my ICT4D friends.
So to just make it that much more intense, I am in the accelerated MBA program at GW, where we cover a semester’s worth of classes in half the time. Called the “AMBA”, it will still take me two years of Tuesday nights and Saturdays to graduate, but I can work full time at Development Gateway and bring home the bacon that my young family needs.
At this point, there are two dubious records I hold in the class.

1. At 38 for the second time, I am the oldest member of the AMBA Class of 2014 by at least two years. My goal was to start grad school before I would have such an honor, but now that I have it, I am rolling with the mental fragility prestige this title conveys.
2. I also happen to be the most traveled member of the class, with experiences from 82 countries, beating out the next competitor by 10 countries. Funny enough, he is Indonesian with an Italian name, and I am the American with an Indonesian name.

Overall, I am excited about the AMBA courses and the freedom to challenge myself. It seems that most course grades are based on essays and case studies versus quantitative tests, and most people maintain the B average required to graduate, so I feel that I’ll do well.
Of course, this is the first week, so check back in a year and I may have a different opinion. In the mean time, check out my team’s first two work products:

• Fostering Organizational Innovation
• Helen Gurley Brown: Inspiring Social Change through her Leadership of Cosmopolitan

Well, what do you think – worth an A?

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