Quarter 2 - Week 10

The last week of the second quarter... phew, almost 20% of our course is now over! I really don't know how the time's flying!

We had a couple of tests this week... here I was thinking "These profs are crazy!". I mean some of us have our presentations coming up, and we had to study most of the portions for the test?? And why not, let's have both the tests on the same day... we seem to look like suckers for punishment!! Either that, or I felt the profs had mutated overnight into crazy theorists who were trying to try their evil experiments on an unsuspecting crowd.

But it's only after both the tests, that I realized that those profs knew what they were doing (I'm almost beginning to think the institute now has mad scientist tests, to weed out the evil ones to stop their plans of world domination [What?!?] ). I now actually know what we did in all the subjects, it was like a simple dry run for the main exams! I'm almost done with the preparations, now it's just a matter of brushing through and reading up this week's portions. Sure, the answers for the test came out on Saturday itself, and I got everything wrong, but still I was atleast in a far better position now than before the test! So let's just get on with our understanding of this week's sessions, because I actually understood it this time!

In Macro Economics, we've finally reached the last section of Net Exports, and how the global players bring in their weight. So we understood exchange rates, how they can be manipulated in keeping the exports and imports at acceptable levels. We understood how for a small economy which has no control over its own interest rate purely because it's too small to make a difference, how the exchange rate becomes important for their GDP. It was interesting to see how all the different attributes came together and make a final picture. And the IS LM curve, FINALLY, makes sense! I'm so proud I can now draw an X mark and say which of the lines is an LM curve and tell what it stands for (It stands for how money supply and demand can affect interest rates and output, ahaaah!). The classes ended with some pretty loud applause. That prof was just way too passionate about the subject and just way too cool.

In Managing Organizations, the last of our batches finished their presentations, the prof gave usa little gyaan about how it is important that we provide a presentation which helps everyone imbibe the lessons straight away. Sure, you can pack in data into 20 slides, and add in three-four org charts, but except for making everyone nod like they understand (when they really dont!) it's not going to help. So he said, that keep in mind the next time u make a presentation, that you highlight the underlying learning from your assignment, so that lay men can figure out what you're saying. Just because you spent two weeks talking to the top management of an org, and know it so well, doesnt mean everyone else does too. Simple, good advice from the prof. A round of applause for him at the end too!

Biz Stats! Finally! People answered many questions, not too many deer-staring-at-car-headlights-in-middle-of-highways looks... people were more enthu in the last class (maybe because it was the last class, maybe because they now understand what the prof is talking about after the quiz... the point is up for debate). We tried to understand regression, which basically states that points tend to move towards the mean. In a very effective example, we saw data on how people who were quite tall tended to have more kids who were shorter, and people who were quite short tended to have more kids who were tall... all drifting towards the mean (Average height). Very cool when you actually have the stats in front of you, and can you believe it... it's almost 100 years old! He got a quite a bit of applause too... this prof especially knows how to keep a class on its toes, and keep them attentive.

If there's one thing this techie understands from the journey so far, it's not the subject itself that is so important, it's the way it's presented and whether people want to understand it in the first place. The whole story of someone to give the bread, and someone who wants to eat it. I cant believe 1/5 is already over... just a couple of months back it was just 10%...!

Well, not yet 20% anyway... the main exams are next week. Off I go to cram! :)