My final conversation with Sari took place during the IEP end of semester party. There, I touched base with Sari about how his semester had been since we last met, his progress on the GMAT, and met one of his friends. Sari's friend, whose name I did not catch, is from England and also preparing for the GMAT exam. I briefly asked him how he was preparing for the exam and he had a similar method to Sari, the use of prep books and practice exams. They both mentioned nearing completion of their preparation and were planning on taking the exam by the end of May. I asked about the length of time you have to wait to get your scores, which was an annoyance of mine with AP and other standardized testing. I was shocked to hear that they receive their results immediately because the test is done via the computer.
Growing up in the NYC metro area, I am comfortable eating a wide range of foods from various cultures. One of my favorite foods from home is baklava, a dessert made with filo (phyllo) dough and honey, which is essentially nonexistent in Texas due to the lack of a substantial Greek population. Other Mediterranean cultures also have their own version of baklava with slight modifications, but I'm partial to the Greek variety. To my excitement, there was baklava at the IEP party. I told Sari and his friend how much I loved baklava and how difficult it was to find in Texas and they both became intrigued. I led them to the container that was almost empty, due to its popularity at the party. Sari quickly said "Ah, baklava. We have this in Saudi Arabia". Apparently we pronounce baklava differently, which was why he did not recognize the dessert upon name only. I pronounce it bak-la-va, with 3 syllables, and he pronounces it as bak-lava, with 2.
So, our IEP conversations began with food at Union Grounds and came full circle to end with enjoyment of baklava. The conversation partner experience has been positive for me as I was able to learn a great deal about a country and part of the world I've never experienced in an innovative and unique learning environment.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Conversation Partner Meeting #5
Sari mentioned that he was preparing extensively for two large exams, a final English exam for IEP and the GMAT. I was very curious about Sari's preparation and knowledge about the GMAT, the graduate school standardized test for MBA programs. As an undergraduate finance student, I am currently undecided about whether I want to obtain my MBA at some point in the near future. Typically, people enter MBA programs after 4-6 years of work experience, so I still have a decent amount of time to make that decision.
Sari enlightened me with his insight on the GMAT and taught me a great deal about test. The test is split into quantitative and reading portions, similar to the SAT, but with more challenging materials. One of the most difficult parts of the exam, according to Sari, are the quantitative problem sets and data sufficiency questions. Basically, you are given a scenario with some background information and asked each time about what data is necessary to make a sufficient decision. There are two supporting statements in addition to the question being asked. So, sometimes it can appear simple where you only need one of the two sentences to make a conclusion, but the answers can vary from none of the statements are sufficient, each statement alone is sufficient, both are sufficient together & not alone, or that you need additional data. The idea for an entire section of a standardized test to have the same 5 answers sounds odd, yet daunting to me.
Sari mentioned that the exam as a whole is not too difficult once you start studying with prep books or classes. He also said that he has been studying for 2 months to prepare for the exam, but I am not sure how many hours per day he allocates towards the exam. I currently have friends who are studying for the MCAT or have taken it already and it sounds like they typically study for 5+ months. Sari's discussion of the GMAT and graduate business school has increased my interest in possibly obtaining an MBA.
Sari enlightened me with his insight on the GMAT and taught me a great deal about test. The test is split into quantitative and reading portions, similar to the SAT, but with more challenging materials. One of the most difficult parts of the exam, according to Sari, are the quantitative problem sets and data sufficiency questions. Basically, you are given a scenario with some background information and asked each time about what data is necessary to make a sufficient decision. There are two supporting statements in addition to the question being asked. So, sometimes it can appear simple where you only need one of the two sentences to make a conclusion, but the answers can vary from none of the statements are sufficient, each statement alone is sufficient, both are sufficient together & not alone, or that you need additional data. The idea for an entire section of a standardized test to have the same 5 answers sounds odd, yet daunting to me.
Sari mentioned that the exam as a whole is not too difficult once you start studying with prep books or classes. He also said that he has been studying for 2 months to prepare for the exam, but I am not sure how many hours per day he allocates towards the exam. I currently have friends who are studying for the MCAT or have taken it already and it sounds like they typically study for 5+ months. Sari's discussion of the GMAT and graduate business school has increased my interest in possibly obtaining an MBA.
Monday, May 4, 2015
Learning Experience #3 : A Semester in Review
Looking back, I have learned a significant amount this semester, more than just academically. I would say most of my learning this semester involves learning about the types of people I work well with and the team environment I thrive in. One of the major differences between high school and college has been the frequency in which I have group work or projects, which has been the case for almost every class I have taken at TCU. After working with people across all spectrum in terms of backgrounds and majors, I am lucky to say I do not have any horror stories about group members never responding or flat our skipping a presentation. However, I have learned that there are common characteristics among the people that I've work best with.
Organization on an individual and group level is key to having a successful group experience. Group organization is mostly influenced and affected by the leader, which is why having a proactive and responsible leader is important in any team environment. Using one experience as my only example, it's been beyond interesting to work with "leaders" who have the odd necessity to hold the leadership title in a group. From an example that is hearsay, I've heard of people who have applied for leadership positions in a club and stated that they are not interested in working on the team in any capacity other than the highest leadership position. This baffles me and will forever be a phenomenon to me. While I cannot understand the chasing of titles in a group, I guess it boils down to personal preference of being the star on a winning team vs. playing a support role on a championship team. This mentality of a incessant need for titles tends to hinder the chemistry of a team and gets old, real quick. Sooner or later, you hope the perpetual team leader sees the trend of failure and figures out the common denominator. I think most people would agree that losing or being relatively unsuccessful as defined by team goals, is not fun and takes a toll on competitive people. To put it in baseball terms, it's one thing to be the star of the Blue Jays...but then you realize that you're the star of the Blue Jays, a perennially under-performing MLB team. The same concept applies to the Browns and Jaguars in the NFL.
Working with people who are flexible in the team roles they can perform is much less of a hassle than the power hungry people who have a knack for derailing a project. The next biggest discerning quality I've noticed is the personal organizational skills of the member. It's nice to have everyone in the group send out reminders about deadlines or various decisions made (or, better yet, be aware of them) when working in a group with a long term. After having numerous meetings for some groups, it's unbelievable that taking notes on the various discussions and decisions that resulted from the meeting can be so helpful later on in terms of efficiency.
The group dynamic and success of the team hinges upon members definition of success, efficiency, and dedication. Typically, a variety of dedication levels is awful in a group and leads to free riding and the irritation of other group members who can visibly see the lack of effort given by other members. Essentially, I like working with motivated, organized people who set high goals. My experience working in a group that possesses none of that has been eye opening, to say the least, and makes me appreciate my "type of person" in a group setting, unfathomably more, as a result.
Organization on an individual and group level is key to having a successful group experience. Group organization is mostly influenced and affected by the leader, which is why having a proactive and responsible leader is important in any team environment. Using one experience as my only example, it's been beyond interesting to work with "leaders" who have the odd necessity to hold the leadership title in a group. From an example that is hearsay, I've heard of people who have applied for leadership positions in a club and stated that they are not interested in working on the team in any capacity other than the highest leadership position. This baffles me and will forever be a phenomenon to me. While I cannot understand the chasing of titles in a group, I guess it boils down to personal preference of being the star on a winning team vs. playing a support role on a championship team. This mentality of a incessant need for titles tends to hinder the chemistry of a team and gets old, real quick. Sooner or later, you hope the perpetual team leader sees the trend of failure and figures out the common denominator. I think most people would agree that losing or being relatively unsuccessful as defined by team goals, is not fun and takes a toll on competitive people. To put it in baseball terms, it's one thing to be the star of the Blue Jays...but then you realize that you're the star of the Blue Jays, a perennially under-performing MLB team. The same concept applies to the Browns and Jaguars in the NFL.
Working with people who are flexible in the team roles they can perform is much less of a hassle than the power hungry people who have a knack for derailing a project. The next biggest discerning quality I've noticed is the personal organizational skills of the member. It's nice to have everyone in the group send out reminders about deadlines or various decisions made (or, better yet, be aware of them) when working in a group with a long term. After having numerous meetings for some groups, it's unbelievable that taking notes on the various discussions and decisions that resulted from the meeting can be so helpful later on in terms of efficiency.
The group dynamic and success of the team hinges upon members definition of success, efficiency, and dedication. Typically, a variety of dedication levels is awful in a group and leads to free riding and the irritation of other group members who can visibly see the lack of effort given by other members. Essentially, I like working with motivated, organized people who set high goals. My experience working in a group that possesses none of that has been eye opening, to say the least, and makes me appreciate my "type of person" in a group setting, unfathomably more, as a result.
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