How we celebrate after midterms... Halloween Party!

I will let the pictures show how we all needed to relax after a week of crazy midterms. 

Barak's costume made me crack up; he was a balance sheet!

My Partner for being "Deal or No Deal" Girls

Props to Darryl for setting up the Party! 

~ Mandy

Walking for a Cause

The weather was spectacular on Saturday October 2. It was a perfect day to participate in the Autism walk in Long Branch, New Jersey. The event was organized by the Pharmaceutical Management Club. Even though my concentration is in Marketing, I was allowed to join the Pharmaceutical Management Club at its event. The Rutgers team proudly wore the Scarlet Red as we walked 1.5 miles along the Jersey Shore.

~Mandy

Rocking at Karaoke Night

MBA Karaoke Night was super fun. Where else will you see four guys sing “Sweet Caroline”? This event gave all the First Year MBA students opportunities to mingle and to get to know the Second Years. Let’s not forget about the music and food.

~Mandy

*Thank you Student Services for organizing this awesome event!

Fun Improv Classes

         Our last two Career Management classes were different from the usual Dean Vera flipping through power points talking about our resumes, cover letters and interview questions. The Office of Career Managment (OCM) had brought in an improv group to help us develop our professional image. Last Tuesday, we divided the class into smaller groups. Our improv leader, Summer, introduced us to these activities to help us practice "give and take", to continue conversations by saying "Yes and..." and to think on our feet. As silly as these games may have been, we were able to practice the skills creatively.

         

Putting our heads together

Photographed by: Chris Tshanakas

          This Tuesday, our second improv session was more serious. We were instructed to have an one-on-one interview scenario with our improv leader Ted. I don't know about everyone else, but before I was called, I was super nervous. But I really appreciated the positive feedback my classmates were giving me. It is comforting to know how supportive our class is of each other.



Photographed by: Chris Tshanakas

Photographed by: Chris Tshanakas

Few things that were emphasized:
- Proper eye contact
- Hand placement/usage
- Take time to think of an answer
- Bring our personality to the table

~Mandy

Beer, Pretzels & the Buzz about Cultural Diversity Written By Neha Mukherjee-Nathani

          Living on the budget and the schedule of a business school student makes it really tough to enjoy the things that young adults often love doing. Luxuries like international travel and cultural exploration become almost other-worldly fascinations for which we as graduate students have neither the required time nor the money! This isn’t a unique circumstance by any means, but one that I suspect so many of my fellow classmates find themselves in!
          So when the International Student Organization, (the ISO,) announced that it would celebrate Oktoberfest on October 12th I knew I didn’t want to miss my chance at an introduction to the German festival and its culture! When I got to the 2nd FL lounge I saw that the good folks of ISO had transformed the place into a Bavarian festival, complete with banners, signs and a healthy dose of German, folk music. My eyes immediately roved the room for food and refreshments, (give me a break, I’m a grad student!) Rahul Gada, V.P. of ISO, was pumping chilled lager from a keg for all to enjoy, and there were ample sandwiches, cookies and of course, pretzels for our enjoyment! (If this kind of hospitality is what German culture’s all about, sign me up!)
          Somewhere between refreshing my parched throat with cold beer and munching down on the snacks, I made my way back to the sign-in table and saw the some of the other ISO Board, Gayathri Ganesh (President,) Komal Motwani (Treasurer,) and Akshat Gupta (V.P.) I chatted up Gayathri and found out that the motivation of sponsoring this event was twofold, (1) to give us a break from the hectic schedule of classes, meetings, networking and if there’s any time left, studying! And (2), they wanted to get people together to talk about their experiences and cultural backgrounds. Gayathri explained, “We try to create a home away from home by celebrating some of the most important festivals of other countries. We also think of ourselves as a cultural club, as providing an opportunity to learn about other cultures and traditions so that when we are out in the real world and doing business globally, we have some exposure to the culture of the people we meet across the globe. We at ISO feel that everyone stands to benefit from the diverse student population of RBS. I think it is wonderful that we can learn from each other.”
          Maybe it was the perfectly-formed foam of the lager in my cup or the yummy goodies the good folks at ISO arranged for us, but looking around at all the different faces and the backgrounds they came from gave me a feeling of confidence that I’m better prepared for a relatively “flat,” global community.

Oktoberfest at RBS Written By Martin Esser

          On October 12 the time had come: Rutgers Business School (RBS) inaugurated its first little Oktoberfest for MBA students, hosted by the International Student Organization (ISO) and organized by a group of first-year students.

          Carried out on the 2^nd floor lounge of 1 Washington Park, the event attracted 136 curious students over a two-hour period. To celebrate one of the most famous festivals in Germany, held annually in Munich at the beginning of October, the organizational committee provided imported “Paulaner Weissbier”, a typical Oktoberfest beer from Munich, authentic bread-based pretzels and blue-white Bavarian decorations. The atmosphere was rounded off with typical Bavarian festival music and pictures, displayed on the screens around the lounge. Students were invited to mingle, talk and enjoy a piece of traditional German culture.

          The core of the organizational committee consisted of an international mix of MBA students and a Rutgers American Studies major directly from Munich, who attended the event in the traditional dress, the “Dirndl”, as worn by many women during the festival.

          The Oktoberfest attracts more than 5 million people every year and is an important part of Bavarian culture. The festival is held in an area named the “Theresienwiese” (field/meadow named after the former Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, who was one of the initiators of the event in 1811), often called “Wiesn” for short, located near Munich's centre.

          The event was received well by students and staff and represented the kick-off event of the ISO this semester.

Lena Prummer (Germany), Ömercan Karaduman (Turkey), Fang-Yu Hsu (Taiwan), Anjum Malkana (USA), Alok Sarsidharan (India), Martin Esser (Germany).