Happy Graduation Daddy!

It's been a long time coming but finally, it's graduation day!

The race has been long and hard and oftentimes as frustrating but my man's made it to the finish line. I am so proud and truly believe no one has done it with as much grace, humility, dignity, diligence and consistency. It's no wonder that he's the Best Overall MBA and an all-round nice guy (so much so that he got rejected by a certain big name company. Seriously, who would have thought?).

Jumping head first into this MBA, neither of us knew how tough we would be having it over the span of 2 years. Many said it was madness to attempt doing an MBA abroad with a fledgling family in tow. The start out was like a baptism of fire, for Len in school and for me on the domestic front. Bumped and knocked into place, God's refiner's fire seems to have distilled us to our finest qualities so that we emerge better and more sure of ourselves than before. We've even found out new things about each other during this process. I think we did very well for ourselves and Zac will benefit greatly from his parents who have "grown up" over the past 2 years. I proudly pat ourselves on the back and say "Happy Graduation Day Pattiselannos!"

Congratulations also to all the graduating ESADE students of 2010!

Freakishly Cold Valentine's Day

It's supposed to be Spring soon an yet, my poor boy is bundled up like this because it was super cold this morning. We even had some flurry!

We were out and about early this morning because we followed Daddy Len to watch the Asics half-marathon he was helping to film for the graduation video. Auntie Vicky was running along with a couple of other ESADE people. Zac thought it was fun watching people run for all of 10 minutes before he insisted we park ourselves elsewhere so he could get a better view of the cars going in and out of the garage.

L: Auntie V; R: La novias - newly wed clowns
Big shoe

Visiting ESADE

We brought Oma and Opa to see the campus today.

We didn't stay long though since there were lectures going on (on a Saturday???) and Zac was less than discreet about our presence in the hallways.

ESADE - Week 3 " Stay Focused!"

After a busy week involving an accounting quiz and two presentations (brainstorming session pic above), it was nice to be able to meet with the group in a social, non-work related environment. Vicki was kind enough to invite the whole gang (including significant others and children) to her place for a nice home-cooked meal. We were treated to some excellent BLT pasta and a range of desserts. It was a great evening and was a nice way for all of us to get to know each other better without mentioning terms like "multicollinearity" and "accelerated depreciation".

Things are starting to fall into place, Alberto finally has internet access after one month and our CVs are shaping up well. Next week we have 2 quizzes on Monday and a bunch of stuff for the Leadership Assessment and Development (LEAD) course...stay tuned...

ESADE - End of Week 2

Week 2 was much more manageable thanks to the National Day of Catalonia on Thurs...it was a welcome break that gave us a chance to catch up on readings and finish up all the assignments. We also had our first stats quiz. The pace is picking up, especially in the career-search area. We now have access to the online career portal and some of us are eagerly downloading (legally!) thousands of pages of career guides. Hopefully the global economy picks up by the time we graduate. As it stands right now, things are not looking so good, especially the financial sector.

With another quiz and two presentations, next week looks set to be pretty hectic...

ESADE - End of Week 1

Wow. I know it's not supposed to be easy but does it really have to be this tough?? :P Sure, Orientation was fun and intensive Spanish was enriching, but covering the basics of business (yes, the stuff in undergrad) in 3 weeks is no mean feat. It helps that I have a great group! :)

ESADE wasn't kidding when they talked about the diversity of the candidates. There are 117 or so of us from 35+ nationalities (+ cos some have dual nationalities). The backgrounds are just as diverse, we even have a priest from Argentina! In my team of 7 people, we have an American advertiser, Taiwanese marketer, Moroccan IT consultant, Swiss financial analyst, Italian consultant and an Indian marketer. Needless to say, I am the only ex-military officer :)

Well, here's to week 2...