Originally posted on Financial Times MBA Blog - http://blogs.ft.com/mba-blog/2014/10/17/orientation-week/
The first question that came to mind when I saw my MBA schedule was what will we do for almost three weeks of orientation. During my undergraduate degree at the University of Westminster, we had a total of three days orientation. But business school is a different ball game.
Section C - My assigned section
The first year class was divided into five sections and pitted against each other for the section cup, which was awarded at the end of orientation. I have highlighted a few of the activities here:
Scavenger hunt – UCLA is a huge campus and the scavenger hunt was one of the best ways to explore it and get to know my learning team. We do most of our assignments in our learning team, which comprises of five to six members. Photos here
Game day – I don’t remember the last time I had so much fun in one day. We had volleyball, Wiffle ball, dodgeball, kickball, trivia, and tug of war. The team aspect of each sport really brought the diverse people together. Photos here
Odyssey challenge – The Odyssey rope challenge was all about confronting your fears, trusting your team, and pushing yourself. One of the activities was to climb on top of a tall tree log and jump off.
By the end of the three weeks, I must have met most of my 360 classmates and made some great friends. The icing on the cake was that my team (section C) won the cup.
Please send any questions, tug of war tips, and MBA orientation ideas via the comments box below. You can also follow me on Twitter @0jain
