Fortunato_NC's Journal: They want me to take tests, too?

Although we have agenda items that go through tomorrow, today is effectively the last day of residency for the first term of the CCMBA program. Basically, this means we're halfway through the first term at this point, having compressed six weeks worth of assignments and reading into two weeks. Basically, one class in residency is the equivalent of a week in the distance portion, but this term, they staggered the classes across two weeks to give us a more "gentle" introduction and work in some non-graded team building training.

Being halfway through the term means one thing, if you can think all the way back to those hazy college days, and that's MIDTERMS. For Managerial Effectiveness, our midterm was an individual case writeup on BMW - three pages and a Powerpoint, not bad at all. But today is the event that's struck fear in the hearts of the entire program ever since we saw it looming on the agenda way back on July 23rd. Today is the day for the Financial Accounting midterm, a grueling three-hour exam that is our first real test in the program. For many of us, it will be the first test we've taken since the GMAT, and the first in-class exam we've taken in five years or more. Having completed my undergrad degree only recently, I'm a little better off than many of my classmates, because I've been exposed to a lot of this stuff within the past two years.

Still, I've felt the pressure as the exam has approached, and like my peers, I've spent a lot of time in our teamrooms working on statements of cash flow, scanning balance sheets and income statements, and basically getting myself worked up over what is ultimately only the first of many tests I'll take in this program. Someone once said that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The CCMBA class of 2007 finishes its first step this morning. Only 999.99 more miles to go!