You Gotta Know When to Fold ‘Em

After spending over three hours in the library this afternoon and feeling totally overwhelmed, I decided to switch out of the Strategic Management section on Monday night and take a Saturday morning section instead.

I feel bad for quitting because I know the class will be a great experience for the ones that are braving the management simulation game (being a CEO of a struggling company) to stay. But I cannot see myself devoting 10+ hours per week for one class. Last semester I spent only about 3 hours per week on school and almost made straight A’s.

I’ve had two other experiences at UCLA where I failed an organic chemistry class and took genetics three times. I was too proud back then to admit that a particular instructor and/or class format was not going to work for me. [By the way, I got an A in O-chem the second time around. I never did warm up to genetics (got a C-). Third time's a charm.] But I know that I will be more comfortable and happier in the “easier” class. After all, it’s just a piece of paper that I’ll get in May. Everyone will get the same one.

This class was just too much. I made contact with the other professor. He’s permitting me to enter the class. I already have the new syllabus and it is more work, but definitely much easier than what I was doing.

I don’t think I will ever be a CEO; I would not want to. And I’m not really sure I would ever want to be a manager, maybe, maybe not. Why did I choose to get the MBA? For the advanced degree and a ticket into possible advancement in the private sector.

Update (1/31/05):
Made it in the nick of time. Tomorrow is the last day to do any schedule changes. And I needed instructor approval. But this prof only comes on Saturdays. But then I learned email was okay, so I had to spend $2 to print out the email I have. What a ripoff ($1 for the card, then you have to put money on the card). At least, it’s done. I’m officially enrolled in the “easier” class.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 30th, 2005 at 10:39 pm and is filed under Education and Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.