For those of you who don't know, I am in Washington D.C. working for a consultancy company that helps other firms manage their actions toward shaping government policy, particularly in the high technological industries.

For my part, I am working on a point of view paper aimed at a futuristic high level strategy for the United States educational system.  We are taking a look in particular at networking to see how a more integrated education system and curriculum could benefit our society and make students more prepared for a global economy.

I have one more working week including today and then I will be driving back to Indiana for a couple days before flying back to the UK via Chicago.  After that, I will be doing more research for the dissertation and writing around 12,000 words for the project. 

Time is getting short as I have less than two months left in my course and Sarah and I should be back in the US permanently sometime the week of the 24th of September.  I hope and pray that your summers are all going well.  Till next time...

The research I am performing here will be a basis for the dissertation I hand in on September 7th.  And after that, I am finished with my MBA course; as long as I pass it that is...

It has been one and one half months since my last blog entry.  This first sentence sounds like I am speaking to a priest in a confessional!  I almost feel that bad, but it HAS been a huge whirlwind since May 24th; I feel like I am running for my life...

It began just before June as I attended the Interstate program in Brussels.  This was a fantastic time to learn about the work the US and the EU are doing to relate more effectively in a social and economic sense.  I met loads of great people and made some fantastic contacts.  One highlight of the trip was visiting the EU Parliament.  It is nothing special in hindsight, but special none the less to see where EU policy is being created.

When I arrived home on Wednesday, Sarah was waiting with her family, because Aaron's wedding was to follow that weekend.  The next day we traveled down to the county of Devon in the Southwest of England.  On the way, we stopped at two fantastic sites; the Cheddar Gorge and the City of Bath.  As the name implies, the Cheddar Gorge is the place where they make Cheddar Cheese (hence the clever name).  The gorge seems to appear out of nowhere as the countryside is gently rolling and all of the sudden you are on a road between huge mountain with cool, dark caves that the cheddar makers utilize to age the cheese.

Further down is the city of Bath, which as its name implies, named for the well preserved Roman Bath built in the 4th Century A.D.  Like so much that we have seen during this year, words do not do the structure justice.  (I will put the pictures up on the blog when I return back to the UK).  This bath is one of the most well preserved Roman baths in the world and is built over the UK's only hot spring that carries in the precious water.  Not only is it a hot spring, but the water is said to have medicinal qualities.  We tried the water at the end of the tour.  It doesn't taste good, but I haven't been sick since then!

After a tour and a quick look around the city, we caravaned down to a small hamlet in Devon called Stockleigh English not far from the town of Crediton.  There all the Galvin's (including Polly, Mary, and I) stayed in one quaint little cottage.  The countryside was absolutely breathtaking!  The only downside of the area was the lack of cell coverage and the one lane roads.  The roads were small and lined with hedges so you could only see directly in front of you, which wasn't a problem most of the time except when a big tractor or combine came at you.  It definitely keeps your reversing skills sharpened. 

The wedding was absolutely gorgeous.  Again, I will need to put up the pictures for you to grasp the entire scope.  The service was held in a church that was first built in the 12th century.  It was small, but cozy and as traditional as it gets.  The reception was held back at Laura's parents farm, known as Down Farm.  There a large white tent filled with beautifully appointed chandeliers, flowers, and tables held the setting for the nights festivities.  The food and fun were fantastic and we all danced the night away as Laura and Aaron settled into their first night as a married couple.

The next day Sarah, Polly, and I went back to Leeds as her family headed over to Ireland to visit the motherland.  I had just a couple days to finish papers and study for exams the true end of the semester.  Everything went well that week and by Thursday night all the Galvin's were back at our place to spend some time before going back to the US.  We gave them a tour of Leeds and the surrounding area before everyone left the next Monday (18th of June) to go their varied directions. 

It is exam season again and for the last time (for awhile at least).  I began with Strategic Management on Monday, have Change Management tomorrow, and will finish off with Management Decision Making on Friday.  After that I will have a gap of a couple weeks to complete both a Human Resources Management paper and a group project for Marketing Strategy.  Then the final, absolute last exam will be on June 12th for Marketing Strategy.  It is later than all the others since it was a very late block class.  Please pray for wisdom and motivation.  Fatigue is setting in and I am excited by the prospect of heading back to the US and conducting the organizational project.  This dissertation period also suits me since I love to write and the schedule will be more free to golf and travel.

Hope all is going well from wherever you are reading this!

I am a bit slow in getting this out (since it happened last Wednesday), but as most of you know by now, our team was chosen for the final four in the Barclay's Business Plan Presentation Competition.

The final step was last Wednesday when we presented to a local business development manager from Barclay's Bank.  We were second in the running order and I am happy to say that Tanvi, who was presenting with me, and I performed at our absolute best.  We waited through another 2 presentations and then we stepped out into the reception area at the business school so that the judges could choose our fate.

We walked back into the room after about 10 minutes and I sat/leaned against a table behind the judges table.  I look down in front of the Barclay's representative and saw our business plan on top; I knew then that we had won.

In true beauty pageant style, the organizer of the event, Graham Caddock, worked from fourth place to first.  The names kept falling and our group had not been called.  And finally, there were only two groups left.  After a drawn out pause, Graham informed us that our last remaining competitor would take home second, leaving us first prize!  I was elated.  It wasn't so much that we had won, but I knew how much work we put in and how dear to me each member of the group had become.  Who am I kidding?  It was at least about winning!  At the beginning of semester 1 we made a goal of achieving this prize, and it felt fantastic to have accomplished it.

The members of the winning team are:  Tanvi Kapoor (Indian), Yuji Suganuma (Japanese), James Waggott (British), and Brad Shupe (American).  For our efforts we will split (1) a bottle of champagne, (2) 700 pounds, (3) an engraved cup trophy to remain in the business school, and mostly importantly (4) bragging rights.

Lately, I've been asked by friends and colleagues outside the MBA, "What's going on?"  The only answer that seems to fit is, "juggling."  Except for a three-day block module that begins on Monday the 30th, class is done.  What I do have staring me in the face are 4 projects, 4exams, job searching, flying back to the States for my organizational research, the Interstate program, my dissertation, and as of a few minutes ago, The Barclay's Business Plan Presentation Contest.

For those of you who know the story I'll try to make this brief.  Last semester each group in the MBA cohort (there are 8 different groups) were assigned the task of creating a new and exciting business idea.  We then had to present this business idea in December including how the team arrived at the idea and any ramifications to the environment.  This semester we completed the plan itself, which consisted of everything one should consider in order to begin a new business(financials, marketing, HR issues, executive team, branding, etc.).  This fifty page document was handed in early in March.  The final graded piece of the puzzle was another presentation on the business plan in entirety, which we performed before Easter.  However, the top 4 groups, as judged by two of the faculty at the business school, are sent on to present before a panel from Barclay's.  Barclay's, one of the largest banks in the UK, puts up £1000 to the best plan and presentation.  Our group just discovered this morning that we have made the final cut!

So this just adds one more thing onto a increasingly growing pile of work.  Not that I am complaining to much, because winning the Barclay's competition has been my goal since I first arrived on campus.  Now we will at least have the opportunity to make the goal a reality.  

I have been extremely fortunate to be selected along with 3 of my classmates to attend an a three day program in Brussels called, Interstate.

Here is quote from the Interstate.co.uk website concerning the goal of this program.

"Welcome to Interstate, the programme for MBA students at top business schools in USA and Europe who seek an understanding of current developments in the European Union, and their implications for transatlantic political and business relations."

I could not have said it better myself (hence the cut and paste).  We will be flying to Brussels on June 3rd with the program beginning on June 4th.  With the world becoming increasingly global, a proper understanding of how the EU views the US, and vica versa, is essential to positive economic growth between the two entities.  If I am ever to work in senior management with a large company in the US, I will most certainly be dealing with Europe and the EU.  Additionally, I will be rubbing shoulders with significant contacts on both sides of the pond.  The networking possibilities are huge!  On a side note, we will be given access to the EU parliament and its inter-workings; a chance I will likely never have again.  For these reasons and many more, I could not be happier that I have this opportunity.  Sarah and I have truly been blessed during our time here.

I just received the first semester grades (marks) and they were good.  Considering the turmoil we endured during the revision period, I am extremely happy with the results.  There are still 2 modules for which we do not have grades yet, but they should be in on Friday.  Both of the exams I believe, at least, I performed well in.  Judging by the scores, I am in the upper middle of the pack and have a decent chance at securing a "Distinction" mark, which is the highest "honor" that you can achieve.  I am firmly set in the "Merit honor," but all that really matter is that I pass.  No one in the US has any idea what Merit or Distinction is; that is all for my own ego.

Enough about that.  I have much to tell about Rome and plenty of pictures to upload from a great time there.  I hope to do that by Friday so be sure to check the blog then.

Exams are finally over and I can relax, sort of...  The new term began today, but thankfully our 9am Human Resource Management class was put off until week 3.  This gave some of my friends and I a nice morning to do something fun for a change.  James, Yuji, Martyn, and I went to a golf club to experience a local game called "wack-chip."  This is a driving range form of golf that doesn't involve chasing a ball.  Even after playing it this morning I don't see the point, but it was great to socialize outside the classroom.

This afternoon we did have Management Decision Making class.  The lecturer, John Maule, is fantastic and seems quite passionate about his course.  The crux of the module is to learn how people make decisions and use that information to make better decisions.  Pschological studies have shown  that most people do not know how they make decisions and a large majority are poorly constructed.  I find this fascinating already and am looking forward to learning more.  My other classes this term are comprised of Marketing Strategy (taught in block in Week 13), Executive Skills, Change Management, Strategic Management, and Multinational Business Strategy.  We do have the opportunity to change after week one since three of these are personal choice.

With a short amount of time to reflect on the year so far, I must admit that this is the best thing I could have done for my career and life.  The environment and learning coupled with the confidence it has supplied has renewed my spirit and provided a great deal of excitement for the future.  Additionally, I am learning how to quantify and deal with risk, which has never been a strength of mine.  My risk adverse decisions in the past have been an attempt not to fail instead of an opportunity to succeed.  God is teaching me a lot about myself through this.

Although it is hard to be away from friends and family, Sarah and I could not be happier that we chose to spend some time abroad.  You undertake an adventure to learn more about another culture and in fact learn more about yourself. 

I am still plugging along with exams with the end in sight.  Wednesday will take care of International Business Strategy and the last exam, Business Accounting, is Friday.  I will then have a whole weekend off until the next term begins.  Fatigue set on in a big way this weekend, but I managed to study enough to do well on my Managing Performance exam Monday.  Sarah dragged my away from the books on Saturday to visit Fountains Abbey.

Fountains is an 15th Century Abbey built by French monks just north of Leeds in a small town called Ripon.  The ruins are extraordinarily large and partially intact.  The grounds are well manicured and makes for a great walk out in the country.  There is also a deer farm on site with loads of different deer types.  They are able to run free on this huge estate without the fear of shotgun shells like back home.  I took several pictures of the area and will post them on the blog later. 

Thank you for your prayers on my exams.  While I do not know what my marks are as of yet, I feel that they have all been positive.

My economics and operations/information management exams are in the books with five more to go.  I have one day off now with corporate finance on Wednesday and marketing to follow on Friday.  Thank you for your prayers.  I definitely felt some divine inspiration on Friday for economics; today I only felt writers cramp.  Please continue to remember me in prayer as fatigue is setting in from more than a month of studying, traveling, and more studying.  I hope all of your 2007's are going well!