Swiss Finance Academy Journal - Day 3

Well it's the end of Day 3 and the time today has just flown by. The sun actually decided to show it's face today so the class is in good spirits and so are the lectures. We are still learning so much and although I have not connected to as many people socially as I would have liked, I found out today from Sanjay that Investment Banking is really, really quite a people person's kind of vocation. It's a salesman's type of job and that's exactly what I am: a veritable personal informal salesman/maven.

Today, while going over the lesson, I started to doubt my skills a little bit getting back into the Stocks and Bonds Valuation game. However, by the time the lesson ended I felt ready to take on the homework tonight. Last night the homework was mechanical, but it really helped reinforce some of the lessons I'd learned more than a year ago. Wow... has it really been that long since my first year in the MBA program? My how the time flies.

I am finally getting used to the pace and the time difference here at Franklin College with the SFA. There is a lot of material, but I think once you get used to the pace you can cope with it as long as you stay on top of things. It's quite important at this “Boot Camp” of sorts to make sure you manage your time the best way possible while getting as much sleep possible :P You won't get a lot of that if you really work hard though...

My financial calculator is so important!! I've learned so many functions and tricks with my calculator in the last two days that it astonishes me. I really think the Swiss Finance Academy needs to standardize the calculator that students bring to the campus for the program. Specifically, the ones that the CFA uses like the TI- BA II Plus Pro and the HP one. Either one should be required and then students should be taught to used them respectively. Calculator skills VERY IMPORTANT, but make sure that you understand the CONCEPTS first. :D

Until next time...