MBA: Must Bring Adventure!

Chronicling my time at Rotman and beyond with an adventurous spirit!

Rotman's New Building

Rocking my hard hat and boots during my sneak-peek tour of Rotman's New Building!

Once in a while, you get to be a part of something amazing, and it's even more awesome when you get to share that amazing feeling...

September 5th, 2012, marked a historic day in Rotman's history, with the opening of the brand new building, and it would be an understatement to say that I was excited!  I was so excited about Rotman's new building that I furiously bid for the opportunity to get a tour of the New Building waaay before its opening (early 2012), and get a sneak peek at all the awesomeness that awaited us.  It was quite amusing to stomp around the new building in construction boots and a hard hat, and it got me even more excited for the day when we would finally walk these halls.  It was reminiscent of my anticipation at walking into Rotman's building for the very first time.

On the cover of the Rotman Magazine with Joe Rotman!

I love Rotman, and everything about it.  And I love sharing my passion and energy for the school with everybody I meet.  So it was no surprise when I extended my Rotman Ambassador role into being a Tour Guide at Rotman's New Building Opening, and it was so exciting to take new visitors through that same experience, starting from the historical North Building (affectionately referred to as NOBU by Rotmanites), into the brand new South Building (SOBU), taking them up that pink staircase (the pink was taken from the Rotman magazine 'Einstein' issue cover on 'Thinking About Thinking'), through its fancy new classrooms with the perforated city backdrops, through its study rooms & student lounges, through its majestic glass-walled event hall overlooking Robarts & the historic PhD House, the pep of zesty green with Rotman DesignWorks, on to its outdoor terrace & green roof by the Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking, the invigoratingoutdoor terrace & green roof by the Business Information Center, and the glass-walled courtyard by the Martin Prosperity Institute.

It was an awesome opportunity to be a part of this incredible moment in Rotman's history, and see business visionaries such as Dr. Marcel Desautels (he's also a talented tenor!) and Joseph & Sandra Rotman (Yes, the very same Rotman after whom our school is named! They were awesomely wonderful people to speak with!).  It made you proud to be a part of this new wave of transforming business education, and reaffirmed my decision to come to Rotman to learn creative, integrative new ways of solving tomorrow's challenges today!


Calling all Internationals!

The Rotman MBA is exciting for me on so many levels... I get to pursue my MBA at my top-choice school (it's Canada's number one!), I get to meet family & friends (some I haven't seen in ages & some I haven't met at all!), and I get to come to Toronto (it's so fresh, energetic & bustling with energy!).  I'm bustling with energy & excitement for my Rotman MBA, and I'm ready for all that lies ahead, but it never hurts to be better prepared, and considering that it's my first time in Canada, I figured the Rotman International Student Orientation Week (ISOW) was a good idea to get acquainted with my new home.  But the ISOW was better than good, it was great! The ISOW was a great experience for all of us, as international students, to be exposed to the University of Toronto, the Rotman School of Management, academic styles, teamwork tasks, Canada's economic history, Canadian corporate culture, career opportunities, and even visit blue chip firms in Toronto.  Aside from the wealth of information available at the ISOW, it was also a great opportunity to begin to discover Toronto (the ISOW Amazing Race was quite fun), meet the other international students (there are so many other people in the same boat as you!), meet some upper-years (particularly from the Global Business Association and the Graduate Business Council), and of course, the amazing team from the International Program Services Office!

Our team during one of the pit-stops on the ISOW Amazing Race!


I was born & raised in Dubai, and given that it's quite an energetic multicultural city, I thought I was ready for energetic multicultural Toronto.  I'm still ready, but after the ISOW, I just feel better prepared - for the program, the work involved, the corporate environment, and maybe even the winter.  It was a great opportunity to learn, and have some good fun along the way, and not-to-be-missed by any international students!