Fifteen

Sloan Innovation Period (SIP), a title coined by my very own Data, Models, & Decisions Professor, Robert Freud, is certainly a befitting title. SIP week certainly exposed the innovative and entrepreneurship capabilities of the class of 2009. An unprecedented shortage of seats in the various SIP courses aggravated a class-wide panic for those who were short of credits after the results for round-one bidding were released. Almost every other email of mine entailed a request for a SIP course swap. The idea was to secure enough SIP credits such that the year ones could have the SIP week of their last semester free. Anything short of 2.0 credits would render this hope futile. There may have been some unlucky souls that eventually fell into the pool of less than 2.0 SIP credits; however, as many of the Sloanies of the Class of 2009 will reckon, thank goodness I wasn’t one of these unlucky souls.

As per the classes, they ranged from World Class Public Speaking to How People Learn and Why it’s Important for Your Career and Life. The former was one of the many classes that I had futilely hoped to get into. As I had expected, this class was filled in the blink of an eye and was subsequently a very fun and entertaining class taught by a highly acclaimed speaker. Another Leadership class that I missed out on was Will You Be a Great Leader. A class with such a compelling title can only insinuate that it aims to enlighten students on what it takes to be a great leader. As a Sloanie who hopes to make a difference in the world, why on earth would I not want to take this SIP class? Apparently, about 89 other students that attended the class felt the same way I did; they just happened to bid more points for the class than I did. It was clear that the sessions offered were merely intended to give us insight into the ground breaking research at MIT and to build up our Leadership potential, and they did just that. These sessions entailed tons of interactivity and student participation such that it was impossible to doze off (for the most part). Already, I look forward to the next SIP. I am even more excited about that time because I gather that after the first semester, year-one students don’t have to worry about tough competition in terms of bidding. I believe this means that next time, I may actually get a seat in all the classes I want.

Overall, I found the SIP week very useful. I learned business-world practices and ideals that actually developed my leadership, creative, and feedback skills. Although I didn’t quite get into all my classes of choice, and although I didn’t quite get as many credits as I would have liked, I was ultimately satisfied by this relaxing, homework-free, educative, and exciting week. It was just what the doctor ordered. There couldn’t have been a better remedy to the distraught caused by the previous week of midterms, than SIP. It is rather unfortunate that this period, one that is unique to Sloan, only comes but once a semester.

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