I Dreamed a Dream

Well, if it isn't the start of the school...again. It's normal to dread this feeling of starting school especially after an amazing holiday! So please do not feel guilty! However, be as positive as possible because it actually just marked a milestone in our goal. That very main goal you have set for yourselves when you came to this school, to get that paper and experience you needed to excel in this industry.


Looking back at my goals, I've learnt to set it SMART! Simple, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely. However, most often or not, theory is still a theory. Reality is often a fabricated layer over them. Easier said than done right?! But in my opinion, having goals is better than not having ANY at all. It is like you are planning to fail... You know that cliche line, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!" You just got to agree with this.


Personally, I feel that I did manage to attain some goals I've set since I started this course back in Singapore under Singapore Institute of Management (SIM). PDP III, it totally opened up my horizons in terms of how I think. I know I think rather different than most of my peers, mostly owing to my family background. It kind of forces me to 'mature' faster than I wish to. I think it is rather often we hear people saying that they felt lost, they do not know what are they doing in life. Trust me, I do have that feeling at times, but at the end of the day, you will figure it out sooner or later. So do not panic.


I was having this chat with a couple of my friends. They pointed out this theory, humans are never contented. By this we meant that when they are studying, they miss working. When they are working, they miss studying. Just like when I was in Singapore, I hated to be around there. Now that I'm out, I wish I'm back there with my family. We always have a different dream when we finally achieved one of them. I used to think, "So what happens when I fly here?" Dream number 1. FULFILLED! Now let's think about dream number 2. It just continues down the road forever and ever.


What pushes me forward is when I get to achieve these dreams. Trust me, it is addictive! That sense of satisfaction can be overwhelming. So why not start setting that dreams of yours now? Take life's positive drugs - dreams! Get addicted to achieving them!

Reflections

"I think" and "What if", these are just few of the questions you will usually ask when you are reflecting. As the school term enters the mid-semester break, I can't help but to reflect on my achievements and experiences in IMI during this period of time. (Still rather jam-packed with school work, but oh well, EVERYBODY NEEDS A BREAK RIGHT?)

So far, I have never regretted in making the choices that led me to where I am now. Ok, maybe a few small ones, but in general, I stand for the choices I've made.

Point is that, today's last lecture given by Mr John Perry, one of my favorite lecturer for one of my favorite  modules, mentioned about the need to constantly reflect on ourselves, especially when we are going to become future managers of this industry. How critical on ourselves are we reflects our work attitudes and our mindset. As the more privileged kid out of the family, I am given a chance to study abroad and experience this education that not many will ever experience in their lifetime. It is so important to me that I take this 'investment' my family has put in me as serious as possible and do them proud. It is always good to do someone proud and be someone's pride. In my case, I want to become my family's pride!

This experience that I'm in right now, is going to serve me a lifetime. Why not make the best of it right? So I took up this position as a student blogger. Secretly, I've always wanted to be an inspiration to people. I thought what a better way than to convey my thoughts through a student blog, so hopefully students in the school reads it and feels inspired and then it starts a chain reaction and he or she spreads that inspiration. It's like paying it forward basically.

Another greatest decision I've made this week that I felt rather life-changing is that I took up the position as a President of the Student Representative Council. Frankly speaking, I'm stressed to the max, however, I've always believe in stress as a form of motivation to excel! Through this position, I have literally increased my opportunities to excel to another level if you view it from the stress factor. Coupled with the dissertation and the projects that I have to balance with, it is quite amazing I'm still blogging right now. I'm amused at myself too. However, please don't think that I give bad quality work. Never believed in doing something half-heartedly. 

Pardon me if I have rumbled on too much but I think we all need that little reminder in life on why we are doing what we are doing. So what's your reason for doing what you are doing right now? Challenge yourselves and make decisions. Make mistakes, who cares! We are still in school. It is our testing ground for our future.

I would like to share a wisdom with you guys.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the judgement that something else is more important than fear." - Ambrose Redmoon.

Event-packed

A whole series of events happened during this two weeks just made my life so much more jam-packed than it already is! We had SUISSE EMEX and most important in IMI's history, our 20th IMI Anniversary which just happened a few days ago. It was the best school party ever!


Let me begin to dissect each of these events to you, bit by bit!


SUISSE EMEX


All the BAs students were required to attend this exhibition in Zurich. I thought it would be just any other event, but I actually had a very good taste of a true blue Swiss event! There were sooooooooooo many freebies and amazing things at different corners of the exhibition! Most are ideas and concepts to bring forth greater profits for companies.


There were also many interesting learning points from the event, for example, I managed to find out more about the largest exhibition and conference area in Zurich. I found out that even tarot card reading can be part of an event, which never really did cross my mind. Most importantly, the implementation of photo booths for the event to boost the event's novelty! These are all simple but great ideas!


One of our beloved lecturer, Mr Lukas Ritzel, did a presentation during the event itself, though it was mainly in german, however, the graphics and design of the presentation helped a little to understand what he is talking about. Can't wait for the Augmented Reality (AR) class he is going to hold soon! It's one of my favorite topic back in Singapore.

Girls trying on something PINK!

Mr Ritzel giving his presentation.

Dream of a couch potato!

One of BEST crazy photo booth pictures we took!

This guy is freaking awesome with his mechanical suit! 

You should visit IMI Luzern on Facebook for more pictures of the day itself!


Sports Day
One of the most tiring days so far in IMI! I was part of the events team to execute this event. It was a great learning point of what to look out for during a sports event, especially trying to referee a game itself. SO STRESSFUL! It span a total of 3 days for this event. We had badminton, volleyball, pool, soccer but one of the coolest sport we had was actually, JENGA! Cool or what ?!

Miss Jenga Queen (Geeta)

Best thing was that most of us took quite an active approach for this event!!! One of the best event to me was volleyball, not only because I was the referee but because Singaporeans got the championship! So proud of them! It was definitely a trial for me to test my impartialness during the game! Another top event in my list would be the tug-of-war! It was the quickest battle ever! The champions played it well!!!

Tug-of-war Champions!

iHome visit
This is one of the class excursion that my pathway organized for us. We visited this modern home designed to cater to the futuristic us! There were many cool innovations that made our lives so much easier!!!

iHome!

Our tour guide! 

Curious?!

She's DOWN!!! HELP!!!

Leaving iHome!

IMI 20th Anniversary 


I dressed up as Yoda for this event !!! Used simple materials to make myself a robe and thankfully I got a mini light saber from my friend back in Singapore! 

Student team behind this event!

There were many highlights during the event, lucky draw, singing, dancing last but not least...FIREWORKS!!!


Pictures are the best way to give you an idea of its awesomeness!!!

Yoda & Audre singing a duet. Never before!!!

The Singaporean team!

Yoda dressed up!

Pyrotechnics Display!!!

Mr Currie rocking like Elvis Presley! 

School staff having a last briefing before the event starts!

The best costume in many people's opinion!!! AVATAR!

Happy Birthday 20th IMI

It was such a blast! I want to wish IMI the best of her future !!!

Red Bull Event

Another cool event that occurred in Luzern is the Red Bull Flugtag event where different groups of people built up different structures that they used to push and HOPEFULLY fly a certain distance! There were all sort of designs ranging from dragons to bananas to even...Toilet bowls!

Little orange submarine, to fly or to sink ?! LOL!

Dragon age!!!

Balloons balloons!!!

Banana Flight!

It was a human packed event! Never had a chance to experience such an event back in Singapore! 

In a nutshell, never in my life I've been through so many events within a short span of time! This has been an exhilarating experience for me!!! I definitely made the right choice to come to IMI!

A long week/end!

I believe most can already feel the workload picking up in school. For my pathway BAHE, our peak period is from now till the semester break, when most of our critical assessments comes into play. Well I guess this leaves me with plenty of time to concentrate on my big D (Dissertation) during then. 


It has been a long and tiring week!!! Thankful for the long weekend, that most of us are going to travel or just sit back, relax and enjoy the scenery outside our windows. A group of us will be heading to Milan and Venice this weekend - can't wait !!! 


*Random point here, but I realized my surroundings are filled with cobwebs and spiders. Not sure what can we do to get rid of them, but my senses tells me that they are here to stay. Oh well, I just got to learn to live with nature I guess?


I think the weather is having some mood swings, because they can't seem to decide to have a day with a full fledge SUN or RAIN. It's hot and cold from time to time. Got to pop some vitamins to keep our immune system running! Oh, another thing I can't wait for is grocery shopping tomorrow! Funny that I kept buying what I need. (Conspiracy theory on Supermarkets!) I do know that one trick to deter over-buying will be having a list and actually KEEPING to the list. Or else, you'll just end up like me. But oh well, I guess you can call it a form of 'retail therapy'. HAHA!

A banner I've created for the school's 20th anniversary party.

This is one of the banners I've designed for the 20th Anniversary Party. So excited that the theme chosen by the general student body is "Lights! Camera! Action!". This is going to be a great party as the events team behind it are dedicated to bring the best to the students! It might even involves dressing up our lectures! Really look forward to this event! It is my first attempt in organizing a party in this scale, but I'm sure with the support of my friends and colleagues, this event is definitely going to be a huge success!!! Keep a lookout for it in school!!!


ALL IN ALL, busy week has finally come to an end!!! Now it's time to relax and enjoy Switzerland!!! Wisdom of the week - Heading out for a walk after dinner helps in digestion! LOL!

From Singapore to Switzerland

Edmund Chan, 27th July 2011

As always, in any start of a class, there is a 'ritual' in which we will all take turns and introduce ourselves to unfamiliar eyes - this can sometimes be dreadful. However, as a hospitality student, I believe this somehow has to be born within our blood to learn to speak up and introduce ourselves, especially in front of our guests. So as it came to my turn. I projected my voice and said with jubilant, "Hi! I'm Edmund and I'm from Singapore(Proudly) and I'm doing Bachelors of Art in Hospitality and Events Management(BAHE)!".

Honestly, it was never in my intentions to take part in this blog. I had thought about the other commitment to school and my little private time to getaway and enjoy this beautiful country.But then it struck me! I can actually share my experiences, good or bad, with the people around me or who don't even know me. This was a chance for me to polish my writing  skills( yes the dissertation is on my mind!). 6 months on campus and another 6 months on internship, a year is all I have in Switzerland. I thought, "What a better way to spend my time in Switzerland!".

                                                    

Singaporean students taking a group photo outside school.

On top of Mt Pilatus !!!

From the time I stepped out of the airplane, till I set foot in my room in IMI, there were literally thousands of 'Woos!' and 'Wows!' that ran through my mind. Switzerland is indeed a beautiful country! After unpacking, we began to explore the area around our school. It was a cultural shock! Why?! Because the people here are so warm-hearted and friendly. We were greeted time and again by the friendly smiles and greetings from the locals while exploring the place. We learnt that Mount Pilatus was just behind the school. What a great view to have around our school! 

Trying to make 'contact' with the cows.

The nature, the view and not forgetting the cow bells which seems now to be innocent but  I am sure will be 'lethal' in time to come, will definitely bring about a whole new experience for me. As Singaporeans, we hardly have the chance to appreciate and feel nature in our bustling city-life. With another 6 months ahead, I'm sure that there will be tonnes of experiences right around the corner in this beautiful town just waiting for us to discover.

Human seating habits

By Ilse Joore

My first day of the MBA programme at IMI University Centre started as one of these days..I arrived back from Valencia, Spain the night before at 23.00 hours. So I did not have much time to prepare mentally for my course. My head was still in 30 degrees somewhere on the beach and in my mind I was still eating paella.

I live in the city and would go by car to our institute. My class started at 8.00 hours. I tried to start the car but for some reason the battery was completely dead… I was lucky that my husband decided to go to work later that day because of traffic, so he could bring me quickly, otherwise I would have been late on my first day. That would not make a good impression to my new programme collegues! When I arrived a lot of students were already there and even though I met a lot of new collegues every time over and over again during all my flights as a flight attendant at KLM (every flight we work with different collegues, as there are 9000 flight attendants at KLM, one friend that I know from Gymnasium is also a flight attendant at KLM and I never flew with her in the last 10 years…) still this is always a bit of a nervous moment. Will there be people I can get along with, will I make a good impression, where shall I sit and next to whom? Familiar faces always help in these situations. I knew one student and the teacher which was already a big help in feeling a bit more comfortable.

All these things in this regard might be crucial for the rest of the course, or not? After two classes I found out that I sat at exactly the same place every time. I always somehow have a seating preference, at least for myself. A bit in the back so I can overview everything, but not too far in the back cause I do not want to miss anything. Now, I know I never want to miss anything and I like overview which also presents itself in a lot of other parts of my life but wanting to sit at exactly the same place has another meaning as well. The reason obviously is, because we tend to exhibit territorial behavior when we take seats in public places. We limit ourselves to small areas so we don't have to "renegotiate" seating arrangements with other people, researchers say. In one study by Marco Costa of the University of Bologna in Italy, university students showed strong attachments to specific areas of a lecture hall; on average, each student made use of just 2.4% to 2.7% of the seating area (www.linkedin.com/news, May 24^th 2011). So if I start moving around to the other side of the classroom it is not because I like to, but just to break once the habit I obviously have and maybe even to make my territory bigger during this semester…