Grad school complexities

It's a lovely season. Cooling off, leaves are changing, all the Parisians have returned (although I wasn't here when they left so I don't notice the difference), new students are infiltrating the balance, and new viruses are spread all over the metro and buses. I have a cold, which could be a sinus infection. I hate being sick, although it does give pause to living, which is a nicely forced slow down.

School started last week with orientation on Thursday and Friday, although I'd already been there a few times before to present the conference to the new first-year students - who look way better than our class does, very encouraging. This week we slowly started some courses and debated the procedure and results of electing our concentrations and capstones. Concentrations include things like risk management, economic and territorial development, human security, multilevel economic governance, welfare. They include an overview course each semester (which can be taken as an elective) and a hands-on methods course (not allowed to be taken as elective).

Frankly, I wanted to take them all but that's impossible. I got swept up by professor presentations and changed my mind at least ten times. Finally, I settled on the top three choices that would be submitted to admin: multilevel, risk, human security. There was a draw and almost everyone but three of us got their first or second selections. There's way more to it, but I didn't truly - in the end - want human security as a concentration. I have a background in welfare and a type of human security (which basically just places the person as the central focus as opposed to the state or war). To make myself well-rounded I need an economic or management concentration. So there was a bit of a heated discussion with the director, and man, was I proud of myself for holding my ground but not pushing too hard. It's a delicate balance to insist without demanding, confront without breaking down, justify without whining.

I wanted to pull the money card - after all, I am paying a &%$# ton of money to go to school here - but that seemed like last resort, and an unspoken obviousness. I did play the "I'm doing a lot for this program" card, which felt a bit cheap, and the "It's not like I'm going to tell other people and incite a riot for everyone to change their concentrations," which also felt slimy. The procedure was transparent, agreed upon, and rather equal among all parties. In the end, the resolution was to allow the 3 of us who got our third choice to switch, but no one else. In the end, not enough people chose the welfare concentration so it was cancelled - second year in a row. Last year they converted it into a lecture series, which I attended diligently. The human security was saved and the 3 of us are content with our decisions. I got my second choice: Risk Management.

Next up, the capstones, which are basically the replacement for doing a thesis. It's more professionally-focused, where we work in a group with a leader who brings a case study for us to resolve. Again, all of them are interesting on some level, and they all involve a degree of travel, which is a big draw. I didn't want to do the Eastern Europe-Mekong trade comparison because it would involve too much travel for me to handle with the other school work. It was, of course, the most popular. Instead I went with a diversity-focused capstone that would involve analyzing a multi-national corporation's adherence to a new diversity law in Europe and offering direction on how to improve it - if needed. The firm is based in Europe, Asia, and Latin America so there is potential travel there, and interesting comparisons between developing and developed countries. My second choice was a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project working with fair labor practices and firms who signed an agreement with the ILO to improve their practices. My third choice is led by the professors of my concentration and deals with analysis of nuclear energy facilities and regulation through these risks.

Well, we'll hear today hopefully what we get for Capstones. It's a gamble and a game and slightly a prisoner's dilemma. Do you put your real first choice or the first choice everyone is aiming for to ensure you get your second choice, which is your real first choice? Yesterday, we had an open discussion with the admin, because only 6 of the 9 capstones were chosen by students - with way too many in some areas (Mekong and CSR), which would mean putting the school's reputation into jeopardy by telling a capstone leader that no one selected their project. In the end, one project was saved by a group of smart kids who switched to the capstone openly. This enables them to have their choice of project AND know with whom they'll be working. That's the other unknown about the whole group project blind pick thing. Who knows who you'll be working with because, even if you plot with your good friends to choose XYZ, who knows if you both get it? And, as second-year students who stayed at the school (instead of doing a dual-degree program and moving over to Columbia NYC or London Sch of Econ or Hertie in Berlin or Lee Kuan Yee in Singapore), we're aware of the group dynamic complexity since other schools don't focus on this as much. The difference between last year and this year's groups is that this year you're stuck with the group for a whole 9 months, whereas last year maybe you'd be stuck with people for a week or a semester.

So, the boys were smart yesterday by letting go of particular desires (a capstone can translate into job opportunities) and going for others (clear group dynamics). I know who the people were who selected my capstone and knew I could work with them, but really, I'm much more flexible in this area. The most problematic person last year was a guy who didn't return this year. I worked with him twice, once in a big group and once in a smaller group. In the former, I was unable to really move him to think of things in a different way or communicate displeasure since there were so many other people who were already regretting his presence and trying to direct him one way or another. In the latter situation, I could kind of direct the dispersion of group tasks in a way that would influence his contribution - by re and re-emphasizing exactly what everyone's tasks were and deadlines. He did a great job in the end and we were all pleased. So, I'm not terrified by the unknown of the group dynamic as much as other people who have genuinely made enemies by either being themselves (some are slightly abrasive) or just not connecting well with other personalities.

Anyway, in the meantime, I'm also regretting being the conference organizer for this student conference in November. ... whew. From keynote speakers to panelists to alumni receptions to accommodations to supplies to registration applications to budget. I have a co-organizer who is attending LSE this year and, well, likes to delegate his activities more than I can accept and often tries to delegate back to me, which I think is hilarious. The first-year students are fantastic and really stepping up to help - thank god. We're a month away and there's a TON to do still. One day at a time. One deep breath after another.


Here's some Paris in the autumn - I have gotten out a bit these days.