It's over!

'....and with those words I end the MBA program of 2009'. I couldn't believe it when I heard program director Martha Maznevski say those words a couple of hours ago. It can't be over! How can it be! Help, put me back in the bubble! I am not done yet! There are still so many people that I need to talk to!

We still have a couple of sessions with feedback and rewards on Monday and of course the graduation on Tuesday, but that is 'just' the celebrations. The program as such is over! Why don't you get it, Thorsten!?!

Well, why don't I get it. Perhaps because it has been approaching with the speed of a bullet to the very last minute. Even the last few weeks I have not been able to find much time to sit down and reflect on how I want to say my goodbyes and mentally phase into my new life. We have been (and still are) going full speed to the very last minute, like a bullet train that does not slow down before it is too late....

...just like it happened in Montparnasse Station, Paris in 1895.

It has been an emotional day. Most of all because it started with Professor George Kohlrieser's legendary session on 'bonding and grieving', on how to deal with loss and separation. He is a clinical psychologist, a hostage negotiator and professor in organizational behavior all in one. He can basically make people cry on command. When you then add a class full of people that have been through A LOT together the past 11 months and who are starting to realize that they soon will be spread all over the world and NEVER will be together again as a complete class, then you have all the parts needed to make it both a memorable and emotional event.

I am sitting in study room 9 and writing this. Whether a coincidence or not, this is where it all started 11 months ago. This is where my first study group - named Cloud #9 - was born and lived. This was where I for first time met Liesbeth, Misayo, Eva, Fadi, Eric, Kornelius and Juan. I remember like it was yesterday how nervous I was. SO much has happened since then, and what a ride it has been. A ride with ups and downs, high mountains, endless tunnels and sharp turns.

We have a saying in Denmark (I am sure it is used elsewhere as well) which basically says that after a busy period you must take the time to let your soul catch up with you. Although I physically have arrived to December, I think my soul still is working its way through March or something like that. I wonder how long it takes for it to catch up and thereby for me to understand what really has happened to me this year? Probably years!

Thorsten

Wednesday was the Polar Bear's last dip in Lake Geneva.

Today we refurbished the MBA Archway that we created on the first day of class.

Stefano and Albert with their hand prints that have been on the Archway the last 11 months.

Eugene, Joe, Misayo and Young-Ha is preparing the new Archway decoration. The Archway has been given a new meaning that symbolizes our transition back into the real world. We will walk through it on our way to the auditorium to receive our diplomas on Tuesday.
I will not reveal the final result to you just yet. Why don't you come see for yourself?