During the orientation programme for the EMBA28 cohort of the Lagos Business school, we were informed that although lectures for the executive MBA programme hold on Fridays and Saturdays, we have a requirement to undergo one week of intensive lectures in the first and second semesters for the duration of the course.
The first intensive week lecture was slated for 9.00am to 4.00pm of Monday, the 6th of March, to Friday, the 10th of March 2023. The lectures were to hold physically, and I looked forward with enthusiasm to co learn with fellow executives. Due to the uncertainties surrounding the presidential elections held on the 25th of February 2023, the intensive week lectures were moved online.
Preparation for the intensive week.
I applied for five days’ vacation from my office, to enable me concentrate on lectures and other academic activities for the intensive week. My vacation was approved, with a caveat that I will be required to respond to all urgent requests sent to me during the week.
I sent an out of office note to my colleagues, informing them of my vacation and advising that only urgent requests should be sent to my email.
Day 1 .
The first session started at 9.00am, with fifteen minutes break between the first and second sessions.
During the mid-day break, there was the need for a group discussion, I had to forgo the break, to join in the group discussion. It was such a long stretch, but I managed to pull through to the end of the day’s lecture.
My group tutorials are usually held on Mondays and Wednesdays from 7pm till about 9.30 pm depending on the intensity of the tutorials. On this day, the tutorials ended by 10.00pm.
I thought I could finally get some rest, until I saw the a meeting invite from the class governor, requesting that all executives join the first exco meeting on google meet by 10pm that day. I joined the exco meeting immediately after the group tutorials and the meeting lasted for one hour. I survived day 1.
Day 2 .
Lectures started by 9.00am, and the break period in between the lectures was also used for group discussions. By the end of lectures on Tuesday, my group decided to have a session, to review one of the cases to be discussed the following day. This time, I was so overwhelmed, and opted out of the group discussion.
In between, I received urgent requests from my office , and I had to make out time to respond to them.
Day 3
By the middle of the week, I was so exhausted with the routine but managed to coast along. My group had tutorials by 7pm. This time, I joined in the tutorials, and it ended at about 10.00pm.
Afire the tutorials, I logged into the Harvard online course and continued with the self-paced study. I remembered that I had not written any blog for the week and was so afraid.
Day 4
Same routine as the first three days. On this day, I listened to other executives make their individual presentations in the Management communication class. Immediately after the class, I started preparing for my presentation. I rehearsed with my children as the audience. I posted my first blog today.
Day 5.
The last day of the intensive classes started with a role play in the ABP class, and I found it very interesting and enlightening. Executives in EMBA 28 had a discussion with the programme director and gave feedback on their experiences on the programme so far. It was a relief to know, that I was not the only one that was overwhelmed with the volume of work on the EMBA programme. My take from the discussion with the director, is that I had to make a couple of adjustments to my time and priorities now.
First intensive week done and dusted! Such a huge relief.
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