UCD Smurfit MBA Blog

Posts Tagged ‘MBA Clubs’

As the captain of the ladies team, I was delighted with our ladies performance given it was our first true test together, we unfortunately did not bring the cup home but the men’s team did that for us. Yet again they are the MBA Rugby World Champions!

We had quite an eventful trip with delayed flights on the way out and bombings in Boston on our way home, but I have to say we had an amazing weekend.

We had 44 athletes travel with an excellent committee to keep the show on the road. Everywhere we went everyone was so accommodating and welcoming. They loved the Irish brogue and the high spirits of the team. We had the opportunity to mingle with London Business School, Harvard, Wharton, Columbia to name a few.

It was a great opportunity to meet like minded people and network with the local business networks in the area. We hope to bring LBS ladies team over for a test match all going well in the Summer!

Our bus driver, Curly, deserves a special mention for being so accommodating with such a large crew and we hope future teams will enjoy his kind manner!

We left Ireland as individuals but we have come home a team. The effort was worth it in the end and would highly recommend any future MBA students to get on the team and join the adventure! Congratulations, MBA World Champions 2013!

Michelle Mulcahy

- Michelle Mulcahy, FT MBA 2012-13

(Day 1)

After many months of fundraising, training, organising and a day of flight delays we have finallyarrived at the annual MBA Rugby World Cup tournament in Danville, North Carolina, USA to defendour title as Rugby World Cup Champions for a record 11th time!

This year we have brought 48 people consisting of 47 players and 1 coach. This is the largest numberof players who have ever represented the school at the tournament! This is testament to the hardwork of the leadership team and the players themselves in raising sufficient funds to make thishappen.
On the 2 hour bus transfer from the airport to the hotel everyone was in very high spirits with plentyof singing to keep us entertained. While I listened, I was thinking that if some of the player’s rugbyskills were as poor as their singing, we were going to be in trouble!

I was proved wrong yesterday.

The men’s team ended day one undefeated after 3 matches.

• Game 1 Smurfit vs. London Business School (B team). Score 57 – 0
• Game 2 Smurfit vs. Harvard Business School (B team). Score 35 – 5
• Game 3 Smurfit vs. London Business School (B team). Score 60 – 0

The ladies team also put in a fantastic performance against some very tough opposition and are nowplaced 7th in the tournament!

The weather is extremely hot so we have had to make many trips to Walmart to stock up on water,Gatorade and fruit to keep our troops hydrated and nourished!

We are getting ready for day two and hopefully we will be booking an extra seat on the plane to bring home the silverware!

- Therese O’Rourke, FT MBA 2012-13

UCD Smurfit Rugby Team has brought home the MBA World Cup Trophy for 10 out of 11 years – well, the men’s team has. This year will be the second year in a row that the MBA program will also send a women’s team to the USA for the world cup, a feat that has only happened a handful of times before. As an American in Ireland, I had never even really watched rugby on the television let alone played a match in my life. And yet here I am, six months later, heading up the UCD Women’s Rugby Team (with a good friend, also a Smurfit MBA, who has extensive rugby experience). This year, we have one goal, which is to bring home a MBA Rugby World Cup, not only for the Men, but for the Women’s team also, which would be a first for Smurfit!

When asked to write an entry for our MBA Blog, it took me quite a while to come up with an experience to write about. Everything has happened so fast and intensely that it was a little overwhelming to come up with something to write about, since there seems to be so much going on in my head at one time! However, since Rugby has lately taken over my Tuesday and Friday nights, along with my Saturday and Sunday afternoons (we will call Saturdays and Sundays as studying up on the sport of Rugby by watching the “professionals” play in the 6 Nations).

Upon starting the MBA, the different representatives of all the MBA clubs (there are a lot of them) were paraded in front of us, where they told us about the opportunities offered by the different interest areas. Of course, when the Rugby Club came up, ears perked up, mainly because Smurfit has been the team to not only compete, but win the championship cup for so many years. Of course, it’s “great craic” as our friendly speaker insisted, but he also talked about the opportunities it opened as far as networking with other top MBA programs and the friendships and camaraderie you get as being part of an athletic team with other Masters students in the Smurfit School of Business.

Today, about one month away from our trip to the states, I can say that my experience has not been a disappointment!  I have met great guys and girls while participating on the team, and have also been able to achieve another of my personal goals in coming to Ireland, which was to learn more about a different culture, and learning about rugby (not only how to watch, but how to play) has given me an experience in Ireland. I am happy (albeit surprised) to say that I am the only non-Irish person on the women’s team (our coach playfully refers to me as the American rugby spy), and being a member of this team has given me a deeper and more real look into a pastime that is very important in the country. Almost like someone learning and getting understand the teams and the game of American Football if they go to the states. In class, I learn about business in both Ireland and other areas of the world (from an Irish perspective), and from my classmates I learn about the social norms of Ireland and Irish culture, but never can you truly be immersed in the culture until you take it on yourself to truly become involved in something that is of that country, outside of the contrived state of the classroom. I think I have done that with not only joining the Smurfit Rugby Club, but in being part of its leadership committee. I can’t wait until where the next month takes us as a team, and me individually, but I look forward to it and can’t wait to write a second entry in one month’s time detailing how we won!!

Heidi Hart

- Heidi Hart, FT MBA 12/13

It’s almost six months gone by and today we are in the second month of the second semester… and yes, I survived. Nonetheless I’ve come out stronger. Time flew and when I reflect back on the days spent on campus, it has been a hell of a ride. Lectures, presentations, group submissions, reports, continuous assignments and what not were the order of the day. The saga still continues but as the say in the old mafia way, I guess we have “made our bones” and are much better positioned to take on the world.

As we progress in to the second semester, it’s time for a reality check. Finally, why did I come to Smurfit School to do my MBA, in an unknown terrain, far away from home and with most basic factors working against me like the weather and food to name a few? Have I taken the right decision?

Well, the answer today is a thunderous YES. I was happily cruising along in life with a well set job but being in the field of human resources, I was convinced of the idea that a master’s degree could add to my future prospects. After completion of the application process, I had offers from universities of global repute but I finally zeroed in on the Smurfit School as a few facts stood strongly in its favour. First, the reputation of the college itself which has been ranked consistently in the top 80 in the world (we jumped 22 places this year…hurray!!), second the location, Dublin, the European tech capital and the last and most important, people around here who are warm, friendly and just make you feel at home. I cannot forget the date, 2^nd Sept 2011 when I first stepped into the class. I was facing a cohort of 34 members representing 14 nationalities and I must admit, I was nervous for a while but as time moved on, it is this active group of fellow class mates who rode the highs and lows with me and I think my biggest learning’s have been from these turbo charged set of people who all, I am sure, will make a mark someday.

Life is not limited to study alone in Smurfit. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Rugby, a sport lesser known in India, has been an instant attraction. UCD, having won 10 out of the 11 finals of the world rugby championship is the place to be if you aspire to master the art of this game.  Drawn to the game, I can be occasionally be traced to the rugby field in Belfield campus. The Smurfit School is home to a great student cultural scene as well. Socializing and networking activities are regular. The recent Vietnamese social night was an opportunity to learn more about their culture while we couldn’t stop grabbing their delicacies.

Another exciting event is knocking at our doors, the international trip and me and my fellow mates are travelling to Brazil on an exchange program and are hoping to make the best of it. Brazil is an emerging economy like India and I am keen to have a first-hand experience of what life in Brazil is like. The study trip will help us appreciate the cultural differences between regions, culture being at the core of any major internal and external business decision makings.

The advantages of an international qualification, studying and living in a multicultural environment present an opportunity to learn even outside the classroom. While the MBA curriculum in the Smurfit School has, in what I believe, contributed to my professional development, the wholesome approach of the school combining the multifarious aspects of student life has indeed summed up in personal development as well resulting in a total learning curve. It has been a wonderful experience in so far whose benefits and value stand undisputed.

Sundeep Patnaik

- Sundeep Patnik, FT MBA 12/13