Haaaaaave you met Emma Jordan*?

I didn’t wake up last Wednesday thinking I’d be taking on a leadership role within the full-time MBA class. But the programme is full of unexpected twists that you have to be prepared to handle as they come your way. That’s an important lesson for anyone thinking about doing an MBA or just living in general, I suppose. Flexibility is a beneficial skill and when opportunities present themselves it’s sometimes best not to over analyse the situation. Just go with the flow.

Each semester the student body is responsible for choosing two class reps to liaise with the students, faculty, and administration. The requirements for class rep stipulate that one male and one female student, one of whom is Irish, the other international, must be selected for the positions.

This brings me to Emma Jordan.

Haaaaaave you met Emma Jordan?

If not, you might want to sort that out ASAP. That lady is going places. Not only is Emma Jordan a CrossFit™ enthusiast, physio turned MBA student, she is also a recently appointed class rep for the second semester of our fulltime MBA. There are big shoes to fill after the retirement of our semester one reps, Ken Barry and Kim Jones, but I have no doubt Emma Jordan will represent our class well. It should also be noted this blog post is in no way intended to curry favour with my colleague. That would be futile. Emma Jordan would see that coming from 100 miles away.

Doing some basic calculations at this point leaves us with one Irish woman rep and a vacancy. This post is long enough so yada, yada, yada, I’m a new class rep too.

The two of us are representing our colleagues for the current term. The coming months will undoubtedly have unforeseen challenges but I believe the fulltime MBAs are in capable hands. Overall this position will add to the total learning experience that is the MBA and build additional skills for the future. I look forward to the new responsibilities and serving my class. As well as learning a thing or two about being empowered, assertive, and self-assured from my counterpart.

Key takeaways from this blog post:

Be flexible. If necessary work on stretching.

Take chances. By serving others you help yourself to grow.

Don’t buy green bananas. You don’t know what the future holds when you get up each morning.

Porridge with cinnamon and a cut-up, ripe banana is a tasty winter breakfast.

That post-porridge hot flash is an added bonus when walking to college.

*Out of deference, the author only refers to Emma Jordan as Emma Jordan. Anything else would be disrespectful.

Anthony Downs

Full-time MBA 2014

USA