July 17, 2019
Once we hit the building’s steps, there was no time to engage in friendly conversations other than hi, hello. Every day was go go go for straight 8 to 9 hours and there was really no time to make friends. Our interactions were during role-playing and case studies which were more adversarial, not friendly.
I did manage to have a few photos to remember my classmates by. My first seatmate was Grant Caldwell, Vice President of Millwork One. Grant and I were counterparts in a case study involving a gasoline company and a gas station. I represented the gas company while he role-played as the owner of the gas station. I bought his gas station below the company’s budget and I offered Grant a two to three years management contract which he accepted.
I met Grant’s wife when she came to visit him. I invited them to come visit the Philippines.
The young girl to my left is Shriyanka Nayak, from Google.
Aruna Thanabalasingam was my adversary in one of the case studies. The case study was about a big beverage company wishing to expand their market reach and she was my counterpart. She represented the beverage company while I negotiated in behalf of the distribution company. We were able to negotiate and enter into a distribution contract. That was only a roleplay. In real life, Aruna is a Director at United Nations’s headquarters in New York City.
