Challenges and Triumphs of a Dreamer

Martin Hu

“You might say I am a dreamer. But I am not the only one.”


The COVID-19 pandemic continues to present challenges to our TIEMBA'22 learning journey, preventing us from having long-awaited and wished for face-to-face studies under one roof.  

In the middle of January 2021, given the re-escalation of COVID cases, the Tsinghua campus was shut down in compliance with government regulations. Our classmates in Beijing decided to find a place so that we could still maintain the “classroom experience” together. Eventually, we found a cozy place in a WeWork-type environment in a Hutong (an old alley or narrow street typically found in Beijing) within the Dongcheng district.

The week-long stay and study together turned out to be an unforgettable experience.

It felt like the “campus” experience as a student, away from work (most of the time), having coffee and dinner chats, debating and learning with each other on various subjects. The academic challenges from two finance courses stretched us (most of us) significantly. We managed to have the pre-exam group discussions online the night before, where several CFOs in the class volunteered to help with problem-solving for those with non-financial backgrounds, which demonstrated the spirit of “one for all, all for one”, or as we say in TIEMBA'22, “no one is left behind”. 
 

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credit: Daniel Song, TIEMBA '22
credit: Daniel Song, TIEMBA '22
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After a full day of classes, we celebrated the achievements with cold beers. There was a lot of laughter too during all these long learning hours. All these experiences really make Module 3 unique.

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Content-wise, personally, I particularly enjoyed the Leadership Development Programme (LDP) session which also kicked off in Module 3. The four-hour long sharing with LDP peers, facilitated by our coach, was really touching and intriguing to me. And I am proud of our LDP group, named "Ouça" (a Portuguese word that means "hear me"), which is a place I feel very fortunate to be part of.

The LDP journey just started. We all very much look forward to what will present to us in this self-discovery journey. 

Still, virtual/online learning is not ideal, and it was not expected. However, we have managed well to make the best out of it. I can think of a song, the lyrics of which reflect my T'22 experience well. That is, “You might say I am a dreamer. But I am not the only one.”

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