FIRST DAY OF CLASSES: Statistics at Light-Speed!

And what a first day it was!
It went by so fast, starting at 8:30 and finishing at 4:30. One thing is for sure: they treat you like adults, and expect you to be on time and they don't cradle you.

I asked the professor several questions about Excel after class ended and he said, bluntly, "Ask me tomorrow. Or ask someone else." So I just worked around it and looked for the answer to my question on the Internet.

Let me add that adding to my difficulty is using Excel in French (fortunately I had practiced using Excel in Japanese over the weekend, learning how to manipulate basic aspects of the spreadsheet). My computer didn't come with the versions of Microsoft Office, and the school installed it in my computer free of charge. (Some kind of academic licensing agreement with Microsoft.)

Some might interpret this as coldness, but I think it's also a way of creating self-independence, because you either swim or sink (yes, this inversion was intentional, I like to mention the positive aspect first.)

Half of the class are number crunching executives who had worked with Excel in this way before; the rest of the class, including me, was a group of people who struggled to keep up with the professor as he zipped from one topic to another. It sure helps to know Excel inside and out. And yeah, given some time, I think that I'll get used to doing the things I will need to do.

After all, how could the school certify me with an MBA if I don't become confident and able enough to manipulate Excel?

One thing is for sure: I'm learning a lot about the software that I didn't know before. I'm finding it's an extremely powerful piece of software and it'll be nice to be able to use it more assuredly in the future.