MB-Eish Part 6: 28

**"Eish" is a South African slang term expressing surprise, dismay, anger or frustration.** 

As I mentioned two years ago, I have joined the droves of engineers who have sold out to the dark side: Banking (and more recently, the elite league of the dark side: Asset Management). To make myself more comfortable in my new, murky surrounds I have decided to do an MBA part-time. This is the sixth in a series of posts about my MBA experience.

Twenty-eight days from now the outcome of the rest of this degree will rest in the hands of  my supervisor and a faceless external examiner. My research supervisor is an eccentric, grey-haired Italian finance professor. So far I've had three meetings with him and they've all involved drinking tea in his dimly lit office, discussing the state of the economy and university finances. Each time I've taken a notebook along eagerly hoping to inscribe in it his insights about my research topic, and without fail I am left with a crisp white page, blank except for the date and "Meeting with Prof" written in the first line.  

Of course I do realize this is most likely a reflection on how little work I've done to date. 

When he introduced himself to our class as a potential supervisor his words were "I'm a bit cooky. I tend to do things on the last minute, and I usually end up taking the students who are left without a supervisor at the end". I sensed a kindred spirit. And I immediately made a mental note to approach him for supervision a few days before the deadline! To do so right then and there would have been uncharacteristically organized. In true PROcrastinator style I decided on my topic the morning before our meeting and finalized my pitch in the car on the way to his office. Unfortunately that has set the tone for my thesis so far: lastminute.com (well, it's in keeping with the rest of my degree actually). I sent a few desperate 2am emails for feedback a few days before research proposals were due; in fact the morning of submission included. And bless his heart, he replied within hours. I swore this time I would be organised. I think my project plan says I would be sending draft 1 in for comments right about now. 

But go figure, tonight is the night that I start my data gathering. Twenty-eight 25-hour days ahead. *profanities*