[the views in this post do not reflect the views of MBA/MRS. In fact, she had to look up who Tyler Durden was]
“Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who’ve ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off. ” – Tyler Durden
P5 makes me think of that quote. At INSEAD you are told you are the “Leader of Tomorrow”, a “Global Leader” who can make a difference. While this is all admirable as the countdown begins to unemployment for many, you finally realise you really are just like every schmoe in the world, out in the world hustling to make a buck.
Okay, an overeducated, probably far wealthier schmoe, but you’re still hustling to make a buck.
You start to see why there is that statistic that 50% of all INSEAD graduates or something start their own business 2-3 years out. When you are told to go forth and conquer, and end up conquering naught but a middle level management position, I think most people assess their goals in life.
But then P5 shouldn’t just be about a job should it? It should also be about the memories, and making the most of people you will probably never see again except at reunions. So as always there is the partying, and the partying, and oh yes, the partying.
But you do find people of heart here, actually, you can find heart anywhere you go. It’s always there, lurking beneath whatever barriers that people have put up to deny it, and I hope YOU truly believe that. Because if you do not, well then, no one has heart on this planet then, do they?
No, while MBAMrs has taken a hiatus, we can pick up the slack. And we can tell you, yes Singapore IS more inclusive than Fonty, for what reasons we know not. Perhaps it is the city, perhaps it is living in communal housing that still responds to accountability. No, the meek, the poor, the tired, huddled masses yearning to breathe free, even they are included here.
That is not to say this is a paradise, far from it. I mean for one, there are no baguettes. Or cheese. Of any description.
Look, I will end here. Because the best thing to say at the end of P5 is nothing. And you know why? Because either 1) you have already said it or 2) because well, everyone knows what you are going to say anyway.
And really, to be in that situation, is not a bad state of affairs at all.
Hello ‘guest blogger’,
Inclusive, schinclusive. What matters is that your peeps know you are their peep.
You got to understand yourself to know who your peeps are. I know who mine are and only just recently, in the grey limbo between the idyllic domesticity of Fonty and this pseudo love-nest called Singapore. And I’ve spent woeful little time getting to know them.
My peeps are, equally, the ones who rejoice when they manage to make one powerpoint slide and the ones who feel most at ease making multi-layered excel models.
My peeps say things like, ” its the last few weeks of the MBA, you know, so its my last chance to really study and learn stuff.”
When my peeps say they’ve having a big night, they mean they’re going to a more-expensive-than-usual Italian restaurant and may even open a second bottle there.
My peeps get excited when I say I’m going to have video night EARLY at my place. (You’re invited this Friday, to watch a movie with no bazukas, with or without wine and, yes, real cheese).
My peeps sometimes get with each other and then clumsily untangle themselves…and most importantly, my peeps actually admit that it hurts.
Had a conversation with my boyfriend recently, who is not one of my peeps but rather, one of the supposedly ‘in’ peeps. Those other peeps, the ones that really genuinely enjoy huge, huge parties where good conversations die in infancy. He said, ‘you can’t do such-and-such a job because you don’t like partying.’ That sparked me up and I berated him with bitchiness until he agreed not to persecute me for being an introvert anymore. Such neurosis, rooted in contextual non-belongingness, can really hurt a relationship.
But its true, I like all the peeps – they’re all great, especially mine, but I don’t wanna drink shitty alcohol and have non-conversations for 5 hours on a Friday night! I’d rather do a reading. Honestly.
So what’s the moral of the story? Sure, keep your mind open, but stay with your peeps! Be kind to them! F* the rest!
Love,
maybe a peep of yours?
this blog has gotten way better in the comments section than in content!
dear escapee, f* the rest is right. looking forward to the laksa noodles and to standing at the edge of a party and having a good conversation.
xx
[…] ‘09 MBAMRS allowed a guest blogger to give a little perspective on the school’s Singapore campus, and found herself withdrawing from the Fontainbleau social scene with only 4 weeks left before […]