7:00 AM Monday morning… attempting to get the tangles out of Lauren’s hair…”OUCH!”...changing Sam’s shirt for the third time (Great kid, but spills everything)…lunches and back packs ready to go at the back door…feed…clean…happy…Dam Late! “Coats, Shoes, Back Packs and get in the car!” I yelled at the two best kids in the world as we all run out the door with the speed of being chased by an axe murder. “Wait! Lauren, Baby it is going to be 26 degrees out today, why do you have on rubber boots?” Her blue eyes and sad look breaks my heart to make her go back in and put on her sneakers.
8:30 AM Not enough Caffeine in my system yet and my thoughts turn to Starbucks. Eight weeks ago I embarked on a new life journey and enrolled into the Université de Moncton’s MBA program. As a result, I have frequent Starbucks early in the morning for some quiet & peaceful reading. Removing my sweater and unloading my text book from my briefcase, I sensed that this morning was unlike most. Numerous young students were sipping their lattes and typing on their notebooks. I noticed a pack of girls in the corner with their heads buried in books and not giggling; strange. “One sugar-free, low-fat vanilla, Carmel Macchiato” the Starbucks’ employee yells from behind the counter. No need to order, being a regular has its perks. I move my way to the counter; angry glares from the customers in the line up burning scares into my back, and ask “Why so busy this morning?” Exam week was his reply.
12:30 PM Four hours later, confident that I had the materials of the first two chapters for my newest endeavour, “Management Information Systems”, well grasped. I returned home to check my emails while trying to scarf down my third meal of the day… Class cancelled.
Two days later…
6:30 PM Always ambitious on the first day of a new class, I was armed with enough highlighters, paper, and pens to accommodate the Canadian House of Commons. Education this time around is different. After 21 years of being in a business environment, the subject matter is relatable to past experiences and I like it. As the “Systems Administrator” for a large organization, it was in my job description to order, build and train employees on their PCs. I also had to implement corporate approved upgrades, which resulted in more training. Each group in the company from Senior Management, District Management, to the warehouse employees all had their own specific GM software and mainframe applications that needed to be mastered. The first two chapters allow for explanation and defined functions of these information systems and their roles in the business community.
Honestly, these first two chapters offered more acronyms than any other course I have ever taken:
§ TPS Transaction Processing Systems
§ MIS Management Information Systems
§ DSS Decision – Support Systems
§ ESS Executive Support Systems
§ PLM Product Life Cycle Management Systems
§ ERP Enterprise Resource Planning Systems
§ SCM Supply Chain Management Systems
Personally, I seem to retain more information if I read at the library on campus, which I did last week. I can’t tell you if it was the chaos due to exam week or those darn Carmel Macchiato but I was back at Starbucks getting my fix on Thursday.
Just Because....
