At exactly 1:29:30 am on February 8, with my eyes and body feeling tired but with my mind still racing, just over a day ahead of the deadline, I submitted my exam paper for the Strategy module. All 2,998 words. I did it!!! I actually did it!!! My first postgrad exam submission! It’s as if a big load was taken off my chest. I can breathe!!! I can celebrate!!!
So let’s backtrack a bit.
How are exams done in Oxford? Pre-pandemic, the exam business case will be published 2 weeks before the exams then one has to physically sit in for the exams in Oxford, wearing a Harry Potter style uniform (called the subfusc), and has to complete the exam paper in handwriting in 3 hours.
In our case though, the timeline is slightly modified in that the business case is also published 2 weeks before the exam questions are issued, then you have another week to submit the exam paper in the assessment management system. A whole week vs 3 hours, word document vs handwritten paper (works for me as my handwriting sucks) and we’re missing out on the Harry Potter dress up party- we’ll anyway get to wear them on our graduation.
Business cases are long, normally 20-30 pages so you really need some time to read and digest it. Students are allowed to discuss the business case but only until the exam questions are out. Discussing it afterwards would constitute a violation of the student honor code (i.e. cheating).
My study group was pretty good at tackling the final 2 weeks before the release of the exam questions. We ended up having 4 sessions (although I missed one!): the first session was to talk about the case content, the second session to work on a framework to address internal analysis, the third session to work on a framework for external industry analysis, and the final one (which I missed), was to work on a framework for strategy development.
While we did tackle the frameworks as a group, I however did not manage to complete any framework by myself- I had all the information written down on my notes, but never managed to put them together in framework format. I also did not manage to practice writing essays.
In my limited free time during the 2 weeks before the exam questions were released, I focused on digesting the business case and reviewing the lecture materials. I also rediscovered how I love listening to dance music while studying. I blasted the speakers with dance music while I intently took down notes on the case and read pages of slides used in our strategy lectures. Thank God for the Hedkandi Anthems and 90’s dance playlists. They really got me going.
As the master planner in me anticipated that I will need some time to work on my exam paper, I booked the babysitter for 2 days. The exam questions was scheduled to be released on Tuesday at noon. I booked the babysitter for Wednesday and Thursday, targeting to submit my paper on Friday. The actual deadline was the following Tuesday.
So on the day of the release of the exam questions, as 12 noon GMT hit, our cohort Whatsapp group got busy- someone already posted the exam questions. 3 questions- everyone’s reaction is pretty good, it’s what we expected. A question related to internal factors, external factors, and finally the recommended strategy.
I checked with my babysitter. “All good for tomorrow and Thursday?” NOPE. Unfortunately the babysitter had to cancel. Panic ensued. Will I have enough time to complete my exam paper?
My husband came to the rescue and worked from home the next two days. I did get some time but not really a lot since my teething daughter needed more mommy time.
Friday came and my hopes were high. I had about 5 solid hrs to work on my exam. So I did and managed to complete the first question. Yup, only the first question.
As most of my classmates have a full time job, it was good to know that most of them also just have the weekend to work on the exams. What a relief that I’m not alone working on the weekend!
Saturday came and went and I completed the second question. I was however worried because I already reached the 3,000 word count limit.
Sunday went by quickly and again in between mommy duties, I was working on my paper. I enjoyed writing the answer to the last question the most which was on my recommended strategy…overjoyed that at the end of it, I’m a thousand words over the word count limit!
Before I know it, it was getting late and I really want to submit my paper already as I do not wish to wake up the next morning with the thought of missing the deadline. I spent a good hour trimming the word count of my paper. It pained me to remove some of what I wrote but in the end, I completed my strategy exam paper with 2,998 words.
Some lessons that I learned which I hope to improve for the next module:
⁃ Definitely review the lecture materials to be reminded of the key concepts discussed;
⁃ Make sure to practice on applying the frameworks- this is where I spent too much time as I was basically using them for the first time (3 days instead of 3 hours!); and,
⁃ Start preparing the frameworks and writing the essay as soon as the case study is released- so that when the exam questions are out, it’s more of just tweaking the essay and frameworks to be fit as answers to the questions.
The greatest realization though after the exams is that I really now know how to apply the concepts that I learned.
It was a tough experience but I’m eager to know how I did. It will take time though- results only come out on May!!!
In the meantime, I’m excited for Module 2 which starts tomorrow on the topic of Innovation.
