end of trinity term...

And so we have it, the end of the third and final academic term, Trinity. It has been a very interesting past few weeks of final papers and then three exams this week. I've written about:

• the performance of our model firm for my marketing strategy class
• google as a fast second market mover for my marketing strategy class
• a new proposed business venture providing customer satisfaction surveying and analysis for small businesses for my entrepreneurship and technology ventures class
• a response to an ofcom (UK media regulatory body) consultation about advertising high fat and high sugar foods to children on television for my media strategy and regulation class
• about a failed implementation (we chose an internal process we've dealt with as SBS) for my strategy implementation class

Plus I've just taken exams for Media Strategy, Strategy Implementation, and Management Control and Information Management. It's been quite a range of topics to cover in depth in just a few weeks, and there have been a few all-night sessions to get all of the various papers in!

In Oxford there is a big tradition surrounding exams. Because most of the undergraduates only take one set of exams at the end of their third year which will determine their entire university performance, there is a huge emphasis placed on celebrating when those exams are over. It's been quite different for us as we have had exams an the end of each term, yet we are still trying to tag onto as much tradition as we can. In addition to the sub fusc we have to wear for exams, students wear a white carnation on the day of their very first exam, pink ones for the in between exams, and a red one on the last day. We've been wearing pink since way back in December, so it was quite a nice thing to put on a red one for my final exam on Thursday. We technically have some sort of final exam in September, but no one is really sure what that entails and if we return to the exam schools for it, and this was our last set of exams following lectures, so we treated it as the last one.

Following the last exam, it is also customary to be showered in champagne and glitter by your friends. Again, the undergraduates go nuts here, but we decided to play along a little bit. I got my friend Vern on Wednesday, and he returned the 'favour' on Thursday for Homy, Matt and I. It was an interesting experience to walk around all afternon smelling of champagne! Of course we celebrated in true Oxford student style by taking in a few drinks at the Turf Tavern afterwards.

It was also an entertaining week to be sitting exams in Oxford, as we take exams in week 10, which is long after most undergraduates have left the city. Tourists are over-running the place and we definitely felt like tourist attractions all week long walking around in our sub fusc. One day we were walking out of lunch when we heard a tour guide telling his group 'You can tell they are postgraduate students by the length of their gowns...", and when we finished out last exam, a group of people on the sightseeing bus on the High Street all cheered for us. Amusing!