The week can be summed up with one word: Finals.

After just one month of classes, I completed my winter "semester" which included 1) Strategic Management 2) Financial Management 3) Marketing Management and 4) Intro to Modern Art History - completing 20-30 hours of lecture for each! 

If you are reading this blog because you are interested in the January intake for the PSB MACAM program - just know that your number one enemy in the winter intensive will be procrastination. Start reviewing immediately, as the three weeks before exams will fly by. And your number one friend? Sleep! So many people were walking zombies during finals and making silly errors. Take care of yourself so you can think sharply and quickly.

It was a whirlwind to say the least, and I spend most of the week with my head in a books and notecards trying to cram everything in. And it paid off...mostly. More importantly, I think I learned a lot about myself in the process. I learned that I can quickly absorb immense loads of information in a short period of time. It feels really powerful that you can master new skillsets quickly and internalize them for broader future use. In that same vein I learned to prioritize my own learning over the grades themselves. The perfectionist in me constantly aims to excel in everything, and at times I put getting a high grade as the objective because it would immediately reflect well on me. Instead, I am learning to truly take things in and I am connecting the dots to how this will improve my professional output as an arts manager (and when you do learn things on this deeper level - and not just memorize - you will excel on your exams because you truly understand the subject)

The other word to sum up the week is: SNOW

It has been a winter wonderland in Paris - and between the exhaustion from school and limited sleep I found myself in near tears at the beauty of the city. It looked like the city was heavily dusted in confectioners sugar. It felt clean and pure - unlike my childhood home in Colorado, where all I saw was muddy snow patches and black ice tripping hazards. It was the perfect week to stay at home and study - and the perfect time to take random snowball fight breaks to relieve any stress we were feeling (Joey began taking intensive french classes this week - comment below if you would be interested in a blog about that!) 

To beat the stress even further, we are off to Mont Saint Michel this weekend! Stay tuned for our travel blog on that weekend adventure!