Dissertation Done!

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Ann-Katrin

Hello everyone,

Now the time has come where the Dissertation is due!

On the 10th April 2012, we handed in our final piece of work and couldn’t realize that it is really over now!

The past 8 weeks were very intense and stressful for everyone; however, we still need some time to realize the great achievement we all did. Since August 2011, the Dissertation was always on our schedule. In some weeks more than in others, but we always had the workload of the Dissertation in our mind. Now, reflecting on the past months, everyone can be really proud to have successfully achieved this project. It is a life-changing experience!
The dissertation gave us all the opportunity to grow and to overcome our limits, but also to present ourselves as the best we could be.

As we already have the last week of studies at LRG now, we have only 1 week of school left. Projects are all done. This week we have 4 final exams and at the latest on May 11th, our last semester is over. All students of the LRG class of 2012.1 are released of the Dissertation and can enjoy the last month together.

The organization of our first LRG Graduation, and the planning of some special events to raise money for our graduation dinner, are on the class’ agenda throughout the next month.

I will keep you updated about the final happenings within days of school here in Bulle. In the meantime, I wish you all the best.

Greetings, Ann-katrin

DISSERTATION Countdown!

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Ann-Katrin

Hello everyone,

How are you?

My class, LRG Bsc 6, and myself are enjoying our last months together here in Bulle. Now, it is already mid March and we only have 8 weeks of school left. This semester is so short, but also very tight. In the last weeks, we started to work on our group projects in Human Capital where we have to develop our own training program for managers working in a company to improve their skills and competencies. Furthermore, we developed a group presentation in Corporate Governance introducing two of the most significant failures within the governance of multinational corporations throughout the past years.

Within the next two weeks, we do have general education courses, where each student can choose one of the proposed classes such as transactional analysis, orienteering or music history.

Moreover, we have only 4 weeks left until our final dissertation hand-in. Therefore, the class has a tight schedule, but everyone needs to apply discipline in time management to finish off the personal dissertation work.

From my side, I can already say now, that it was a great experience to have such a big project going on over two semesters. I have learned a lot in new research areas, because of my chosen topic; however, it puts a lot of pressure on us to continue to work and be highly motivated until the hand- in date in April.

Otherwise, as we are the first LRG class graduating, we are all enjoying the remaining time together with special graduation events that are organized by our own LRG Graduation Committee. Just yesterday, we did a Beer- Pong Party in Bulle, which was great fun.

Next week, some of my colleagues and I will prepare freshly made Sushi and deliver it to students. These extra- curricular events create the memorable moments with friends and colleagues we have studied with for over 4 years now.

I will keep you updated soon about the happenings of the next upcoming weeks. Wish you all the best and enjoy the springlike sunny days!

Greetings, Ann-katrin

Starting Final Semester in LRG

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Ann-Katrin

Hello everybody,

how are you?
My class mates and I are now back to Bulle and we started 10 days ago with our classes.
In the 1st week we had a special opportunity to attend the Direction Plus coaching seminars.

It was very exciting, because each student had the opportunity to have an individual interview and to learn how to improve and perform better during an interview. Direction Plus is an external training and coaching company who created a special program over one week for the LRG students. We got a personal report telling us our strengths, weaknesses and personal management styles. It is essential for future interviews with employers to present a clear view about your own personality. If you are interested to get to know more about this company, I have attached the link to the DirectionPlus website.

www.directionplus.ch

Moreover, in the 2nd week we started our normal classes to meet the new teachers we have in our subjects. In the last LRG semester, we focus on four different subjects. Primarily, we have Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility. This course focuses on the relationship between the managers, the directors and the shareholders of a company and how they can successfully establish long term goals in their company.
Furthermore, we do have Environmental Management, which will focus on global environmental and sustainability programs. The other two subjects within this semester are Human Capital 2, which concentrates on the development and training of employees in multinational companies, and Marketing 3, which focuses on Branding and consumer behavior.

Some of you might wonder that we only have four subjects during this semester. However, we have to progress in our final bachelor dissertation within the next three months, which will also provide us with enough work in addition to the four subjects.

Our class is very much looking forward to enjoy and create memorable moments in our last 4 months here in Bulle. We will also try to have some private “Get togethers” to enjoy each other’s company. Recently, we just organized a Sunday Brunch in one of the apartments of our classmates. It was fantastic, because we could share the experience of everybody during the winter break, but also talk about future plans.

Additionally to all the school activities, we also have to start researching and applying for potential job positions where we would like to work after the studies here in Bulle. Within the next months a variety of companies and hotel chains will visit our campus, which enables a direct access to the people that are recruiting students for management trainee programs or direct entry positions.

I will keep you updated about this.

Snowy greetings from Switzerland,

Ann-katrin

Final Exams done – Semester OVER!

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Ann-Katrin

Hello Everyone,

Unfortunately, it’s been a long time since I wrote my last blog. We had very busy weeks recently because of the preparation for our final exams.

During this last week we had to pass four final exams in our major subjects. It began on Monday with Conference and Event Management. The subject was dealing a lot with the current development of conference and convention management and what skills event managers need to succeed in planning and organizing events. On Tuesday, we had one day off. However, the class needed this day to prepare and study for the upcoming three exams on the following days.

On Wednesday, we had our Marketing Exam. As we developed a marketing campaign as a project throughout the semester, the exam primarily focused on marketing communications and the importance of public relations.

As I really like Marketing, I enjoyed researching current developments to use this information in the exam. As the week came to an end, the exam got more and more challenging.

On Thursday, it was the turn of the Revenue Management exam. This subject was one of the most complex ones within this semester. Difficult pricing strategies as well as various mathematical forecasting methods were the essence of this subject. However, through intensive independent studies we were able to cope with the exam and the teacher supported us well.

Now, after passing three exams within one week, everybody was a exhausted and we all had slept very little throughout the past days. Nevertheless, we had to finalize our semester with the last exam. As part of our integrated business game, we had to consult a hotel, analysing the hotel strategy and performance and making suggestions for future.
The creation of our business plan earlier in the semester helped us to prepare for the final exam.

In the end, all exams went well and the class is now released and looking forward to our holiday. We have now finished our semester and all classmates and myself are leaving the campus within the next days. The holidays are more or less 4 weeks long and we then will start our last semester in our LRG program on the 16th January 2012.

Until then I wish you all the best, relaxing Christmas days and a successful start in the New Year 2012.

See you all soon back in Bulle!

All the best, Ann-katrin

Farewell and Happy Holidays!

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Sebastian

Hey Everyone,

It is done!!! Finals are over!!! All went very well. I am very Haaapppyyy and it’s finally time for a break and a bit of relaxation.

This will be one of my last Blog Posts I will send to you. I am giving/leaving my position as E-Ambassador and giving the opportunity to another person, who will for sure report and up-date you with the latest information. As my final semester is coming up, the workload in regards to the Dissertation is quite heavy. Wanting to write as much as possible and to keep you up-dated makes it difficult for me to deliver constant and thorough Blog-Posts. However, I am very sure that whoever will be replacing my position will do a fantastic job!

It feels very good to have accomplished the final weeks. The build up of stress, tension and anxiety made us all tired. Now it is time to “re-charge” our batteries and take it “easy” for a bit of time.

I am wishing you a very merry Christmas to come. Enjoy it with your loved ones and I am very much looking forward reading further Blog-Posts from the LRG and Glion Team. I hope you have enjoyed the last 6 months with me. I hope you were able to get an insight of how our student life is. Should you have any further questions – I am always reachable. Please do not hesitate to contact me anytime.

OF COURSE I am wishing you all a great new start in 2012. All the best of luck! Have a great one and enjoy to the fullest!

Sebastian

Revision week

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Sebastian

Hey Guys,

We’re coming to the end of our Revision week. The tension is building up. One the one side all of us want to get going to be finally done with the semester. On the other side, some feel that we simply need more time to prepare. Time really went fast. If I think back, when I was writing my Blog Post two weeks ago, I was mentioning the subjects we have to pass. From the moment the post was being up-loaded up until now – I have absolutely no idea where the time has gone.

Nevertheless it feels good to know that in more or less 9 days the semester has come to an end and we have some time to let go of all “academics” at least for a short period of time. It will be a very sad moment for myself as a majority of my friends are graduating this semester from the GLION track (where I, myself, was enrolled back in 3rd semester). It is hard to see them all leave but I am ensured that we will keep in very close contact. Glion and LRG have a very solid and well-covered Alumni system where former students (graduates) keep close contact to one another.

I will let you know next week how the exams were. In the Meanwhile, I am wishing you a pleasant remainder of the week.

Sebastian

Wine and Spirits Courses

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Sebastian

Hey Everyone,

Hope you are all doing well?! Last Monday I have passed my WEST (Intermediate Certificate in Wines and Spirits Qualification; Level 2) examination. Whoever is interested in undergoing extra-curricular activities – there is a great batch of opportunities at LRG-UAS. As I probably mentioned to you before, I am a guy who really enjoys having a nice bottle of wine and accompanying it with some good food. In general, the matching and the harmony between different F&B aspects interests me a lot.

I therefore have chosen to participate in the Wine Club offered by Mr. Catéchis (Lecturer in Glion), which takes place on a weekly basis over the entire semester. The WSET wine club originates from the UK and is a certified Sommelier course, which is recognized in over 47 countries around the world (and available in over 13 languages). It is a fantastic opportunity to broaden your knowledge if you are interested in this subject, like me.

Should you successfully pass the WSET course (and its exam) you can move on to participate in the higher levels, e.g. the Wine and Spirits Education Trust’s Level 3 Award in Wines and Spirits Qualification. When positively passing the WSET Level 3 examination, you will be eligible to use an internationally patented logo on your business cards.

If you know that you want to primarily work in the F&B industry – it can give you an advantage for your future career.

Sebastian

Preparing for final exams

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Sebastian

Hey Everyone,

The semester is slowly coming to an end. In three weeks time, the winter vacations are going to start. Now we all have to pull through the last projects and concentrate on the Final exams – Time really flies. The weather is changing quite a bit as well. Last week we still had strong sunshine, warm weather; nowadays, the morning starts cold and stays cloudy throughout the day.

During BSc 5, our schedule/courses have been reduced a bit as we are writing our final dissertation. In total (including the General Education Block) we have five subjects– four of which (Marketing, Revenue Maximization & Pricing Optimization, Conference and Events Management and finally the Integrated Business Game), are going to be “tested” through final examinations. Even though it does not seem much, in the final year of study the exam times have been stretched to 2.5 hours per topic. This obviously means that more theory can be examined.

I am the Academic Class Representative for my class, and on Friday, November 4th 2011, a Program Committee meeting is being held in the Glion Campus. In these meetings, students have the possibility to raise their voices and give a general feedback from the semester. It is a great opportunity to formally discuss several topics. A week before, I always gather comments from the class (positive as well as negative) to have a good overview of how the class feels and what they appreciate or what they would like to eventually change. Different topics such as the schedule, course structure, General Education (and many more) subjects are being talked about.

I find it very enriching that students are able to participate in these meetings as a direct contact between lecturers and student is set. Different opinions can be raised and talked about.

Talk to you soon…

Sebastian

Photography Class

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Sebastian

Hey Guys,

We have just finished our General Education block in Photography. The Photography class gave us a creative balance to the regular academic life (time spent outside the classrooms e.g. in nature; and for one’s personal development). It was a nice change to have a subject, which was creative and artistic (compared to the “everyday academic” topics). Mr. Starsmore was highly appreciated by the class as a competent and knowledgeable lecturer with an interactive and collaborative teaching style.

In the last three weeks we have been given several themes to take pictures of. It was at times challenging to capture just the right image at the right moment – taking into account different angles, the composition of the photograph, reflections of sunlight etc. To provide you with a better overview, here are a few of the themes we worked with: “Shadow”; “Reflection”; “Color/Market”; “Water”; “Journey”; “Autumn”; “Antique” or “Self-Portrait”.

As the General Education course was taught during a three-week block, no other classes were scheduled during this time so we had the possibility to have a “breather” before the final exams, which are going to take place in four weeks time.

Looking forward sending you a new blog post soon!

Sebastian

Photography course

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Ann-Katrin

Dear all,

Since we all continued our studies after the mid-term break, the LRG class is currently attending an exciting photography course. The course lasts over 3 weeks. It is very interesting as we are getting each day a specific theme where we have to make photos in the close surrounding of Bulle.

Once, the class went to the local forest to make pictures of the colourful and autumnal atmosphere. The teacher gave us to major themes, one was “Shadows” and the other one was “Water”. Each student could use its creativity to present pictures related to the respective theme. The pictures underneath give an idea of how we improved our personal photography skills, but also show the beautiful surrounding in Bulle.

As a requirement we all need to have a good camera that helps us to get the right focus of the images and to be able to enhance our visual skills to select the appropriate framing and design of our pictures.

Now, in the second week we went to the photography museum L’Elysee in Lausanne. It was very exciting, because three different famous photographers made their exhibition at L’Elysee. Primarily, Mitch Epstein presented photographs related to the “American Power”. Especially in the picture underneath, you get the emotions of the Americans political and economical happenings, as the picture shows the British Petroleum oil refinery in California.

If you are interested in the pictures have a look on www.mitchepstein.net. Epstein focused on showing significant objects in America to raise the awareness, but also to enhance people’s critical thinking about global incidents.

However, another photographer Frank Schramm concentrated on showing emotions and reactions of people after the terror attack of the 9/11. It was interesting to see, how the photographer never presented the actual place of happening- the Ground Zero. He only focused on the reactions and look of journalists reporting about this incident.

Finally, we are now starting our last week of the photography course. I will keep you updated about our final projects in this course and how the semester continues afterwards in November.

Wish you all the best,

Greets from Switzerland,

Ann-katrin