The morning temperatures in Amherst, MA have been below 0 degrees the past few days and it has been a challenging winter with a lot of snow.
However, yesterday the new "spring" semester at UMass Amherst began and it was energizing to meet the students in my Humanitarian Logistics and Healthcare class. The course meets Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 8:30AM at the Isenberg School of Management.
The students come not only from the business school but also from the School of Public Health, the Riccio College of Engineering, and even the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences.
I arrived in the classroom at 8:00AM because I wanted to make sure the technology was working well.
The first student arrived shortly thereafter and he drove from Boston (about 2 hours). He is working towards 2 Master's degrees at the Isenberg School - an MBA and a Master's in Business Analytics. Another student is also working on these two degrees and has 3 children under the age of 4. I was so impressed and inspired by the students - I asked them to share some background about themselves and their interest in the course, and also to provide a "fun fact."
One student is a lawyer and several of the students have traveled widely even during the January break (to Croatia and Japan). One of the students is on an athletic team and will be traveling a lot to games.
I told the students that I have some excellent guest speakers lined up and am also planning on a field trip. They were very excited about having a field trip.
The students give us hope (much needed these days).
I am very much looking forward to an engaging and exciting semester.
Posts
