By School of Business Student Amir Goldshtein

There are several questions that a student asks him or herself during the first week of class. What will be the difficulty of the class or the subject? Will the instructor be thoughtful?  Does it require a lot of class discussions or more individual work? Well, my BUS 250 project management class this quarter, taught by Barbara McIntyre, caught me unprepared. It was the second day of class, and the mission was to make a geodesic dome from newspaper. This was not in the syllabus.

“Caught off guard” is the best description for this situation. How will a group of 20 shocked students execute such a project? Well, the first try was painfully bad. There was no planning or even a short brainstorming session, and no one took the initiative to lead or to try and divide the group into small teams. The result was nothing to be proud of. The dome looked more like a floppy teepee. After a short discussion of what happened and a couple words of wisdom from our instructor about project management, round two began. The result of the second effort was much better. Of course, the planning, preparation and execution were not perfect, but as a class we learned a lot from our mistakes and were able to build a better dome in the end. If you are curious, you can see the dome displayed in Dean Coussens’ office although it is a little misshapen after transporting it there.

After finishing that day, I realized how much fun a student can have learning new subjects, and this is what makes Kendall College unique. Ms. McIntyre chose not to introduce the subject through PowerPoint or a lecture, but rather gave us the opportunity to learn “hands-on.” This experience got me started in understanding project management; furthermore, I enjoyed being part of the class and I am already waiting for the next meeting.