My First Winter

My First Winter I experienced my very first winter in Ontario along with my family, for me it wasn't too bad, maybe because, although there was a lot of snow, it wasn't too cold. Those days it got to -20 degrees Celsius I thought were particularly cold, I shudder to think what -30 or -40 degrees Celsius will be like! I did look my wool together will leather gloves in the bus, I also lost my wool scarf I don't know where, I guess i have to get used to such clothes over time.

Business Plan Competitions

Business plan competition came in thick and fast in this term, I was in my practicum team dealing with waste-to-energy themes, we got into the 2008 Dalhousie Ecoventure Competition at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia. My own personal venture (adapted from one of UWs projects), De-vulcanization of Rubber also got into the 2008 Rice University Business Plan Competition at Rice University, Houston, Texas. This means there was a lot of work to be done meeting deadlines for documents including executive summaries, the business plans itself, PowerPoint presentations, finally practice for presentations, and finally presentations, presentations; all these in addition to regular classes, assignments, networking events, etc. It was hectic to say the least. Plan writing and presentation is an art that I have learned as part of a team and as a team leader, overall, it has been a great and rewarding experience. You get feedback from experience business people, investors, venture capitalists, etc about your idea, business concept, etc and you begin to understand where you fit in the world. Alhough my team didn't win in both cases, the preparation and participation was a great experience.

 

Unfortunately, I ran into visa problems, our team couldn't compete at Rice, my partner was able to attend though. Some of my classmates representing another team were able to attend. The following information is taken from CBET's website: "CNN, April 6, 2008 - Two MBET Students Only Canadian Team at the Prestigious Rice University Business Plan Competetion - Full Article (link to CNN website) Full Article (link to Rice University website)."

Visit to Quebec City

I went to Quebec City to get my U.S. Visa I needed to go to Houston for the 2008 Rice University Business Plan Competition. The U.S. Consulate is just behind the Chateau Frontenac or Fairmont Le Château Frontenac in proper French, a beautiful, 1893 castle now converted to a hotel and tourist attraction. The hotel is perched on a tall cape overlooking the Saint Lawrence River, thus giving a spectacular view for several kilometres. At this time of the year the river was frozen solid, there were people going in and out of the hotel going skiing. The hotel had a carnival-like atmosphere, which is great for family vacations. The hotel is also very gracious; you get to keep your heavy bags and stuff at the hotel for free, both guests and non-guests. My first experience of the city of Quebec was a very pleasant one, the people are nice, and that is if you can speak some words of French at least.

Kicking off 2008 with the African Cup of Nations

The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, which was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament was staged at four venues around Ghana between 20 January and 10 February 2008. Egypt won the tournament, beating Cameroon 1-0 in the final. Nigeria was dumped out in the Quarter finals, losing to hosts Ghana who won the third place by beat Ivory Coast 4-2. With 99 goals, this was the highest-scoring Africa Cup of Nations ever.

Nigeria's Obafemi Martins

Bill Gates at University of Waterloo in February

Bill Gates visited UW for the second time on February 21, 2008, we MBET students were still on holiday then, which is unfortunate because we missed that big event. I do have the audio of his lecture I downloaded from UW's website though.

Bill Gates at University of Waterloo

Click on the link for more information: Bill Gates' second visit to University of Waterloo

Job Preparation

By now all my class-mates and I realise it is time to start looking for jobs, which is not an easy process in Canada. First I have dusted up my resume, and then off I went uploading it to various job sites. I’m hoping for the best, God willing.