Shyamala Sathiaseelan
			My past, present & the future
	I was born and brought up in India where parents decide what is good for their children. This includes education. My father is a mechanical engineer and he has also done his MBA. My mother is a homemaker who has done her Diploma in Home science. My parents decided that it would be nice if I did computer engineering. Though I did not have it in my list. My personal choices were
	a. Mechanical Engineer b. Pilot c. Doctor d. Psychiatrist.
	But I had to give in. When I started to do my engineering, I knew that I wanted to do my MBA. But because girls are not allowed to study much my wish to do MBA had to be shelved for the time being.
	Luckily for me I started working immediately after I finished my course. I worked as a software engineer in this company for two full years. That is when I started to think about what I should be doing and what I was doing. I knew I had to learn more to go up in life. I started observing everything going around me. Here I had a wonderful manager who had a knack of getting things done on or before time. I admired him because he had his way with everybody and was liked by everyone without exception. On the whole he was a wonderful manager!
	During the two years that I worked there I worked in different sites and under different people. I started keeping track of the qualities of all my managers, good as well as bad. I was learning how to be a good manager.
	I changed jobs. From this small office I started working for the stock exchange. But I was still only an officer in the systems department. Here I had a wonderful manager again who taught me a lot in life. He supported us whenever he knew that we were right, irrespective of what the management thought. At some point of time in this office I had a couple of people working under me. This was the first ever time in my life that I was in a position to delegate work. I was thrilled about it.
	In April 98 I quit my job in the stock exchange and I was waiting for my visa to come. Being a person who was never used to sitting at home unemployed, I decided it was time for me to go and check what was going on in the Computer Institute run by a friend. Till then I was too busy managing my own job and home. My friend himself was working full time for another company and was working in the institute only in the evenings. The first day I went to the institute I realised there was nothing in proper order because there were no proper people to manage things.
	The first thing that I did that day was to clear out the space. Then I started to check all the records. For quite some time I had doubts about the management of the institute. Though the institute had enrolled more than hundred students in a year there was no profit shown anywhere. Our debts remained the same, Rs.1, 00,000. So what was happening? Where was the money disappearing? I had to find that out. Today was the right day to start.
	I did not have any experience in running a business. My fear was that I was younger than everybody else was there, so I was not sure whether anybody would listen to me. I decided to take a chance. I took out all the files. I realised that there were bills and receipts lying out on tables without being filed properly. There were not enough number of files for everything. I walked out and got files, spent the entire day categorising everything and putting them in the right files. I am generally a very organised person. And I feel that getting organised itself is like completing half the job. Now was the time to use all the skills that I had learnt over a three-year period.
	When I finished organising things, I realised that an invoice had to be sent to a company and a quote had to be sent to another company, both had to be done the next day. I got both of them ready. Then once I felt that every thing was organised, I called the staff and the other partner, five of them in all and briefed them about the current situation and told them that things were going to different from the next day. The staff agreed while the partner refused to cooperate. The reason being that I was younger to him and I was not educated to be a "MANAGER". Though after some talking with him I did convince him, I had that in mind that my education also counted. Three months later when I had to  leave the country, I felt sad, as I would not get that sort of experience anywhere else.
	Once I reached Dublin, and started working as a software engineer in Guinness Ireland Group, I started looking out for universities where I could do my MBA. I successfully found Rushmore University on the Internet.
	I can see myself as the "Right manager" for software company with enough software knowledge and enough management knowledge. The manager that all the subordinates will love to work under...
	Special Interest
	Travelling has been my love since childhood. I've travelled all over India, UK, Ireland and Singapore. I also write about my travel. I have a homepage of my own where I have put all my writings, poetry, paintings, etc. A couple of my articles were published and I even got third prize for one of them. I also love to meet people and get to know about them. Other than travelling I also love solving puzzles.
	I've lived in different states in India and I know more than four languages very well because of this. I also know a couple of other languages but I am not very fluent in them. At present I am trying to learn French.
	Why Rushmore?
	One might wonder why I chose Rushmore university. The first question that anybody will ask is why choose an American university if your are in Dublin. My answer is simple.
	I chose this university because I am not evaluated based on the exams but on the amount of research work that I do and the quality of reports that I submit. I am allowed to customise my course, instead of me following some structure that has been there for ages, I can add in any course that I feel is necessary for me. I can start the course at anytime and continue in my own pace.
	Course
	The following is my new course outline. I have to finish a total of 30 credits out of which I have completed 5 credits. As and when I finish my papers you can see them uploaded here. I started the course way back in Sep 1999 but due to unforeseen circumstances I had to stop it. I have redesigned my course now and hope to finish it as soon as possible.
	My Journal
	HRE601 The Employment Relationship 2 Credits (A Grade)
	HRE602 Management, Unions, and Collective Bargaining 3 Credits (A Grade)
	HRE603 Management Experice gained volunteering for Special Olympics 2 Credits (A Grade)
	2084 Steingold on Human Resource Law 3 Credits (B Grade)
	I will use The Employer's Legal Handbook by Fred S. Steingold, Barbara Kate Repa (Editor) as the main resource. I chose this course because this will assist me in knowing the legalities involved that I should know as a HR person.
	1114 Lakein on Time Management 4 Credits
	1111 Website Development 2 Credits
	2079 Francis and Woodcock on Self-Development 2 Credits
	I will use The New Unblocked Manager: A Practical Guide to Self-Development by Dave Francis, Mike Woodcock as the main resource. I chose this course because as a manager self-development is something that I will have to constantly work on. During this course I will devise a self-development plan.
	2083 Horowitz on Human Resources 3 Credits
	I will use The Unofficial Guide of Hiring and Firing People by Alan S. Horowitz as the main resource. I chose this course because as a HR Manager hiring people will be one of the most important things that I would do, and just in case I have to fire people... During this course I will work on learning more about good hiring practices.
	2085 Ulrich on Human Resource Management 3 Credits
	I will use Human Resource Champions: The Next Agenda for Adding Value and Delivering Results by David Ulrich as the main resource. I chose this course to assist me in delivering the right results on time. During this course I will learn about delivering results and getting results delivered as well.
	2086 Fitz-Enz & Phillips on Human Resource Management 3 Credits
	I will use A New vision for Human Resources: Defining the Human Resources Function by its Results by Jac Fitz-Enz, Jack J. Phillips as the main resource. I chose this course to help me know more about the Human Resource Functions. During this course I will list out and learn more about all the Human Resource Functions.
	2090 Tulgan on Human Resource Management 2 Credits
	I will use Managing Generation X: How to Bring Out the Best in Young Talent by Bruce Tulgan as the main resource. I chose this course to assist me to know more on handling young talent at work. During this course I will learn about brining out the best in people and especially in youngsters working with me.
	2091 Rothwell on Training 2 Credits
	I will use The Action Learning Guidebook: A Real-Time Strategy for Problem Solving Training Design, and Employee by William J. Rothwell as the main resource. I chose this course to assist me in Training. During this course I will learn more on problem solving training design.
	2029 Koberg on Innovation 2 Credits
	I will use The Universal Traveler: A Soft-Systems Guide to Creativity,Problem Solving, & the Process of Reaching Goals by Don Koberg, Jim Bagnall as the main resource. I chose this course to learn how to be creative and solve problems and handle things in a creative way. During this course I will research more on innovative methods of problem solving.
	2001 Crosby on Leadership 3 Credits
	I will use The Absolutes of Leadership by Phillip B. Crosby as the main resource. I chose this course to assist me in learning about leadership. During this course I will list out and learn more about Leadership qualities and implement them.
	2111 Drucker on Executive Development 3 Credits
	I will use The Effective Executive by Peter Ferdinand Drucker as the main resource. I chose this course to assist me to know more about Executive Development. During this course I will list out and learn about Executive Development.
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