Entrepreneurial Spirit in Germany

February 7th, 2008

In Germany, only 22% of 16-21-year-olds are thinking about starting their own business. Not doing it, mind you, just thinking about it. This contrasts with 80% of people in the same age group in English-speaking companies. Robert Stoffers, National President of the American-German Business Clubs, is out to change Germany. Here, he addresses participants in the new AGBC program Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow in Frankfurt, Germany.

What’s the best low-key summer project?

June 27th, 2007

What’s the best low-key summer study project if you’re looking at a monster exam this fall? Whether the standardized test in your future is the SAT, GMAT, GRE or yet another of these big rocks in your road, there’s a little something Athena Mentor recommends you do every day: add a few new words to your vocabulary. Give it a try with this little story. There are a couple of helpful hints at the end.

“The GMAT is an abomination,” grumbled Randy. “Why any MBA program would subject us to the enfeebling process of fabricating essays on egregiously pointless topics . . .”

“It’s an enigma,” agreed Sandy.

“The vocabulary is arcane, the critical reasoning exercises are abstruse and the reading comprehension questions are just . . .”

“An enigma,” agreed Sandy.

“Who can we get to illuminate this morass?” mumbled Randy, irritably.

“That would be Athena Mentor,” confided Sandy. “She’s a monomaniac on the subject of building one’s vocabulary over the summer.”

If you need to, ah, brush up on some of these words, Athena Mentor recommends the dictionary at Merriam-Webster Online. Click on the little loudspeaker icons to hear each entry pronounced with an American accent.

Athena also recommends the Cambridge Dictionaries Online. If you are studying for an American exam, be sure to use the Cambridge Dictionary of American English. If you’ve been brought up on British English, you can compare usage on this, ah, invaluable site.

MBA, Jr.: Business After College

June 12th, 2007

Thinking about a career in business, or getting an MBA some day? If you’re a college junior or senior, or have recently graduated from college, check out the Business Bridge Program at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. It’s designed to help you make the transition from liberal arts to the business world. Paul Doscher explained it to Athena Mentor during her recent visit to Tuck.

In the background is the eponymous bridge. Go ahead, look up “eponymous” and add it to your vocabulary.