Written by Dong, 2021 Cohort
For my final piece this year, I am writing to share some personal tips that I
learned during the 8-month experience in pre-MDM! Let’s get started!
- Course overviews
There are a lot of courses in our program. My favourites are Pitch &
Presentation – Aida and Multiple Media – Jason. Why? Because everything in
both pre-MDM and MDM is agile, which requires a prompt response and
continuous iterations to create dynamic prototypes. So as for the technical
language part, Aida offers us real rehearsals for transition in Pitch and
Presentation. Imagine you are standing in front of a crowd, so you have to
gather your fragmentary thoughts off the cuff and overcome your fears to
speak and persuade at the same time. I also heard this was the most
challenging thing for the majority of pre-MDM people, even before my
generation. Fortunately, you shall grow a lot in this course. As for Jason’s class,
he is super funny and shows us a good flow to learn product making,
systematically.
- Things to remember in Pre-MDM
So what can you do when you enter this program? Here are some suggestions
for you:
- Be serious with every single opportunity to express your opinions (in terms
of teamwork or assigned homework). We have been protected by Aida and
Jason so well, but it’s more difficult than you think, if you really want to find a
job in the “English-speaking” world. So they provide you with trials and
opportunities to make mistakes and give you constructive feedback,
accordingly. I love them and hope everything will be great with them. - Being able to self-organize is extremely important, no matter if you are a
graduate student or a workplace newbie, which means you have to learn as
you go and by yourself, most of the time. Therefore, you have to understand
your goal and execute it with a strong motivation. - Don’t be afraid of team conflict. This is normal; be nice and keep
communication open with everyone, until you all find a solution.
- My future plans for MDM
It really depends on what kind of team members I’m going to meet. But in
general, I want to be a coordinator or a product manager. I have found my
interests in all future courses. They require English proficiency, and I’m going to
keep on working on this!
I did really enjoy the time I spent on this hybrid program (we currently have 3
people including me in China, and the rest in Canada). I love Sifan, Cassie,
Nima, Tao, Fang, Xiao, Ruby, Octavia, Oscar, and I also love Aida, Jason, Simran,
Iris, and every guest speaker that came to our class. I learned a lot from them,
and they’re my life treasure for sure!