Only 3 days left of MBA life in the USA.

With only 3 days left of school, I would like to spend the next 30 minutes to express my feelings and thankfulness to people who have helped completing my journey.

Tarn - Without you, I would not be me as of today. I will always remember two first studying tables we built and your kindness of warning of my diet.

Suzi - You are everything to me. Hope you enjoyed your stay at my parents' house.

Jing - Thank you so much for every memorable moment you have shared, every activity you encouraged me to go. Thanks for helping me in interview prep to Zumba!

Janelle - You are such a brilliant girl and great friend. And you are the first American friend who is better in Thai alphabets than me!

Chirag - Thank you for sharing experience of STAR project. I would never forget the car stories we shared on the way back from Charlotte

Scott - Thanks for being on-time and tolerate this carpool buddy for a year. I miss riding in a car and share great stories with you.

Oak - Thanks for listening my heart broken stories :) I am sure you will become one of the most successful businessmen in Thailand.

Chris - You are also another cool person I have ever met. Thank you very much for sharing our wonderful Thanksgiving at your parents' house.

Rick - Thanks for being such a great entertainer and supporter for every party we wanted. rock band, ski trip, karaoke, upcoming beach week, etc. Also, your first Thanksgiving turkey was awesome.

Sumeth - Thanks for so many stories about 'love life' you shared with me. You helped me pass through the tough time.

Mike - Thank you very much for every little help along the way since the beginning until now, also first beer you bought for me, took care of me and shared my first strawberry smoothie during ASWII.

Frank - You are one of the nicest guys I ever met. Thank you for a wonderful dinner when I felt extremely blue and your postcard that made me stronger.

Jen - Thank you for your guidance and being such a sweet friend. I totally remembered the first conversation about 'Yaris' in front of the Carolina Inn and the happy time we spent during CEF last summer.

Tyrie - You are super awesome study group buddy. I love you very much because I think you are so cool and fashionable too :)

Doc - We love you and would not forget how brilliant you are. Thank you for amazing operations models you built!

Marc - You are such an inspiring entrepreneur. I know you will be great one day in the near future.

Madhu - Even I have not spent time with you much this Mod, I always think of you and thank you for our memorable study group time during the first year.

Pinky - Thank you for every sweet you have shared. Please do not worry about the future or anything in life since I am very certain that you will become one of the most successful persons on earth.

Yi-Fen - I loved your smile and keep smiling, ok? Thanks for being in the smiley club with me.

Carina - Thank you for being such a great supporter. I would never forget my 4 birthday parties this year. They are one of the best parties in my life. Without you, it would not have happened.

Mo - Thank you for your kindness you have shared with me. Keep smiling and the whole world will be yours.

Ryan - I love you laugh (so sincere and genuine), it made my whole world smiles too. Thank you for the fun time you have shared with our Thai gang. I would never forget the first day I met you and Janelle in Koury, Culture Class, and your holiday wish.

Michael - I don't have enough space to write how much you mean to me. Thank you. I am certain that you will be the king soon.

And everyone I did not mention in this note, I want you all to know that you fulfill my dream and another page of most memorable moment in my life. I will miss you all very much and everything we've shared at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School.

One thing I want you all to remember, I am a person who never ever forget how much you all have meant to me. I would feel happier if I can be at least some help when you need someone to support you. Please think of me since I will always be there with you all in spirit.

Again, thank you. I look forward to celebrating our success during graduation. I wish you all the best.

Love,

Tong

4/24/2010
11:59pm

FIrst Time of my life....looking back almost 2 years ago

To turn the clock around about almost 2 years ago. I had so many first time of my life.

1. First time I drove on the left hand side of the road and drove over 10,000 miles in total!
2. First time I felt no pressure for the school grades!
3. First time that I was a model
4. First time I organized events in the USA
5. First time I learned about 'networking'
6. First time I drank the whole glass of beer
7. First time I ever stayed on my own without anyone helping me ironing my clothes
8. First time I ever tried to cook Pad Thai (and many of my friends loved it :)
9. First time when I felt vulnerable, I cured my heart in my own room
10. First time I really realize that every memorable moment will be the treasure of tomorrow

Thank you everyone to become part of my life and share the story of the "first time" with me. Every ending is the beginning of new things.

Even though I may not be able to be there with you when you all celebrate your success, at least please think of me when you feel down. No matter which corner of the streets in this world you all are, part of you have me to walk with you and help you when you fall. That's just ME! When you need me, I will be there for you and cheer you up from the bottom of my heart.

Love is all around.

Tong
3/20/2010
2 a.m.

Forging business leaders: UNC rivets its students in experiential learning to put them at the top

Even with a great deal of knowledge, without leadership and entrepreneurial skills, business students will not be sufficiently prepared to become leaders in their chosen field.

UNC Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA

Recently, James W. Dean Jr, PhD and dean of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School (UNC Kenan-Flagler), located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States, told "Education" the secrets of how the business school moulds future leaders and entrepreneurs.

UNC Kenan-Flagler is ranked among the top 20 MBA schools in several business publications, such as BusinessWeek, Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal. Its alumni include Hugh McColl, founder of the Bank of America, and William B. Harrison Jr, former chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase.

Dean Dean was in Bangkok to attend the annual general meeting of the Kenan Institute Asia that was held recently at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel.

Thais at UNC

UNC Kenan-Flagler has student exchange programmes with Thai universities, including Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration of Chulalongkorn University.

"Since beginning the MBA programme, I have been impressed with the intellectual strengths of my classmates and the challenging programme. I am confident that UNC Kenan-Flagler has given me the tools needed to help me become a global leader," explained Ornpaka Vudhikosit, who is one of eight Thai students enrolled in the MBA programme at UNC Kenan-Flagler.

The other seven students from Thailand are Chananya Jaisin, Wannawit Manoleehagul, Peerapat Srivithayaraks, Jariya Suwannapeng, Sumeth Suwanpusaporn, Kittipatr Taweechotipatr and Suchitra Thongchantra.

Leadership fountain

"Our goal is to be the number one school for leadership development," said Mr Dean.

The dean suggested that while persons climb higher in their careers, it is nevertheless true that functional skills and professional leadership tools remain important. The university tries to incorporate in its curriculum a balance between functional skills, such as marketing and accounting, with the opportunity for students to grow as leaders.

"We want [students] to think that it is important to learn how to be leaders and they can create a mechanism that, throughout their career, they can use to develop themselves as leaders," explained the dean.

"One of the stereotypes of MBA students is that they think they know everything already, so we try to show them very quickly that they have much to learn as a leader," he added.

Leadership Immersion

The unique mechanism used at UNC Kenan-Flagler to produce leaders is the "Leadership Immersion" programme (LI), an optional course for MBA students, which is offered in the last eight weeks of their degree course.

"We have so much academic work for our students that it was previously difficult for them to develop their leadership skills. I asked our staff to design a space where students can hone their leadership skills without having to juggle competing programmes," said Mr Dean, explaining the origin of LI.

James W. Dean Jr

In LI's first year, 12 students signed up for the programme.

In LI, students get involved in intensive leadership training sessions, leadership challenges, outward bound exercises, trips to various parts of the US to meet and talk with top business persons, and many other activities.

In a leadership challenge last year, students worked with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and were able to raise about $30,000 (982,000 baht) to send children to Disney World.

"This year in Leadership Immersion, the challenges are going to be even more business-focused," said Dean Dean, adding that students might get a chance to work with major firms such as Red Hat, a major open-source software compiler; VF Corp, a leading clothing maker; and other top enterprises.

The dean plans to double the number of students in LI this year. He also plans to apply the LI model to the teaching and learning of sustainable practical business concepts, which is another forte of UNC Kenan-Flagler.

Building entrepreneurs

"We have a very strong belief in our university and in the business school regarding learning from experience," said, Mr Dean, elaborating on the core of the teaching and learning approach at UNC Kenan-Flagler.

Beyond a regular MBA class, one of the tools that encourage entrepreneurship among students is to have them apply theory to practice and gain experience from business challenges.

One of the competitions hosted by UNC is the internal Carolina Challenge. Teams of students, faculty members and staff at UNC who would like to start their own businesses create business plans and present them to a panel of judges. The winners are awarded approximately $50,000 (1.62 million baht) in cash.

"The experience of developing the business plans, presenting them to people for funding and then actually going out and starting the business, is one of the best ways by which people learn," Mr Dean explained.

Another competition hosted by UNC each year is the Venture Capital Investment Competition, a contest that involves over 50 business schools in the world. In this contest, students act as venture capitalists.

"Rather than play the role of someone trying to get funding for business, they act as someone who tries to decide whether to fund the business or not," said Mr Dean, adding that the competitions aim to inculcate in students skills in assessing the goals and feasibility of a prospective business. The winners get $10,000 (331,000 baht) in cash.

In the case of undergraduate students, with the help of the Ewing Marion Kauff-man Foundation, an organisation that supports work on entrepreneurships, non-business majors can take an "entrepreneurship minor".

"Students who are majoring in, for example, biology and chemistry, can also do a minor in entrepreneurship, so that if they think about starting a business in the future, they will have the necessary skills," explained the dean.

Experience from experts

Another prominent tool that UNC Kenan-Flagler uses to promote entrepreneurial and leadership skills for students is providing opportunities for students to learn from the experiences of top business leaders.

"Experience is a very good teacher. It takes a long time for anyone to gain the experience that is needed for success. If you learn from other people's experiences, you shorten the learning curve," opined Mr Dean.

Recent experience-sharers at UNC Kenan-Flagler include Vicente Fox Quesada, a former president of Mexico, and Ellen J. Kullman, DuPont's chair of the board and chief executive officer.

"We have people come in who have started their own businesses, whether successful or unsuccessful, and talk about the challenges they faced, so that students can learn from them," Mr Dean said. "The opportunity to learn from other people's mistakes instead of making our own is a great gift," he quipped.

For more information on UNC Kenan-Flagler, visit http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu .

Writer: Purich Trivitayakhun

Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/life/education/34895/forging-business-leaders

Another part of my success organizing the Event as the VP-Event for Entrepreneurship Club.

March 8, 2010
High-tech entrepreneur Bob Young to speak at UNC Kenan-Flagler March 17

Bob Young, founder and CEO of Lulu.com, will speak at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School on March 17.

Organized by the MBA Entrepreneurship Club, his talk will begin at 5:30 p.m. in UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Koury Auditorium.

Bob Young successfully turned the software industry upside down as co-founder and former CEO of Red Hat. Now he is taking on publishing industry giants with Lulu.com.

"The theme of our event is ‘Taking on the Giants’ and we could not think of a better representative from the entrepreneurial community to provide perspective given Mr. Young's rich background and boldness," said Ornpaka Vudhikosit (MBA Class of 2010). "Having successfully turned the software industry upside-down with Red Hat, he is now doing it all over again with Lulu. We believe MBA students and the public in general will be very excited to hear his viewpoints and advice on how they too can become game changers."

Young founded Lulu.com in 2002 to help creators go directly to the market and monetize their content.

In 1993, Young co-founded Red Hat, the open-source software company that gives hardware and software vendors a standard platform on which to certify their technology. Before founding Red Hat, Young spent 20 years at the helm of two computer-leasing companies that he founded. He also co-founded the Center for Public Domain, a non-profit foundation created to bolster conversations about intellectual property, patent and copyright law, and the management of the public domain for the common good.

Source: http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/News/DetailsNewsPage.cfm?id=4694#

Life is not easy but it can be if you forget to follow the path with a heart.

Trip with my mom in July 2009

I have not really updated much about life since I have been busy travelling and showing my mom who visited me this month.
I went to Wilmington NC (July 11), Charleston SC (July 18-19), Winston-Salem (July 25). I cannot really promise myself even how much update I would be able to work here at blog. Cheer me up please.

One of the shocking News

Life is short, enjoy of what you have, who you are, and every moment of joy.