The Insider - September 2017

THE INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2017

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GENERAL PARTNERS

Writers: Sandu Gîsca, Hanna Yadchanka, Antons Ponomarjovs, Elvi Kustavus, Doina Lupu Special thanks: Mu Cafe, Morten Hansen, McCANN, Deloitte, Andrejs Grigolunovics Cover photo: Mikus Alberts

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THE INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2017

CONTENTS

Super Important Things to Totally Check Out

07 12 18

Meet Mu Cafe Deloitte on Technological Advancements McCANN: Cables, Comics and Coworkers

For the Aspiring Economist of SSE Riga

05 06 08 11 16

Morten on Venezuela Swimming with Sharks and Other Sea Creatures

Financial Modelling 180 Degrees Consulting Study Tips

For the Fun Loving Student of SSE Riga

10 14 20 22 24 26

Water Polo at SSE Riga A New Yearly Class Poster Cribs: Dorms Edition University Life Horoscopes for Your SSE Riga Life The Gossip Page THE INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2017

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Dear all, The long awaited issue is here at last and the team of The Insider is glad to be back for the year. This time we are bringing you some of the most loved previous segments we’ve ever had, including but not limited to the Gossip page, Morten’s column and the University life. In addition to that we also aim to establish a new yearly tradition of having a poster of that year’s class in the first issue.

This time you can find a wide array of articles suited to anyone’s taste

- from Venezuela to horoscopes, from technological advancements to our very own version of the infamous Cribs programme on MTV. We hope you will enjoy the issue and are looking forward to our team coming back again, bigger and better, with our new associates.

In the meantime, go read some gossips.

Follow us!

/SSERigaInsider

/TheInsiderSSER

Forever yours, The Insider

Elizabete Fleismane Chief editor

Gabija Vilkaite Editor

Amanda Daudaraviciute Editor

Nicoleta Barba Editor

Laura Gundega Kristapsone Editor

Roberts Pauls Eglitis Graphic designer

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Morten Hansen

“Venezuela: Economic incompetence in the power of infinity”

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he Insider says: “What about a column about Venezuela?” Excellent idea!

Venezuela is the country to look at in order to see how NOT to run an economy. It is a massive failure both in terms of microeconomic and macroeconomic mismanagement.

Nicolas Maduro is the country’s president and a former bus driver. I have nothing against a bus driver as president but when (s) he does not know the first (or second, or third, or… ANYTHING!) about economics one has a problem. A big one.

Take microeconomics: To help the poor the country has introduced price controls, i.e. prices fixed at levels below equilibrium.

From Y1 micro we know that this leads to excess demand – people want to buy more than is available, which leads to long queues to buy the few goods available since supply will be very low because firms cannot cover their costs of production when they obtain so low prices for their goods. Result: The average Venezuelan has lost weight in the past couple of years – around 8 kilos!

Then look at macro: Venezuela obtains most of its government revenue from oil production.

When oil prices were unsustainably high the then president, Hugo Chavez, embarked on a massive spending spree – also here to help the poor. Very noble, but perhaps he should have used some money to develop the economy instead for when the oil price collapsed in 2014, so did his government’s revenue.

So who wants to lend to Venezuela? No-one in their right mind, of course, and instead Mr Maduro uses the central bank’s printing press and uses freshly printed money to pay for government spending. Result – well-known from Y1 macro – inflation in triple digits and rising.

In short, Mr Maduro is president of the country with the biggest oil reserves in the world and thus high potential wealth but his mismanagement of the economy has led to the world’s biggest budget deficit as % of GDP, the world’s sharpest recession and the world’s highest inflation – and a population where the majority is starving.

He should quit his job and start driving a bus instead…

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SSE Riga: Swimming with sharks and other sea creatures

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fter the guest lecture with Joris Luyendijk, the fantastic author of Swimming with Sharks, the discussion over what it means to be a banker (or an economist) resumed amongst SSE Riga students. All over the world one thing is true: when you mention something along the lines of being in business school or being into finance, people immediately look at you as though you are a predator, an overly confident and truly ruthless shark. The prevalence of this stereotype has fed into itself, so now many people really go into the industry with the sole purpose of “making it�, willing to trample anyone in pursuit of the swanky lifestyle of the 1 percent. But is SSE Riga just like all other business schools? I would argue that it is not. Not really.

For starters, it is important to notice the role that a school like SSE Riga actually plays in the region.

Sure, if there are any Wall Street obsessed high schoolers around, this is the most natural place for them to go to. However, it is also widely known as a top university in the region, which brings along a slightly different crowd. Each year SSE Riga admits a whole bunch of just generally hard-working high-achievers, some of them just barely interested in economics. They come here because they 6

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were the best in high school and just want to score high in everything they do, including picking a university. On top of that, there are many students coming from an array of different countries, in

many of which the name of this school carries little to no meaning. What often brings them here is the fact that it is a chance to study in Europe for free (if they are accepted). More often than not, economics is not their biggest passion, and, even if it is, it is rarely the kind that drives people to work 80-hour weeks in Goldman Sachs. Thus, considering every SSE Riga applicant to have the same dream of the corporate world of London would be a raging generalization.

The criticism for this argument usually lies in the job descriptions of the alumni. Countless bankers, entrepreneurs and CEOs have graduated from the school, reinforcing the idea that SSE Riga is a quintessential business school with bloodthirsty soon-to-be leaders learning the techniques of destroying their competitors.

However, it is important to understand that the many SSE Riga graduates working in top positions in the finance field did not necessarily have to kill anybody to get there. They just happen to be good at what they do and have a killer education. And on top of that education being good, it is also very difficult to get, meaning that those, who are not cut out for the field in the first place or are just too lazy, simply do not make the cut. The pool of people is first significantly reduced by the application process, leaving most people out, and then quite a few end up dropping out because of how tough the studies are. It is impossible to make it to graduation without very significant effort, so every graduate is definitely someone willing to put in the work.

It is important to realize that this is not intended to be a criticism of the lifestyle that so many strive to have. But it is important that we as an institution have a healthy and accurate image of who we are. And at a time when all electives have become strictly economics related and soft courses are completely dismissed as useless by an increasing number of students, it is important to talk about what it really means to be a student here. Because, if we choose not to, we might end up losing the diversity and intelligence that the school has always been known for.

Meet Mu Cafe: when healthy meets delicious

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u Catering started 5 years ago as a small independent cafe in the center of Riga, offering quality food and sweets made with seasonal, localy sourced produce. Our concept proved popular among our customers and the demand grew, but due to our tricky location we took the hard decision to close the cafe front after 2 years to focus on private and corporate catering instead. After a few solid years in catering expation was again on the horizon, and having missed the close daily interaction we had with our customers at the original Mu cafe, we are very excited to open our new venture at SSE Riga.

Our values We use fresh local ingredients and seasonal produce as well as make pretty much everything from scratch – we bake our own bread,

we make all our own sauces. We’ve always prided ourselves as being one of Latvia’s few caterers that has taken vegetarian, vegan and gluten- free dietary requirements into consideration at the same time. Although the original Mu Cafe was fully vegetarian, we have also added meat options to the menu of our cafe at SSE Riga.

We are not trying to push our food politics onto people, but being very aware of the world farming issues, we believe reducing meat consumption is paramount for sustainbilty of our planet as well as lowering our carbon footprint.

Our food Our dishes are created to inspire creative minds, cooking everything fresh from scratch on-site daily. We will offer a variety of sandwiches, salads and international daily hot meals - eg. Monday will be Middle Eastern, Tuesday Mediterranean and so on. The idea will keep things interesting as well as hold a total

tranparency to the freshness as we wont be able to serve Italian pasta on Indian day! We will also have other weekly specials, like proper Liege waffles on Mondays because who is a fan of Mondays really. By the way, some say our waffles are the best in all of Riga. ;) We are aiming to keep in contact with our customers so input from you is important for us - we are on all the socal media and are open for interaction. You will also be able to see preperation for the up and coming menu as well as best deals of the day.

Also, we are still hiring for our front of house team, so anyone looking for a part-time job feel free to drop a CV to linda@mucafe.lv .

mucafe.lv Instagram/facebook/snapchat THE INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2017

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Financial Modeling 8

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Andrejs Grigolunovics is a CFA charterholder (Chartered Financial Analyst). Currently Andrew is ranked #22 worldwide for financial modelling.

Before the establishment of AG Capital, Andrejs was the CEO at the Baltic’s leading jewelry trading company Grenardi Group, CFO at SIA DT Mobile, the largest mobile phone network in Latvia, (now a subsidiary of Telia Sonera), as well as credit manager at Swedbank’s large manufacturing company department.

Please tell us a bit about your background and relationship with SSE Riga?

I studied here for 3 years: started back in 1999 and graduated in 2002.That’s my connection to the school and since then I have been working in the field of finance. It is how I came across financial modelling and why now I’ve decided to give back to the students.

What would you say was the most useful experience that you gained while studying in SSE Riga?

Everything was useful during my time, there is nothing that could be specifically stressed. Regarding courses, Financial Economics was by far the most useful as it saved me a lot of time when preparing for Chartered Financial Analyst exam.

How did you discover your passion for financial modelling?

After graduating from university, I got a position as a financial manager in a company and I worked with excel files and I had to compute many analyses. At the beginning, it was more of a trial and error thing to see what would work and what would not with different calculations. After ten years I found out that these analyzes and calculations that I was performing, there is a name for them: financial modelling.

How did the idea of setting up your own financial services company come about?

That was a very easy decision since when it is the financial crisis of 2009 and you no longer have a job at your previous employer, there is not much left to do. At the time looking for another job was not an option whatever the skills and qualifications. Looking back, I think the harsh conditions at the time made me set up something on my own. As an illustration, by the fourth quarter of 2009 the GDP fell by 18% while in the US, their GDP fell by 15% during the 4 years of the Great Depression.

When you have the safety of a salary and a workplace, it’s harder to quit your job and start something on your own. Since I had nothing left to lose, I went out there and founded my own company.

How does a usual workday look like for you?

First, I take my kids to the kindergarten and afterwards I head to the office. I communicate a lot with my employees, have a couple of clients’ meetings and then communicate with employees some more. Now, it’s mostly about communication and less about calculations as such.

Tell me about a project or accomplishment that you consider to be the most significant in your career.

There were a lot of significant projects in my career. If I had to recall one accomplishment, then probably it was my first job. It was at a company in Latvia that it is operating even today. I was around the age of 21 at the time and worked there as a financial analyst. Three months in and they had announced a merger with their key competitor and offered me the position of Chief Financial Officer. Since I was only 21, I was very lucky to be in the right place at the right time. That was probably the starting point of the advances later on in my career.

What do you do outside of everything to clear your head? Do you have any interesting hobbies?

Yes, I do running and car orienteering, basically a motor racing sport where a map is used to navigate along unfamiliar roads. Two years ago and this year as well we are still fighting for the first place.

We will see how it goes.

What is ModelOFF all about?

ModelOff is the world’s largest professional competition for Microsoft Excel, Financial Analysis, Investment Analysis and Financial Modeling. The annual international competition attracts thousands of leading professionals and students from all over the world. Participants compete in two online qualification rounds in topics that range from advanced discounted cash flow modeling (DCF), quantitative analysis of infrastructure projects to innovative challenges in Microsoft Excel.

How did you decide to lead a financial elective at SSE Riga?

Since SSE Riga is one of the best business schools in the Baltics and we have very good courses here, especially in the field of finance, I wanted to raise awareness of these financial modelling championships. I would like to train someone who could.

Finally, some words of wisdom to our readers?

It might be difficult to grasp at this point in your lives, but life is a marathon, not a sprint. If several people of the same age set the same goal, the most determined will win the race and not the one who made the most progress in the first year. Anything you set your mind to is attainable as long as you work hard and keep pushing forward. So, life’s formula for success is patience and hard work.

Interviewer: Doina Lupu THE INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2017

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Water Polo

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was very happy to know that two other water polo players from Moldova, Constantin Calmațui and Marius Onofrei, are coming to study at SSE Riga. In the beginning of 2017 I heard from the president of the Water Polo Federation in Latvia that they have in plan to organize the first ever Water Polo National Championship, but at that moment they had only three teams and were in need of a fourth one. Later on in school, I heard that there are another three students from Georgia who used to play water polo in their home countries- Nikolozi Gogoladze, George Vepkhvadze and Davit Ubilava. And that is when I got the idea to form the SSE Riga water polo team.

In the beginning of February 2017, I talked to the Water Polo Federation president and told him that we are going to participate as the fourth team. We began attending the swimming practices that were organized each Wednesday by the SSE Riga administration and Student Association. To make sure that we would be ready for the championship we arranged extra 10

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trainings each Saturday in Incukalns, where the team would play water polo.

The championship was split into two stages. On 22nd of April we had our debut in the first part of the Latvian Water Polo championship. It came up as a hard one for us. One of the reasons was that we did not have a good goalkeeper and after first game I couldn’t continue due to health reasons. We won third place and had to play on 20th of May against Panakums, the club that won second place, to see which team would get to go to the finals. According to championship rules, each team can contain up to two players who do not reside in Latvia. Therefore, in the final tour we have invited two other players, who currently study in Italy and Germany, to defend the honor of the SSE Riga.

Thus, in the first game in the final stage we were leading Panakums with the score 9-2, and in the third period (out of four) we faced again serious problems in the team, I got injured and was forced to go to hospital. First game ended with the score 16-13, and we went up to play the game for the title of Water

Polo National Champions against the Riga Water Polo club. The team performed exceptionally well and won with the score 12-7.

It is important to mention that Marius Onofrei scored 26 goals in the tournament, which is the best results and was awarded with the cup for the “most valuable player”. Another award was received by our goalkeeper, Georgy Chernozatonskiy got the award of the best “goalkeeper”.

In the end, the whole team would like to say thank you to SSE Riga Administration for providing us with the possibility to have swimming trainings each Wednesday, and to the Student Association, especially Oskars Daugavvanags, for managing the trainings, Nicoleta Barba – for raising social awareness among students, and Krišs Cērpiņš for foodraising. We hope we made everyone proud, and will continue to defend our title this upcoming year at the second edition of the Latvian Water Polo Championship. Wish us luck!

Sandu Gîsca – captain of the SSE Riga water polo team on winning the National Championship.

180 Degrees Consulting

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n this article, I want to answer one question. It is a question which is commonly asked and is very relevant. And this question is simply why. Why is it that so many people are getting involved in 180 Degrees Consulting? Why is that, so the organization has more than 15 thousand young talented people contributing their time, effort and creativity to the work that 180 Degrees Consulting does?

To answer this question, let’s first look at what 180 Degrees Consulting is. The organization was founded by Nat Ware whose right motives once led him to do charity in Mozambique. There he realized that the efficiency of spending money is much greater than the amount of money one has.

He also knew that non-profit organizations do not have significant funds to afford the services of high-quality consulting agencies. And then the brilliant idea to connect those organizations with talented university students came up to the mind of Nat Ware. As he said: “On one hand, non-profits were crying out for thoughtful advice, and on the contrary, there were talented, creative students who wanted to make a meaningful difference. Connecting the two, the idea for 180 Degrees Consulting was born.”

For more than two years 180 De-

grees Consulting has been operating in its current form. Starting from 2015 the organization has been expanding very rapidly in across Asia and Europe and by now become the world’s largest volunteer consultancy. It has 81 branches in 33 counties, and more than 5000 consultants are constantly working on the projects.

The answer to the original question varies from person to person. However, there is one common thing in it. People are joining 180 Degrees Consulting because of the stories they can create. The stories about how young people are able to apply their abilities and expertise to help to improve the work that non-profit organizations do, to help these organizations to overcome challenges they face and reach their full potential.

The stories of how that is, in turn, transformed the lives of people on the ground to the better. And those stories of how the person is changing the organization which changes lives are the heart of 180 Degrees Consulting.

Author: Hanna Yadchanka

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Major technological advances are re-shaping the marketplace Technology advances and corresponding societal shifts have transformed ways of working, leading to the need for companies to rethink how they create value for customers and compete to capture value for themselves.

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hen a Sumerian merchant first recorded the sale of livestock on a clay tablet, business technology was born. Today, 5,000 years later, that ancient technology has evolved into a new class of digital tools that are reshaping almost every aspect of business. You don’t have to look far to witness the spectacular chaos of cloud, robotics, analytics, artificial intelligence, automation, and more. These are some of the digital disruptors that are changing how business gets done.

Organizations have lots of experience managing change. But digital represents opportunities we haven’t seen before. Opportunities to explore massive amounts of information, to do it quickly, and to distribute knowledge wherever it needs to go. These shifts are not only driving operational improvements, they’re also changing expectations for adding insight.

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Digital technologies have fundamentally changed the way business operates. They are providing new market channels, supporting flexible collaboration, driving operational velocity, and improving the overall user experience.

To adapt and stay competitive, organizations should ramp up their digital efforts. At a minimum, early adopters should work to enhance select sales enablement or customer-facing activities—or risk missing out on productivity, service, and cost-savings benefits. At companies with more digital experience, gaining additional business advantage calls for even greater efficiencies. To achieve this, they should integrate and extend the use of digital technologies beyond initial deployments and into other operational areas.

But this gets tricky if organizations have invested in siloed digital solutions and lack a clear plan for tying everything together.

Deloitte research shows that most organizations we spoke with are already on their digital journeys, even if their roadmaps aren’t explicit. Not only are organizations making targeted investments in cloud, analytics, and robotics, they’re also rethinking talent in anticipation of growing business expectations for value-added insight. No matter what future you see ahead for your own organi-

zation, one thing is sure. If business leaders around you are going to compete in the digital world, they’ll need to process more information more quickly, and turn that information into deeper insights faster than ever. That will require new technology—and a group of people who are curious and skilled in using it.

Sometimes organizations hold back from embracing digital technologies without really examining the reasons why. They may think the undertaking is too complex, with too many solutions to choose from. Or that the potential costs and risks of a full-force deployment will run too high. The truth is, depending on your environment and the extent of your operational demands, it can take a significant effort to integrate digital capabilities.

Digital technologies can help organizations keep pace with the speed of business—and often take the lead. Deployed as part of a broader digital strategy, they can provide you with real opportunities for gain, including: ●Substantial cost efficiencies by directing customer service and care toward lower-cost digital activities ● Greater productivity and business agility by providing convenient smart device access to crit-

ical applications ●Increased revenue growth by opening up new digital-based business channels or through faster and improved collaboration with partners Given the fast uptake of digital technologies, it’s important to get started now. By following an ap-

proach that lets you start small and employs an iterative process, you can gain strategic flexibility by moving forward with your “no-regrets” initiatives and assessing the impact on your organization. Afterwards, you can make specific adjustments to improve the overall effectiveness of digital technologies based on your enterprise

operations and infrastructure.

Author: Antons Ponomarjovs Manager, Financial Advisory

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CLASS O

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STOCKHOLM SCHOOL O

OF 2020

OF ECONOMICS IN RIGA

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How to survive your first year at university?

Yes, you will survive - because we’ve got some life-saving study tips right here… track of your tasks 01. Keep Use a large piece of paper

or a blackboard and divide it into three columns - “to do”, “in progress” and “done”. Then add post-its with the tasks you need to do and move them from category to category as you complete them. You can use post-its in different colours to prioritize tasks.

Moving something to the “done” column gives you a sense of reward and seeing a list of things you’ve already accomplished is a real motivation booster. (You can do the same on an app called “Kanban task list”, among others).

distractions 02. Avoid “Blocksite” is a Google

Chrome extension that guess what? - let’s you block certain websites.

You can schedule specific time slots when the sites won’t be available to you (e.g. the evening before an exam). You can also set it so that whenever you try to access the blocked page, it redirects you to another one - for example, trying to access facebook.com might redirect you to elearning.sseriga.edu. Yes, it’s practically self-torture but it’s worth it.

“Forest” is an app that provides a nice visualization of your productivity to motivate you to work without any distractions. Set the time for which you want to be working without checking your phone and plant a virtual tree - as you work, the tree slowly grows but if you give up and exit the

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app, it dies. The longer you use the app and stay focused, the bigger and greener your virtual forest becomes, allowing you to see your progress.

And if you do leave everything to the last minute, use the same approach and break the task down into smaller bits of work you can do in an hour.

your study spot “coffee naps” 03. Find 05. Take Studying at home where In case you were wonderit’s all too easy to go on Netflix or fall asleep might not be the best idea; the university lobby can sometimes be dangerous, too, since there’s always someone who’d rather play a game of foosball or get a kebab than study.

It’s better to choose an environment where others are also working - a recent study has shown that mental effort is contagious and people start working harder if the person sitting next to them is dealing with a more difficult task.

Libraries and coffee shops seem to be the most productive studying places.

Find your favourite spot and stick to it - your brain will automatically go into study mode every time you’re there.

it one step at a time 04. Take Break bigger tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks and they will seem less intimidating.

Taking half an hour every day to write one essay paragraph or to revise one topic for the exam surely seems less overwhelming than cramming it in one day. Organize a study group with your friends so you’d feel more pressure to work even when there’s still time until the deadline.

ing, that’s a killer combination of the two things students love the most coffee and power naps.

Sleeping for hours, waking up grumpy and confused, then waiting for coffee to kick in is, quite frankly, a total waste of time. Try having a coffee right before you doze off for 1530 minutes instead; that way, you will wake up just as caffeine starts doing its magic and feel doubly refreshed right away.

a note taking meth06. Find od that works for you

For some, good old bullet points and outlining might not be enough. Check out the Cornell note taking system - it’s a way to organize your notes as well as a studying method. On the right hand side of the page, take notes as you normally would, writing down bullet points, formulas, definitions and drawing diagrams; on the left hand side, write down short cues and questions that you can use to recall these concepts when revising. At the bottom of the page, summarize the content of the lecture in your own words. Or, if you’re a visual learner, try some of the many mind-mapping techniques.

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Nicoleta Barba

Cribs: Dorms Edition 2 All of us have more or less heard about the magical realm that is the Student Residence Hall of SSE Riga. It is home to more than 60 students, double the amount of flies and rumor has it - a mystery painter on the fourth floor (nobody has ever seen the guy, but every evening his window light is the one that guides lost students home). The people that reside here not only get a feeling of independent living, but also get to experience university life in its truest form. With all that in mind, it’s time for you to get a tour through what we call “The Dorms”.

Beginning with the neighborhood, there is not much happening during the day, it being a quiet and peaceful place with artistic and open minded people. (See fig.

1) The dormitory building in and of itself has become an urban art piece, with 4 graffiti tags created by 3 different local artists. Many believe it to be a representation of the rebelling youth against the art-nouveau architectural style present in the center of Riga. (Fig. 2) The facade may be a little worn down, but that is a special tactic used to keep away attention from unwanted visitors. The true colors of The Dorms reveal themselves only once inside.

Each and every room here has a personality, stories and secrets, though it would not be correct to call them secrets, since the walls are so thin. It’s easy to guess what kind of a person lives in a room just 20

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5 by looking at their door (fig. 3), but if you’re still confused on who inhabited the place just come inside and all will become clear.( Fig. 4). People decorate their rooms to their liking, some preferring a more minimalistic setup, while others go full-out (fig. 5). It’s a mirroring of the soul, and the cleaning lady can tell you for sure, most of our souls are dirty.

The first and second floor kitchens are nice and fully furnished with all the right stuff.(Fig. 6) We do have environmentalists that enjoy creating life in not just petri dishes, but also cups and bowls - it really gets the cleaning lady ecstatic! For the most part, we just get excited when someone decides to use the oven, or makes something that resembles normal food, even though most of the

time what comes off of the stove is either pasta, rice or grechka .

The third floor is a bit more mysterious. It is a restricted area used for storing purposes, but, oddly enough, not all things stored there have a purpose in general. It has plenty of interesting features as well as old yearbooks from the time we dreamt of being astronauts or study dinosaurs. Most importantly, it feeds the imagination of students since most of the floor is out of reach for us. (Fig. 7) As every self respecting entity, The Dorms has acquired a set of symbols that represents its beginnings and the essence of the community that was formed. These symbols are Adam, Eve and the “snake”, which in our case is a goat.(Fig. 8) In this story, Adam and Eve are long lost lovers, unable to meet

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each other due to the fact that some Y2 decided to keep Adam locked up in his room for his own viewing pleasure, but that is besides the point. Legend says that only once the guy passes FE that the curse will be undone, and Adam together with Eve will reunite once again in Eden, also known as the study room on the first floor.

The wooden goat has little to no influence on the development of this story, but we should all admit it’s a cool and very college-like thing to own.

8 Now i’d like to shine some light on the biggest asset of The Dorms the people. If you are not sure who are the top-scores of your year, chances are they are students living here. It’s not a rule or a standard, just an extremely lucky coincidence for several generations already. After graduation, most of them leave part of their souls in boxes labeled as MAF/IF/FE notes, and pass them on to friends or…other friends. Now you know why it’s extremely important for you to make some! It’s not just fun

8 and games in here; people study too, and they study hard!

To bring an end to this whole extravaganza, The Dorms is a cool place to live in and also to visit. It is unique and special to the hearts of those who reside here now, and to those who’ve done it before us.

Those walls have seen it all, but as SSE Rigans, we never cease to amaze. So next time you fall asleep on the 24th bus after a long day at uni, or you feel like playing foosball with the Georgians at 3:00 AM, feel free to pay us a visit.

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University life

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SSE Horoscopes Aries You still can’t seem to wake up from your summery slumber. You had plans and ideas and goals, but the bed is just so comfortable and waking up is too hard. And when you can technically survive several days without food, why do people keep bothering you? The Insider says – consider this your wake-up call. Get up, clean your living space, and start studying for that upcoming exam immediately. Tomorrow could already be too late.

Cancer There is always a silver lining to everything. Try to remember that as you go through the next month or so. You have a tendency to overreact and blow things out of proportion and you will need to keep it in check. Whenever you feel stressed out by something, try asking yourself first whether you will care about this in five years or even just in a year. Think back to the things that worried you last year. Remember that the future is bright.

Taurus

Leo

You’re determined to be bold, fearless, and successful at… something.

But hey, you don’t need everything figured out yet, right? What matters is your passion, right? Well, while it may be true that you can’t know every single detail about your future just yet, we still recommend coming up with some concrete goals. Start with what makes you happy and build on that. Digging toward the sky won’t get you any closer to the treasure.

Try letting things go this year. This goes for everything, from how boring the guest lecturers can be, to your middle school haircut. Dwelling on the past won’t change it no matter how much you’d like that and it only prevents you from becoming the best version of yourself you could possibly be. Learn from it and move on (to the sea of exams, presentations, assignments, and more exams).

Gemini

Virgo

You’ve been putting in a lot of work into what matters and it has started to pay off. You are on track to where you want to be and don’t want to stray from the path. And we wish you luck, but, in the meantime, try to also fix your relationships. Look around and decide who you want to spend time with, recognize the people who share your passions and give some love and attention to the friends you already have and to your loved ones.

Cultivating your relationships will make you happier in the long run (and the long run matters most).

Studies are wildly important and you know it. And then when you’re done with your studies, organizations are important.

And then you also need a social life, so you hang out with friends a lot. Oh, and sports are very important too, just like healthy and nutritious food. And you also need to get enough sleep to function. And you know which one (or more) of these things you have been neglecting, so get to it this month. Just make sure your grades don’t suffer in the process.

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THE INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2017

Libra

Capricorn

With the beginning of this new academic year, one would hope that you feel good and are happy with your achievements. However, it doesn’t always seem to be the case. We suggest that this year you do your best to remember your strengths and passions. There’s too much to be done for you to be sulking in your own misery all year long.

When it comes to studies, you know exactly what you like. And when you like something, you tend to be seriously great at it.

We here at the Insider suggest that this year you focus on getting the most out of your talents. So, first, help your friends with studying. Odds are you already know that one friend who’s brilliant, but will definitely struggle with your favorite subject. And if not, there are a bunch of students going through the things that you survived last year. Help them out and make friends in the process!

Scorpio

Acquarius

This new year in SSER rolled around and got you really excited. Fancy watches, suits, the beauty of the university building, it all almost makes you forget that you’re still a student. And while that’s all great, we suggest that you remember it for a little longer, at least in terms of your finances. Be careful with money for the next while and you’ll thank us later.

The coming year will bring about a lot of adventure, but also a lot of fatigue. Amidst all the exams and assignments, you will want to squeeze in every fun party on the block and every night out with friends. You may be successful in all of your endeavors, but only if you give up on sleep entirely. So, we suggest, when you start seeing Ramona tapdancing outside your window, bail on your friends and go to bed.

Sagittarius

Pisces

This academic year might just become the most important one in your entire life. You will find something that will become your passion, be that a subject, an elective or simply an idea.

Pay attention in class and don’t dismiss anything immediately, since your future may be hiding where you least expect it.

The academic year is still in its early stages, yet you have already decided to take up 27 new hobbies.

September probably feels more like January to you, since you’ve also got about 12 resolutions for the coming year written down in some notebook. We say, chill out a little and don’t be upset when you can’t achieve everything on your list.

Instead, focus on making new friends or catching up with the old ones. It’s far more valuable.

THE INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2017

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They say that...

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THE INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2017

…Y2’s and Y3’s enjoyed NCC waaay much more than Y1’s …The walls have ears and you are being tested …At least this year there was a legit Slip’n’Slide in NCC …Someone was afraid to get into the gossip page during NCC... and he is here... What is love? …Vlad (Y2) is the biggest “gossip girl” of the fall …Malika (Y3) became super pretty during the summer …Roberts (Y2) was really popular among Y1 girls …Charity Club is the sexiest organisation in SSER …People joining Charity Club for 2017/2018 : Mikus , Valts and 65 Y1 girls …Anete and Dasha are the sweetest couple in Year2. Have you seen their BFF tattoos? …Ranking of the most unethical lectures:

#1 Xavier Landes #2 .... …Lasha (Y1) is on the right way to become the Pickuper of the Year. …Y(2)&Y(3) girls are pretty fascinated (and even satisfied with) by Georgian Y1s …Y1 girls are giving “well-rewards” for help in Excel, that’s how it works right now... … K. Milkus will one day have a wife, and sadly her last name will not be Milka …Some Y1 guys can barely concentrate on Math when Y2 girls walk by …Charity Club is taken, so mind your business ladies …”It’s not cheating if I’m drunk” rule did not work out too well for Gerda …There’s a Y1 girl that not only looks like a barbie, but also thinks like one .. IT’S FANTASTIC! …J. is okay with sharing A. only with T. No Y1’s allowed!

…Ethics is even more useless than O&M …Nika and Suzy are very cute exchange students …A Y1 girl met her sister in NCC for the first time in her life …iFund had stolen one question from DoO for the interview …Y1’s failed to pretend being motivated while claiming that they are “VERY motivated to join an organization” …Some Y1’s are already thinking of becoming the new President and VP …A lot of Y1 boys have long hair …Roberts (Y1) seems to be the new Kriss next year …There is a +1 pair of silicone boobs in SSER …A mysterious artist is living on the fourth floor in dorms …The first cooking workshop in SSER was really great! Everyone liked the food from sweety Nika

…Janis Y1 (former Y2) had a heart breaking outfit during the party

…Eduards B. changed his style. Now he is looking 30 years old

…One Y1 boy managed to blackout during NCC, Pub Tour and Baptizing. Seems we have a new Kaur in DA HOUSE

…Alexey and Adriana are the cutest couple at SSE Riga

…There are 2 reasons to join Charity Club: M.B. & V.F Girls hope you didn’t miss a chance to apply …All the students at SSER will become vegetarians on Oct 1st.

The new vegetarian cafe will be officially opened …Nicolas still makes mistakes as previously …We have a gossip community in SSER …Nastia is a professional Excel user …D. & V. & A. have an avocado as a fourth neighbour in their apartment …The avocado’s name is Mozard …Year 1’s are celebrating exams with Martinis... SSE is not the same anymore :(

…Presidential couples have already started to form …Some SSE Rigans have relocated the swimming practice to First МИР …2 Belarussian Year 1 boys went to a gay club after the mid-term.... …Eduard was desperately (and unsuccessfully) trying to find a girl for a night during the Xporta party... …Eduard did not get into iFund for the 4th time ... Will he try again in June? …Belarusians (Y1) worry too much about studying …Kriss failed at a job interview for being too big of a creep while gathering info about the company …No one ever noticed that Arturs & Ingus dropped out THE INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2017

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THE INSIDER • SEPTEMBER 2017