Archive for the ‘Life in Barcelona’ Category
End of year one reflections…
Infinite group projects, lots of individual studying, countless student club organized events, non-stop partying, a lot of success stories witnessed, one of the most beautiful cities….and year one is over….Wow…time has flown by so fast. I arrived in Barcelona a little less than a year ago, and it still feels like yesterday. Today I look back to where I was last September and feel very satisfied and excited. I begun the MBA, not being sure about what kind of career I wanted to pursue afterwards. However I was positive for several reasons, that I wanted this career to bloom in the Health Care sector. Everything looked like a huge and menacing mountain to me. As I was coming from an entrepreneurial background, I had no experience or whatsoever in job hunting, job applications, recruitment processes and the very dreaded recruitment interviews. I didn’t know where to begin from. After a lot of hard work, I managed to secure my internship in one of the world’s most important global players in the pharmaceuticals sector, and will have the great opportunity to learn and to develop myself professionally.
The process to get there has been a quite painful one and I wouldn’t have achieved it weren’t it for ESADE. I look back and feel grateful to all the people that helped me and kept pushing and encouraging me. From professors to career advisors to (of course) my classmates! Many times I get the question “Are you happy with your choice of ESADE?”, the answer is “ABSOLUTELY”. ESADE may not the world’s best or #1 ranked Business School , but that’s not what one should be asking. ESADE has definitely been THE BEST choice for me. The people I had the chance to meet and work with are amazing. I’ve never seen so much solidarity and willingness to help. I would walk around the school after class and would see my fellow classmates helping each other with anything from exams preparation to mock interviews. I did not just have a group of very competent career advisors to follow me and teach me how to improve and “calibrate” myself, but also a group of 180 amazing professionals always available to help with anything I might need.
After having spent a year at ESADE, I can tell with absolute certainty that it is the world’s most collaborative MBA. Great friendships have been crafted that I am sure will last a lifetime. ESADE is not just a professional investment. It has enriched me not just professionally but also personally. There is so much intrinsic value that it’s well worth the commitment. In September, year two begins. I’m looking forward to the new elective courses, and to meet and get to know the incoming class.
Would I do this all over again? I don’t think I need to answer… 
Posted in 
BARCELONA!
Although it is raining today, I have to write something about the “Barcelona advantage” here. Apart from cultural and culinary highlights the weather definitely contributes to this advantage. An example:
- Sunday, 7th FEBRUARY, 11.30 a.m., breakfast on a friend’s terrace at about 20 centigrade!
- Sunday, 7th FEBRUARY, 2.30 p.m., starting to go through my readings on the beach …
About the readings or classes in general this term: while the first term leveled the playing field (basic finance, accounting, marketing, etc) this term goes more into depth. Sunday’s readings for example were for Global Context of Management. A class I really enjoy because topics are discussed that I think every MBA student should think about. Today’s GCM class is about income distribution, last week we discussed corruption and next week we’ll find out more about international law when we look at Pinochet’s extradition. I really enjoy discussing these topics with my classmates, which is working out well in this class being split up into three groups (20 each).
And that’s it for this post. There are midterms going on and interviews are happening or are just around the corner …
Happy new year!
A little far into the year already for this heading, but I wasn’t able to post any sooner. This term started last Monday and it did so quite abruptly. 5 new subjects plus 1 elective (I’m in the 15 months program) plus the “Doing Business in the Middle East seminar” that makes 7 new teachers and 5 readers in the mailbox. I am really enthusiastic about this term because classes promise to be very interesting. In “Global Context of Management” we split up into 3 groups for most part of the class to discuss different topics that influence long-term management decisions globally. Last week we had a heated discussion about who was responsible and what to do about the financial/economic crisis. I’m guessing climate change tomorrow will be no less interesting …
So after one week I can say, it will be quite a busy term but definitely worth it. Plus, Barcelona keeps on proving to me what a great place it is to live in:
- 2,5 hrs to go skiing in Andorra
- First BBQ of the year on the terrace mid-January
- Lunch on ESADE terrace every day of last week
I can definitely get used to that!
The true meaning of living in Barcelona.
We all know that living in Barcelona is great and for many of us, geographic location was one of the most important selection criteria for choosing ESADE. But this weekend, after 8 months of being here, I really understood the meaning of living in Barcelona.
Over the summer we enjoyed Barcelona’s beaches, Sitges to the south and the beautiful Costa Brava to the north.
“Sol, arena y mar” that was our summer and it couldn’t get better.
But surprisingly it does get better. In the winter, we snowboard and ski without having to go too far away.
This weekend we drove up to Andorra. In less than 3 hours I was all geared up and ready to hit the snowy slopes. We stayed at Soldeu which is right in front of the ski station of Granvalira and for 42 euros I got my ski pass for the day.
The views were amazing, it wasn’t crowded and the snow was great.
On the way back we drove into France and stopped by at Perpignan for my favorite-cheese, bread and wine! N.B. I wasn’t driving!
I was very upset when summer ended, but now I found that winter is Barcelona is as much or even more enjoyable than the summer.
You have to love Barcelona.
