MBA Journal: Life's Circles

"While my classmates in Shanghai are living it up, I will be taking in my fair share of celebrations and events back in London"

By Isaac Iglesias

“Funny how life goes around in circles sometimes,” said my friend Isha, who smiled when she learned I was looking to rent a place in London with our mutual friend Mariana. In September 2005, Mariana and I were on a similar path in London. I was working toward an MSc degree, and now I am pursing an MBA from China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). Mariana was starting her PhD and is now about to finish it.

Studying abroad this semester at London Business School (LBS) has me back in the U.K. and once again in touch with Mariana and Isha. Wishing rent prices had stayed the same, I am again adapting to a new school and apartment.

Since I am busy with house hunting, summer already feels like a distant memory. I was at CEIBS, where I studied full time, into mid-July, and then I started the first block of electives at LBS—my exchange host—in late August. This left me with barely six weeks of summer and a reluctance to take on an internship. Instead, I traveled in China, Taiwan, and Laos while taking two summer courses, which will give me more free time at the end of the year. Coincidentally, most of my nine fellow Spanish students at CEIBS chose to postpone the internship in favor of travel, holiday, or family plans. In our last lunch together, we were laughing about how stereotypes are sometimes a bit true. We simply can’t give up our leisure time.

COZY ATMOSPHERE

Summer courses at CEIBS, particularly the ones I took, are intense in delivery (crammed into four full-day sessions) but light on pressure. There are lots of assignments but generally no final exam. Because many students are busy with internship commitments outside Shanghai, these courses are entirely optional and are attended by a smaller number of students. This creates a cozier atmosphere and allows for better class discussion. Often taught by visiting professors and attended by the first arriving exchange students, these courses also have a distinct international flavor. Nevertheless, I don’t want anyone to think they are a walk in the park. The coursework does require time. Those with demanding internships, who participate in these courses too, have reported problems managing the workload.

At the same time that second-year students were attending summer courses, CEIBS management was occupied with welcoming the new cohort of MBA students to campus. Non-Chinese students started early in July with an intensive and useful Mandarin course. By August, the entire first-year class had arrived. Soon, both first- and second-year students will be, respectively, attending Term 1 and Term 4 of the program simultaneously. CEIBS is a 15- to 18-month program; therefore autumn is the time when most students are on campus and most of the parties take place. I cannot believe I am missing all the fun in China.

While my classmates in Shanghai are living it up, I will be taking in my fair share of celebrations and events in London. LBS’s MBA office has done an excellent job of welcoming us. We will start attending all the club kick-off sessions and new-student events in the following weeks. Electives are getting underway and students are slowly coming back to campus from their summer commitments. I have attended only one course so far, Project Management, and I found it to be thought-provoking. Still, as the professor himself joked in the class, I didn’t even have to come to London for this one. The prof will be traveling to CEIBS in the fall to impart a similar course to my classmates. I will be attending other specific courses, however, that I sincerely hope are as fantastic as the first one I had.