P1 Rundown

Shubham Bagdia

Immediately after getting accepted, WhatsApp / telegram groups for the class of July 2019 (19J) were up and holy guacamole: the group has been buzzing! I had been relishing my pre-INSEAD experience and decided that our start at INSEAD has to be “Different”. In this attempt, two days before our course started, along with a couple of batch-mates I had organised a “Global Drinking Evening”. We requested all incoming batchmates to bring with them ‘one beverage belonging to whichever country they were travelling from’: (alcoholic or non-alcoholic – but just the best, one could carry). Magic happens! With 220+ distinct international drinks, the picture below is a ‘glimpse’ of how “WOW” the evening was. A good friend of mine later texted: “Shubham, this might have been a world record for the maximum different drinks at one place!”  Haha! Maybe yes maybe no! I can’t confirm that. But what I can definitely confirm is: “It was Different, it was WOW”! ;-)

By the way, guess what happened thereon? Yesterday, I was told by the student committee that the "Global Drinking Evening" has been included into the welcome week agenda! #AN INSEAD TRADITION CREATED! haha ;-) 

Session for 19J launched with a "Global Drinking Night"
Some pre-school fun

The madness had begun. Two days later, starting our session at the main Amphi,

I will always remember the fantastic feeling of being in that room for which everyone had worked so hard to earn a place in. It was a moment to cherish!

That Moment!

The first week exposed us to all the awesome people in the batch wherein everyone had a rockstar story about themselves. I appreciated diversity in its true sense when I noticed the humility people exhibited during these interactions. #wowed!

Personally, I started my year at INSEAD with one of the craziest acts one could have done (not sharing details to maintain the suspense for the next incoming batch #19D ;-) ) and followed it by getting elected as the social representative for my section: - the official license to organise “social events” ;-)  In last two months I got to put up numerous events, and quite frankly, working with different people in different settings has been a super interesting course in itself! In the incoming batches, I highly suggest people to take charge and execute some events whenever they can. It’s great fun!

Academically, the experience was challenging in terms of how much one wants to take away from the course. We got exposed to many new concepts (sometimes things I didn’t know were possible). Among the excitement of starting school, making new friends, parties, trips, events, it needs extra investment on an individual level to make the most of these amazing resources. Personally, I feel having missed some important bits in P1 and I hope to do much better in P2 on this aspect.  The resources available are overwhelming and inspiring!

I am skipping writing notes on French language course (which btw is great fun) and on a couple of famous events like 'Master Strategy Day' and 'SPLASH' but in return sharing this link to the video of SPLASH by 19J @ Fonty. Hope you enjoy this. https://youtu.be/kW3_2Vx_yZw?t=190  

That’s French language class with the lovely Madame Ineke Ribatto

Finally, we wrapped up the P1 experience with a memorable trip to Budapest for a group of 90+ people. This is easily a year of maximum trips! I know this is a student blog but I still can't share details of the trip here :-)

Team that organised the big trip to Budapest.

From the 'so many' things, I only tried to give a glimpse of what’s happening here. If people among the incoming batch have some questions, feel free to drop me a line. Happy to help! Best wishes to all.

Cheers everyone!