This is a long overdue recap of the Fontainebleau electives module that occurred during the summer of 2018, in a little French town an hour and a half from Paris.
The first time I saw the electives list for P3, my thought was “I wish I could do all of them”.
INSEAD’s curriculum is divided in two main pieces: the core courses, which lay the foundations of your knowledge and take place during P1, P2 and P3 (the first three periods of INSEAD), and the elective courses, which you can choose from a broad array of options and go deeper in specific topics.
It seems fitting that the first time in 2018 that I have the time and muse to write down my thoughts is at 4 a.m. at the busy and loud airport in Doha during a 12h layover with an Australian and a Filipino desperate to get on that horribly delayed plane to take us to Colombo tonight – and we are supposed to hike for the whole day tomorrow… The last weeks were just a blur, everything went by so fast and now it is time to leave Fonty for 10 weeks – my exchange to Singapore is about to start.
But let's back up a bit.
Visiting my country on the break and having time to talk with several professionals and alumni about future opportunities and challenges in my field was certainly even more exciting to continue my journey at INSEAD.
It is unquestionable how many doors INSEAD can open, not only by the alumni network (people who really share value of doing business to the world), but also because a natural instinct of search and curiosity arise on us.
This piece is primarily an adaptation from my STM assignment submitted two weeks after TIEMBA Module four in Beijing during the fall of 2017 (a beautiful season to be in Tsinghua). Despite written more than two months ago, the module as well as the great times spent with all my awesome classmates are all still fresh in my mind.
“So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth.” Genesis 11:8, Hebrew Bible
With the Discover Israel course over, we returned to our hostel to pack our bags and go our separate ways.
Unlike the usual excitement and relief that followed the conclusion of most of INSEAD’s intense courses, the trip left us reflective, sombre, and most of all, grateful for what we had just experienced.
Here we are, at the middle point. Five months ago, we knew nothing of these grounds; we hadn’t even set foot in this forest. Five months. That’s all it is, and that’s all it takes. So what has changed? I’d like to say a few grey hairs and perhaps a few extra pounds, but that would probably be half a lie. Or half the truth for that matter.
B-School for the world where we study with 90 other nationalities: this surely is bound to create a certain disorder—even a mess. Or does it?