“While we may come from different places and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one.” —Albus Dumbledore The obvious question many prospective candidates ask me is the impact of COVID-19, or more specifically online classes (for one month) during the MBA. The honest answer from my point of view is that it's not ideal but it is much better than I had initially expected. Faculty have adopted quickly to provide extremely engaging classes and non-traditional assignments such as games and simulation exercises.

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Regular exercise is a great way to recharge energy during the intensive MBA programme at INSEAD. And the unparalleled opportunity to exercise in the extraordinary park of the Château de Fontainebleau is a quintessential INSEAD student life experience! I went for a run today with my lovely housemates Yang and Anna, we're determined to keep up with exercise no matter how busy the new academic term gets. 

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A Bellifontain is an inhabitant of Fontainebleau, the small French town where INSEAD is located, and part of the MBA experience is about adjusting to life here – not exactly French life, but Bellifontain life, which is a very particular subset of the French culture. As the seasons change, let’s say you are an authentic Bellifontain when: You complain that there is nothing to do in Fontainebleau, but your schedule is always full.

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I couldn’t have asked for a better P4/5 break!

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A few years ago, I read the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and I felt it changed my life. I suddenly had it all figured out. I knew exactly where I want to be ten years from now and exactly how I am going to get there. We all want to be happy, don't we? For me the equation was simple – follow the plan in the book = get rich = be happy.

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When you hear, “Chateau party with 500 of your closest friends!”, do you wince a little inside? Would you rather enjoy wine with one close friend instead of hitting Glasgow? Do you retreat to quiet corners of campus during breaks? If you answered “Yes”, you just might be a fellow introvert. “But I’m not anti-social,” you may protest. Well, that association stems from a myth. Introversion has nothing to do with shyness; it refers to where you get energy from and how you recharge.

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I have been contacted by several people from my network about my experience at the INSEAD Executive MBA, especially regarding the tuition and the question of the company sponsorship. Although I acknowledge the importance of the financial factor, I would rather advise any subsequent candidates to think deeply about the non-financial costs as well. No more personal time (or almost)

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This post is definitely late in the coming and after reading it, you will probably understand why. The readings are piling up, the assignments are never ending and the pressure is definitely mounting. Not trying to find excuses, but it is getting tougher and tougher to keep up the pace of posting on this blog. The intensity of the TIEMBA programme turned up a few notches right after module two.

• Read more about Friends That Slogged Together, Stay Together