I lived in the US my whole life before landing in Paris three weeks ago to start my MBA programme at INSEAD’s campus in Fontainebleau, France. Some of my friends and coworkers back home in Los Angeles, California had a hard time understanding why I wasn’t interested in going to Stanford, UCLA, or any number of top business schools in sunny California or a short flight away.

• Read more about 4 Reasons Why I Chose the INSEAD MBA as an American 

“To the end of classes…!” we all spoke at once, as we raised our glasses last week after the final exam. As we drank, we all looked at each other in silent contemplation – would that be the last time we would share drinks and laughs? As a December class, we enjoy a well-deserved summer break after six months of an intense MBA program.

• Read more about A Bittersweet Summer

Surely one place you will get to know well while in Singapore is Changi International Airport. Honestly, I’ve never thought I would be excited about an airport. But Changi is different – it will be greeting you almost every Sunday evening with Jazz music, the smell of orchids and efficient immigration. So, enjoy all the trips that you will experience! During P1-3 in Singy, I visited more than 10 new countries, and wanted to share some of my favourite destinations (in no particular order): Sangat Diving Resort, Busuanga Island, Philippines

• Read more about My Top Asian Destinations

Dear All, It’s been a while since my last update. To be precise just a little less than two months, but a lot has happened since then! Period 2 has come to an end and it’s time to pause, reflect and appreciate. To give you a flavor of these eventful weeks, let me share a few highlights with you.

• Read more about Period 2 highlights and the relevance of objectives

P3/P4 break is one of my best experiences in INSEAD so far –  My teammates and I organised a one-week trip to Japan, bringing 40 other students to our beloved country. Though Tokyo and Kyoto are by far the most popular cities, my mission in this trip was to take INSEADers from all over the world to Iida – a city in the countryside to provide a homestay experience with local farmers. I was really happy to see my friends smiling with their host families. The following is the story from the beginning motivation, the challenges and the discoveries. 

• Read more about Japan Trip -Discover Authentic Japan

And suddenly your phone is ringing... After months of hard work towards perfecting your MBA application, all applicants are waiting for "the call”. I still remember when I got the call from France: “Congratulations you got accepted into INSEAD”. There are no words to describe the excitement that I felt at that moment. It still feels like it was just yesterday. I got the call on a Wednesday at 8.20am, I was with my father, at home.

• Read more about Four ways to meet your future classmates

While discovering Phuket these past few days, I would never have expected to feel like I was back “home in Russia” as a child. This experience was so fascinating to me and it initiated so many memories, or reflections, that I wanted to share. *** Spoiler Alert *** Sometimes you have to travel a great distance to (re)discover your heritage. And, certainly the cultural diversity present within INSEAD helps greatly in this regard.   Let me begin with the more interesting observations I made in Phuket.

• Read more about Feeling At Home