The INSEAD Summer School was an unforgettable experience.
Kiki't Hooft
Tell us a bit about yourself—how did you get to where you are today? Any highlights, personal or professional?
I was born in Amsterdam and moved to Cape Town for a few years before moving back to a town in the Netherlands. I’ve had a wonderful childhood living together with my parents, older sister, younger brother, and, not to go unmentioned, my recently passed chocolate labrador Quinn. (Fun fact: I will get off my bike wherever I go to pet the dog across the street, much to the annoyance of my friends)
During my time in high school, I worked various jobs as a nanny, waitress, and catering assistant, among others. My parents strongly believed in (financial) independence and teaching us to work hard.
After high school, I was very excited to go to college, but I also had a strong desire to learn a bit more about the school of life. So, I decided to take a gap year during which I studied Spanish in Valencia for three months, backpacked South America and volunteered at a refugee camp in Lesvos.
All of these experiences have broadened my view of the world and have made me eager to meet more people with different perspectives on life.
I have since started university at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam and now live together with 11 girls and a cat (which took some convincing for this dog lover) in a student house. I am having an amazing time, but already missing my INSEAD friends.
Any fun or quirky facts about you?
Aside from my absolute addiction to dogs, I love cooking, good music, and a clean kitchen, all for myself, as I consider this my moment of inner peace.
Another fun fact is that I’m really tall. I even got surgery on my knees to stop myself from growing…. Which left many of my shorter friends at INSEAD in disbelief.
What motivated you to choose the INSEAD Summer School, and how do you think it will align with your future goals, even at this early stage?
Both my parents have been to an INSEAD programme. My mother graduated with an MBA in Fontainebleau in 2000 and has always kept in close contact with her friends, taking us all over the world from an early age onwards to visit those friends and their families.
When she stumbled upon the summer programme, she immediately forwarded it to me. Not knowing much about it apart from the fact that my mom had been there, I started my own research. I was very intrigued as I had been in quite a comfortable social situation for a while.
On the lookout for a challenge and some inspirational new friendships, I decided to give it a shot!
I have always known that I wanted to work abroad and enjoy working with a diverse group of individuals. I think INSEAD is a great start to learning more about other cultures and the way you should approach certain professional situations in regard to that.
How was your experience at ISS? What did a typical day look like?
ISS was such an unforgettable experience. Two weeks of developing beautiful friendships and learning valuable lessons from inspirational individuals whilst working together with people from very different environments.
Starting a new day by waking up in our hotel rooms, making you feel like you are on a fancy business trip, walking up to breakfast to discuss our night out, accompanied by a fresh pain au chocolat… Catching a few rays of sun on the terrace and notice it’s already 8:45 am. Time to sprint into the amphi to welcome our guest speaker of the day.
Being immersed in interesting facts that tickle the brain and keep you involved. I appreciated the fact that every day, there was an assignment in which we needed to participate actively with our groups, whether it was a negotiation case, guesstimates, or running our own company. This led to us gaining a deeper understanding of the topic and being able to give a concept some real-life context.
After a long day of our brains working at full capacity, we usually had a long dinner at Le Cercle. Chatting about our day and life in general before heading off for a game of squash. We put on some music and cleared our heads for the night. Though the night usually didn’t end there, we’d pick up a few beers from the gas station and play games until our social batteries were done for the day and we were ready for bed. Or, on a few rare occasions, ready for the karaoke bar!
Any memorable moments you’ll carry with you?
Though our summer course held many memorable moments, I will treasure our final night the most. Coming to the realisation that in these two weeks we had made such special connections and that we all weren’t ready to leave our little bubble.
We shed some tears and cuddled up on the grass hill on campus while looking at the stars. We promised to visit each other and keep in touch. Which so far has definitely been a promise we’ve kept.
What were your impressions of campus life, your classmates, and the professors? How did you find living in Fontainebleau for two weeks?
Campus life was great, in my opinion. I loved how everything was so compact and therefore meeting up was an easy task. The sports facilities were also an amazing addition to our programme.
As for the students, I couldn’t have wished for better peers.
Sometimes, I forget that my Dutch bluntness is not as common in other cultures, and I learn a lot about those cultures but definitely about myself as well.
It was a good eye-opener for me to start being a bit more careful with the way I enter certain situations. I could make fun of my friend from Luxemburg, who spoke with the most stereotypical French accent, whilst he made fun of me for being twice his height. Others looked at me quite strangely as I was trying to be humorous, though they might have just perceived me as loud!
Nevertheless, you adjusted to the cultures and the expectations of others and learned to tone yourself down when necessary. I think that was a good practice for me. As for the professors, they were all extremely inspirational, and I appreciated their enthusiasm while in front of our cohort. This made the lectures much more enjoyable.
Could you share a little about your application process and getting to Fontainebleau?
The application process was quite smooth. The online application sheets made it easy to grasp. As for the online interview videos, I tried not to over-practice and just be myself. Which, in the end, turned out quite well, and I found that all questions were very manageable.
I gave a bit more thought to requesting a letter of recommendation. I wanted it to be someone who knew me well without them being completely biased, like my parents etc. I chose the mother of a family I babysat for many years. It was very interesting to read their perception of me.
Any advice or words of wisdom for someone thinking about joining ISS?
ISS is a place where basically no one is familiar with one another beforehand, but it gives you the opportunity to create beautiful friendships.
The support, genuine interest and fascinating conversations you experience make this course so worthwhile.
I have been inspired by many and have started to feel such travel fever! I want to see and learn more about these people and their cultures.
I will cherish these two weeks and be ever so grateful that we were able to have such a special experience. We should not forget
