Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Why IE? Why Marketing?
I am an alumni of Saint Louis University and I became aware of IE Business School while studying my semester abroad at my university's Madrid campus. IE is very well known in Madrid and Europe and people always spoke very highly of the school, so I always had an interest in seeing if a master's degree at IE made sense for me.
When I decided to get a business degree to add to my undergraduate and first master's in physical therapy, IE was one of the top schools I considered. Ultimately IE's reputation and the opportunity to study at a top international business school helped me decide on returning to Madrid. Doing a Master in Marketing Management is helping me better understand the the tools needed to take on a leadership role in a healthcare-related organization. While it was a little scary to move to a new country where the first language is not English, I was happy to know that many people at IE were in the same position as me, and that most people in my program were from outside of Spain.
It is hard work, but the people and diversity make the experience totally worth it. I hope that the people I meet at IE will help me contribute to AIESEC growth in the United States or whereever I end up, after my program. My ideal contribution to AIESEC after the program would be to be able to offer internships to fellow AIESECers, at the company where I get hired after graduation. I would also very much like to attend an AIESEC International event, as a representative for a sponsoring company. I know it is tough to find great internships and jobs and I hope to help my fellow AIESECers in this area after I graduate from IE.
When I decided to get a business degree to add to my undergraduate and first master's in physical therapy, IE was one of the top schools I considered. Ultimately IE's reputation and the opportunity to study at a top international business school helped me decide on returning to Madrid. Doing a Master in Marketing Management is helping me better understand the the tools needed to take on a leadership role in a healthcare-related organization. While it was a little scary to move to a new country where the first language is not English, I was happy to know that many people at IE were in the same position as me, and that most people in my program were from outside of Spain.
It is hard work, but the people and diversity make the experience totally worth it. I hope that the people I meet at IE will help me contribute to AIESEC growth in the United States or whereever I end up, after my program. My ideal contribution to AIESEC after the program would be to be able to offer internships to fellow AIESECers, at the company where I get hired after graduation. I would also very much like to attend an AIESEC International event, as a representative for a sponsoring company. I know it is tough to find great internships and jobs and I hope to help my fellow AIESECers in this area after I graduate from IE.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
AieSEC or aIEsec?
Undoubtedly, one of my main take-away from my AIESEC experience* is the art, science and practice of personal planning. I’ve done so many “individual learning plans”, “career plans” and “heading for the future plans” that I had no excuse not knowing what I wanted to do in the next 10 years. When I left AIESEC in 2005, it was crystal clear I wanted to pursue an International MBA in a world-class institution.
My search for an MBA program started in early 2006, therefore 2,5 years before actually starting the course. I definitely recommend such a long preparation process. But how to choose a school when you have so many good options in the market? I wondered if there was any Insight XP –like systems to help me with the match!
I pretty much wanted an environment that resembled the best I found in AIESEC and in my short corporate/NGO career afterwards: entrepreneurial spirit, multi-cultural environment, action-oriented learning and an earnest desire to contribute towards sustainable development: IE was just the perfect answer.
I realized that observing small details. IE representatives and alumni had sparks in their eyes when talking about the school, just the same we had when asked about our AIESEC XP. Then the application forms looked like carbon copies of my MC application. It was so easy to respond that I thought something was wrong. I could not be more certain about the match when I heard the news that IE had partnered with AIESEC interested in the alumni profile for its programs. Bingo!!!
I have been in Madrid for 2 months and cannot regret my decision. My colleagues in the International MBA (IMBA) are distributed in 7 classes of 50 people. We account for 59 nationalities from all continents. My class (50 people) has 27 nationalities and my workgroup of 6 people has 1 Brazilian (me), 1 Korean, 1 British-Sri Lankan, 1 French, 1 Chilean and 1 Dominican. I feel like attending an IC, with the difference that it lasts 13 months, not 13 days. Just hope I can party as much hard as I am studying. I tell you more in the next post.
AIESECly / IEly,
Gustavo Pimentel (a.k.a. Guga)
*
LCEB Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2000-2001
LCP Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2002
MCVP External Relations, Brazil, 2003-2004
AIESEC – ABN AMRO Global Partnership Coordinator, The Netherlands, 2004-2005
My search for an MBA program started in early 2006, therefore 2,5 years before actually starting the course. I definitely recommend such a long preparation process. But how to choose a school when you have so many good options in the market? I wondered if there was any Insight XP –like systems to help me with the match!
I pretty much wanted an environment that resembled the best I found in AIESEC and in my short corporate/NGO career afterwards: entrepreneurial spirit, multi-cultural environment, action-oriented learning and an earnest desire to contribute towards sustainable development: IE was just the perfect answer.
I realized that observing small details. IE representatives and alumni had sparks in their eyes when talking about the school, just the same we had when asked about our AIESEC XP. Then the application forms looked like carbon copies of my MC application. It was so easy to respond that I thought something was wrong. I could not be more certain about the match when I heard the news that IE had partnered with AIESEC interested in the alumni profile for its programs. Bingo!!!
I have been in Madrid for 2 months and cannot regret my decision. My colleagues in the International MBA (IMBA) are distributed in 7 classes of 50 people. We account for 59 nationalities from all continents. My class (50 people) has 27 nationalities and my workgroup of 6 people has 1 Brazilian (me), 1 Korean, 1 British-Sri Lankan, 1 French, 1 Chilean and 1 Dominican. I feel like attending an IC, with the difference that it lasts 13 months, not 13 days. Just hope I can party as much hard as I am studying. I tell you more in the next post.
AIESECly / IEly,
Gustavo Pimentel (a.k.a. Guga)
*
LCEB Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2000-2001
LCP Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2002
MCVP External Relations, Brazil, 2003-2004
AIESEC – ABN AMRO Global Partnership Coordinator, The Netherlands, 2004-2005
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