Is there anybody out there who does not “like” to travel?
Or even better: does not “love” to travel?. Yeah, wrong question right?! I mean, who doesn’t in this age of AI, Tesla & Bitcoins (lol sorry mate, completely forgot about the Coronavirus out there).
I gave up trying to get rid of my travel bug long ago and since then have loved exploring life – people, culture, food varieties, our actions etc. The possibility for much more of them, the desire to create bigger sustainable impacts and an accidental encounter with “the Rich Dad, Poor Dad” made me conclude that “Yes, it was time for me to join the MBA bandwagon”. I went through the meticulous steps of college admissions, the visa stamping, the apartment searches, the good-bye dinners and then headed across to Paris from Asia. But why Paris?… Was it the stubborn baguette? Or the charming Eiffel tower? Maybe some financial number crunching? Wait… Perhaps my Mona Lisa? I really don’t know…Whatever it was, this has been one of my few life-altering (literally!! ) decisions till date.
I landed here at “Charles de Gaulle” airport like any other international student with his list of Bonjours, ça va and Pardon madams. I would be caught lying red-handed if I were to claim that everything has been perfect here in my new chez(zy) country since arrival. NO!! But it has made up in principal and beyond offering me life lessons, amazing classmates and friends from various countries making me more shall we say “evolved”(like IronMan maybe? :P).
Settling into my apartment and commencing college were lessons into multi-tasking and time management itself. Our classes started at 8AM everyday stretching till a good 5.30PM along with also a few Saturday mornings spent around the college espresso machine on the 27thfloor! We were trying to re-discover our long lost student survival skills of attending classes and chugging out assignments. We were also picking up some lip-smacking culinary skills (ignoring our initial cooking debacles). I travelled across to Geneva, Prague, Budapest while also having some exciting snowmobile rides and husky sledging at Kiruna in Sweden. We simultaneously tackled our ever-looming pile of assignments and exams. All these made me realise that our actions and our will-power shaped our life majorly.
All this was possible because we aspired to start working on something bigger and were accomplishing it.
For me, the biggest regret would not be “Failing” but “Not Trying”! I am trying to weave out my path and am positive that I will achieve it provided I keep progressing. Each of us should “start doing” what we want provided we feel it is right and financially sensible. Living on your savings as a student, the dream job after an MBA, what next in life?… Guess these problems haunt every other student just like me and am confident that we will manage to crawl out successfully provided we keep trudging along the right way…. I would like to share one of my favourite French lines that I have heard people here utter often “Tout est possible en France” aka “Everything is possible in France” provided we work towards it….. Bidding you all adieu until next time, stay safe!….
About me: This is Varun from India folks! My previous work experience has been in Apparel Manufacturing with roles in sales and management. With bucket-loads of positivity and perseverance, I love relishing and improvising life at my own pace. I love travelling, reading books, going on bike rides, trekking, adventure sports and wish to learn horse riding next.
IÉSEG International MBA Student Blog 