As our Class of 2021 students get ready for their move to Barcelona next month, Ignasi Buch, Class President of IESE MBA 2019 reflects on his experience and shares some advice.
Get ready for the adventure of your lifetime.
It was June 2017, and I was exactly where you are right now. Watching Marc Badia in the -for some- much needed accounting Coursera course, trying to find roommates and a decent-looking flat in the city (good luck with that!), feeling the nerves of starting this new adventure and thinking about what to do next.
But at that point I had one clear thing in my mind: a career change was my goal for the MBA. Of course, I expected to make friends and to get decently involved with the extracurricular aspects of the school, but I thought I would be mainly a “career focused” guy.
Everything changed when I met my classmates and I got into the “MBA vibe”. I quickly realized that this was not just an opportunity to learn and improve my professional career. This was the opportunity of a lifetime to go through an incredible transformation. And that’s my advice to you: go all in.
Invest time in nurturing your relationships in the MBA and getting to know as many people as you can. Get involved with the professional clubs, the sports clubs and the fun clubs. Read every single word of every case like it’s the internship contract you will be signing soon, and make sure you force yourself to participate in class. The next 19 months will fly much faster than you expect, so make sure to fully embrace the whole experience.
I’m not going to lie. You will probably experience some of the most frustrating moments in your life. You will struggle to manage the workload of the first term with the preparation for your job interviews and your social commitments. There will be times where you will wonder what are you doing here and if you wouldn’t be better off at your old job, close to your lifelong friends. But just keep close to your teammates and your classmates. Very soon things will drastically change, to the point where you will wish the MBA was actually three years long.
Section dinners… always lots of fun!
The more you do, the more you fail and the more you experience, the greater your transformation will be at the end of the MBA. Make sure you place yourself out of your comfort zone, and by the end of your time at IESE, you will have made some of the strongest friendships in your life and built some of the achievements you will feel most proud of. But all of that will only happen if you commit 100% to it.
Being involved with my class instead of focusing only on my goals was what made my MBA experience unforgettable. As part of the Student Council, I had the chance to be in touch with a lot of my classmates. Helping to organize school-wide events like MultiCulti, Spring Games and SKIESE helped me to foster closer bonds and taught me invaluable lessons. Finally, helping my fellow classmates with interview preparation was as satisfactory as enriching for myself.
And that is why I decided to run for Class President, because I wanted to help ensure the amazing community we have built over the last two years stays connected. Because this will your best asset after the amazing 19 months you have coming. Stay thirsty, get involved, and enjoy the experience.
Sincerely,
Ignasi Buch, Class President, IESE Class of 2019
With classmates on the Japan Trek, a great way to wrap up the best MBA experience!
All the best to Ignasi on his new adventure in Dubai and we wish much success to our MBA Class of 2019!
Pursue your dream MBA! Take these next steps today:
Good reflection on your MBA journey, Ignasi! All the very best in the life ahead of you. Make your mark, change the world! Que vaya bien
“Stay thirsty, get involved, and enjoy the experience.” Almost 30 years since I left IESE, I found these three attitudes as essential in every new endeavor in my professional life. Like applying the case-method approach to your real life. Good luck!
“Go all in” Every inch Ignasi… The guy who gave his all and got much more back. Wish you the very best and now, a big welcome to the incoming class! 🙂