My name is Sabrina Elouardi. I am a Moroccan-American student, absolutely in love with globalization and the entertainment industry, and prior to coming to IESE, the world was a monsoon of black and whites for me.<\/strong> I\u2019m an avid gamer (die-hard Witcher <\/em>and Assassin\u2019s Creed <\/em>fan), I\u2019m hungry to bring innovation to the gaming industries of the third world and wanted to do so serving African clients. However, in leaving my Bachelor\u2019s \u2013 where I studied in Boston, as a graduate of Bentley University\u2019s Service Operations & Supply Chain programming \u2013 I found my options limited.<\/p>\n If you wanted to study global markets, you went to London or New York to fuel those passions. If you wanted to study technology, you went to the Bay Area or Shanghai to get exposed to the rapid-fire growth of the technology sector. If you wanted to study media and entertainment, you went to Los Angeles or Paris, Milan or Barcelona, to get seduced by Hollywood dreams. Institutions scarcely touched Africa or talked about the opportunities that are currently present in the diaspora.<\/p>\n At IESE, however, I found out that I could forge my own path.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n IESE Madrid Campus. Photo credit to Oscar Segarra and Anna Costa Reina, my fellow IESE MiM classmates!<\/p><\/div>\n I applied to IESE because in the Master in Management, what you put into it is what you get out of it.<\/strong> You make your own way forward and you do so with the support of IESE\u2019s Madrid campus (where us MiMs and Executive MBA students reside), IESE\u2019s Barcelona campus (where the MBA students reside), and IESE\u2019s global network in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Africa at your fingertips!<\/p>\n The mornings at IESE start with a strong cafecito <\/em>and a deep dive into IESE\u2019s famous case method where we get to put ourselves in the shoes of C-suite executives from Fortune 500s hailing from all over EMEA, LATAM, APAC, and North America. Then, after the cases of the morning, we join our teams to debate, digest, and discuss the coming cases of the day \u2013 soaking in the different perspectives, vast opinions, and diverse approaches to tackling the 21st<\/sup> century\u2019s most pressing issues in the world of business. At IESE, we greet the rest of the day with a hunger to grow each other while growing ourselves, teaching each other while teaching ourselves, all with the unlimited access to knowledge of the greatest scholars in the world.<\/p>\n When I go to Arg\u00fcelles, my home here in Madrid, I find Madrid to be my living, breathing, laboratory to test these ideas and theories. In the heart of the city of dreams, la villa del Oso y el Madro\u00f1o<\/em>, I get to grow on an individual level first \u2013 improve the way I approach cases iteratively by bringing in the African perspective, improve my approach to networking and job searching in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, improve the way I brainstorm innovative ideas for companies and social initiatives to tackle what will bring true, pure innovation back to the African diaspora and to my people, the Amazigh tribes of the Kingdom of Morocco.<\/strong> Then, I get to grow with my peers \u2013 two sections of 40 strong each \u2013 enjoying the nightlife of Ponzano and Malasa\u00f1a, their stories, their truths. And finally, I get to bring those perspectives together, and continuously learn<\/em>.<\/p>\n At IESE, from the first days I stepped onto the Madrid campus, to now, the world has been my oyster. We are getting ready to wrap up the second period of the MiM, recruitment season is coming for the Media & Entertainment sector, and the future is unparalleled. Outside of school I am working on publishing a novel, and within the Technology, Media, and Telecom club, I am bringing a chapter of my global media initiative V\u00e9rit\u00e9 2030 to write about with my peers.<\/p>\n Undertaking IESE\u2019s MiM for me, has served as one of the most rewarding experiences of my life because I get to learn about Africa\u2019s position in the world relative to others. I get to write my own story, from taking ownership in the way I study the cases our professors assign, to using my classmates\u2019 insights as fuel to understand some of the world\u2019s most difficult business practices, to applying those learnings to my own projects, initiatives, and goals.<\/strong><\/p>\n At IESE, I see the road I am building to Africa beneath me; I see everything I have fought for in my life as a first-generation, Moroccan-American woman, who pulled myself out of poverty against all odds. To build the world we deserve, we must be hungry to create opportunities. And by leveraging IESE\u2019s esteemed faculty, staff, and students, I know I will build that 85 to Africa.<\/strong><\/p>\n And I know that as a future IESE MiM student, you can build your own 85, too!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Happy Winter!<\/p>\n Here\u2019s to the future,<\/p>\n Sabrine<\/em><\/p>\n Pursue your Master in Management! Take these next steps today:<\/span><\/p>\n Winter time in Madrid has been an interesting one so far. On the car ride from Moncloa to Aravaca, where my roommate\u2019s car breathes in the morning air with a little taste of Latin reggaeton and African soca to get it going, I greet IESE\u2019s Madrid campus with a hunger to build what I like… <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/mim\/files\/2021\/01\/Madrid-Campus-208x300.jpg\")
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