Tales From The Land Of Europe: A Summer School Program -by Saksham Pahuja (MBA 2017-2019)

Finally, the most awaited day arrived and I boarded my flight from Delhi to Paris on June 24, 2018. The complimentary services offered in the 12-hour long International flight were beyond my wildest expectations and the pick-up facility at the airport being impeccably arranged. The very first sight of ‘PARIS’ was breathtaking for me – the surprisingly clear sky, sparsely crowded roads, and cleanliness all around was something I had only seen in movies until then. I finally reached my college – Institut Mines-Télécom Business School.

The same evening, we were invited to the welcoming ceremony which aimed at making us accustomed to the college and other international students. We were a batch of 22, comprising of students from 8 different nationalities namely Korea, Colombia, America, Brazil, Uruguay who were from diverse age brackets, languages and cultures along with a plethora of different educational backgrounds and experiences. This led to fascinating and engaging discussions in our classroom sessions (their accent got me in a fix at times though)

The next day, we visited one of the most famous landmarks in the world – the ‘EIFFEL TOWER’. The place totally mesmerized me with everything being beautifully ineffable about it-a place where one could just sit and let the beauty and serenity sink in.

While strolling in the streets of Paris, we also happened to witness the beautiful ‘Louvre Museum’–World’s largest art museum, ‘Museum d’Orsay’, the aesthetic ‘Arc de Triomphe’ and the famous cathedral ‘Notre Dame’. The last stop of the day was the largest department store for shopping lovers – ‘Galleries Lafayte’.

The next day, we started with our classes with the first course being titled “Managing Innovation and Digital Transformation in Business and IT”. It was a very well formulated program engaging all the students irrespective of their backgrounds. The first day, we were taught about the ‘European Geographic distributions and Economy’. In subsequent days, we were given enthralling sessions on Design Thinking, Global Supply Chain Management, International Marketing, Strategic Management etc. The lectures were delivered by a highly qualified and esteemed team of teachers which included an awe-inspiring session of Technological Innovation by Prof. Mohammad Isleimeyeh. My favourite session was on Global SCM by Dr. Sam Dzever. The practical examples given and the videos shown were very technical and were a great value-add. Also, the most enjoyable sessions were the French tutorials in the afternoon. The effort and the fervour that our professor, Mr. Jean Claude had put to make us learn the nitty gritty of the French language was something I had never witnessed before. The incessant laughs and funny moments during those sessions have now become memories I love to re-live.

Apart from classes, the curriculum was planned with numerous educational trips to different places. The commitment of the student interns (Valentine, Mathilde, and Audrey) to give us an amazing experience was commendable and the barbeque treat was the best part of the trips.

On the first weekend, we were taken to Geneva, the capital of Switzerland. The first half of the day was scheduled with educational lectures at the ‘United Nation Headquarters’ and ITU (International Telecommunication Union) where our summer school program director Dr. Bhumika Gupta accompanied us and made all the prerequisite appointments. The evening kept free to experience the beauty of the place.

The heart of the beautiful city-Geneva is the ‘Lake Lehman’. The water sports, the boating experience and the ‘Jet d’Eau Fountain’ which rises to the height of 140 meters were the best parts of sight-seeing. The visit to the ‘Swiss chocolate factory’ was a rewarding (mouth-watering) experience.

After returning from Geneva, we started with our regularly scheduled classes for a week. The next weekend was scheduled for a visit to ‘Brussels’- Capital region of Belgium. We attended an hour’s session at the ‘European Commission’ and visited the grand ‘European Union’. We were also fortunate to get a glimpse of an ongoing live session of the European country. Apart from being the headquarters of the “European Union”, it is also full of life with a myriad of fashion trends and cuisines to offer. I was astonishedto see a tiny shop offering 130 different varieties of Belgium beers.

We navigated the entire place… On foot! Cars were not allowed in the central area. The famous ‘Mannequin pis’- the peeing boy statue and the ‘Grand Palace’ – the central square famous for its magnanimous and aesthetic wealth were among the best places to visit.

After returning from Brussels, I was left with a week more in the continent. Another unique experience happened at Versailles – one of the best places to visit in the city of Lights.

Luckily, the remaining stay in Paris had the two best events. The Bastille day on 14th July- the National Day of celebrating the French culture with the parade and fireworks at the Eifel Tower( the view after dawn was just breathtaking). The next day was the day of glory for France- winning the Football World cup title yet again after 20 years. The celebration, the zeal and the people on streets yelling with joy at Eiffel was something I can never forget!

Meeting an entirely new set of people, sharing experiences, making friends in such a short span of time, trying cuisines I never knew existed- surreal experiences like these made me feel like staying there for long.

Overall, the educational trip gave my memory-bank an overdose. About a month of low academic pressure gave me the best international exposure I could ever get. In this journey of 25 days, I visited 4 countries in the Schengen region and each country had something new to offer. This was once in a lifetime opportunity for me and the takeaway is the infinite memories and a tremendously high MORALE BOOST.