Sabrina is from Australia and started a Masters in Management (MIM) at London Business School in 2016. In her second blog, she summarizes her impressions from the first term at London Business School.
We are now well into term two but what an experience term one has been!
Overall
A few words to describe term one: amazing, difficult, intense, fun and crazy. Term one was not what I had expected and has been challenging, a lack of sleep at times but above all it has been highly rewarding. Overall, I have had a great experience at LBS and I am extremely proud of all my classmates who have managed to secure their dream jobs already.
Treks
In March, I am heading to Ghana to work with J'ann Royal. The J'ann Royal Children Centre is an NGO which was founded in Medie in 2011. With a current student population of 150 children, the school does not charge a term fee, as is the norm for most schools. Because of the poverty of the people in the community, J'ann Royal allows guardians of the children to contribute a few cents daily for their feeding whilst in the school. Classrooms at J'ann are from Kindergarten to Junior High School. It has a teaching staff of ten who are paid a monthly stipend quite below the average. The founder is overwhelmed with Opex cost and as a result, it has affected the quality of the institution’s operational efficiency.
I have also signed up for a Peru trek, which will be in May of next year which I am really looking forward to. Further to this, I am also looking to sign up to treks in Jordan/Lebanon, Egypt, Brazil and Georgia. These treks are a valuable experience and unique to LBS as it gives LBS students the opportunity to interact with each other and explore the world.
Global Immersion Field Trip (GIFT)
The Silicon Valley GIFT and Shanghai/Hong Kong GIFT has already happened and was a great experience, my classmates got the chance to visit many different companies, including the likes of Facebook and Twitter. I am going on the NYC GIFT in May and I am preparing as much as possible in advance. I am currently emailing contacts of mine from the likes of JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup to catch up for a coffee. It is a great chance to staying in contact with the network of connections I have built up as well as introducing them to my fellow classmates.
Study groups
I’ve studied at over eight universities now and it’s my first time having the same group for every subject but I must say it has been extremely productive. Now, how did we make it through term one as a group? We definitely worked together as a team; ensuring communication was free-flowing between all members of the group at all times. We had quite a diverse group, with six people in our group from right across the globe (German, Indonesian, Chinese, Australian, French and Hungarian) and I will point out that all study groups are this international.
I feel we worked well as a group and I would like to give a huge shout out to everyone in my study group for putting effort in regardless of our disputes. I feel it is really important that everyone acknowledges each other’s work but brings their own knowledge and experience to the group.
For example, I did my undergraduate in accounting and work experience in finance, so I brought quite extensive knowledge to our finance and accounting group assignments. In contrast, another two team members had quite an in-depth understanding of the leadership in organisation module. This is a great example of teamwork in action from the perspective that everyone brings their own expertise and knowledge, gets along well and the group as a unit has a shared vision of what they want to achieve. At LBS, reputation is extremely important and therefore it in everyone’s interest to help one another.
FAQ: How do I get into LBS?
This is such a hard question when people ask me this because the answer is simply to be yourself. It really is important to get across a sense of who you are as a person and what you can bring to LBS. The thing I really stress the importance of at LBS is the cultural fit. Since joining LBS, I have gotten to know the admission officers personally, I have regular catch-ups with the programme officers and our lectures are significantly smaller in comparison to my undergraduate.
My first four months at LBS have been both the best and most challenging times of my life. The best times include making new networks, new friends, experiencing the diversity on offer, living with classmates and helping each other through tough times. On the other hand, the last two weeks of term where I was quite sleep deprived yet had to attend assessment centres and study for long periods of time has certainly been challenging.
For any new student beginning at LBS, I would highly recommend that they embrace the experience and get involved where possible. At the School, there is a joint attitude to share and help each other out. I often receive help from MBA, EMBA, MiF and other MiM students with upcoming interviews, my studies and in general and I like to mirror this attitude where possible. For example, if a fellow student had an interview coming up with a company that I had previously interviewed with, I would be happy to meet for a coffee and share my experience of the interview. This is the culture at LBS and why, in my opinion, people who study here have become so successful in their own right.
At LBS, we are graded on a curve so we are technically in competition with each other but in saying this, the School ethos amongst students is very much to support and help each other out. I would recommend before applying to LBS or if you are thinking about applying, try to think what type of character you are and what type of environment you want to be in. After this it is important to remember to be yourself and get your personality across when you apply.
If anyone has any questions they would like me to answer in the next blog or want to just ask any question please email me on sxu.mim2017@london.edu.