I chose HEC for different reasons than most of my colleagues. I didn't really care about the rankings; I knew about the Grande Ecole system, and my husband was familiar with HEC as the best school in France. Going to business school in the US didn't interest me: even if I had wanted to stay in the US for my entire career, I wouldn't have wanted to go to school to learn more about how the US does things. HEC is incredibly international: you work with colleagues from China or Russia who have a completely different take on economics and the way things should work. It really opens your mind and changes your perspective on things like Human Resources, organizational behavior, and political correctness.
I'm originally from Mexico, and I did my studies in Engineering. My parents have a small company, so I helped there pretty much every Summer, since I was 12 years old, which taught me a lot and really gave me a sense of business. I started my career in the US, working for a software company. After a few years, I realized that I knew the product and the customers well enough to start working as a freelance consultant. It was nice being so independent: I didn't have to deal with any office politics, it was all about doing the best job possible. As a consultant, you have to learn to work with people you've never met before and collaborate with people who may have a very different culture and perspective from your own. They are simultaneously your colleagues and your customers, so relationship management is very important.
When I came to HEC, I was really looking for where to go next in my life and my career. I started by exploring Marketing: I did a project with Cartier to gain an understanding of the industry. I also thought about going into Finance, but realized that that path wasn't for me. After considering a wide range of options, I decided that I wanted to build on my previous experience. I'm very happy because I'm going to do my IPP with a company that helps entrepreneurs get funding from venture capitalists. It's a consulting company in the technology industry, so I will be able to draw on my engineering background. I'll also be able to leverage my experience in the Entrepreneurship Club and the Business Plan Workshop. After my MBA, I would like to enter the entrepreneurial world in France, possibly with this company, with a financial company oriented toward investing in small companies, with a startup, or even by starting my own company.
Being here with a family has made things somewhat more complicated, but it's also kept me really focused. I've had to consider things like daycare, doctors, where to buy clothes, what's the best brand of milk for my one and a half year-old son. My colleagues have been very understanding: they know that between 6 and 8 pm, I have to be home with my family. Living on campus has been incredibly convenient. I could stop at home any time I had a break, and my husband has actually become good friends with my MBA colleagues. It helped tremendously to have the support of my partner, but I have colleagues who are also single parents and I really admire how they make it work.