An alum had told me earlier that his IMD year seems almost like a blip now and I had almost refused to believe him.  As we all graduated with our shiny MBA degrees on Friday, I can’t help wondering how quickly it all ended. As my dear friend Andrea said in his Graduation speech, we have reached our last stop and getting off the train is much harder than we could have initially envisaged.  As, I take another train today, I couldn’t help but reminisce about all that I learned here, built here and how desperately I just want to hold on to the nest and the fond memories that I cultivated so lovingly in the last 11 months:

  1. Waking up to that ray of light gleaming on the mountains and lake right across my house!
  2. Facing a real problem of choice when I had 50 dishes or more to choose for lunch every day!
  3. Perfecting the art of leaving home at 7:53 and making it just in time for 8:00 am classes….
  4. Painful psychological process of finding myself and figuring things out with my PDE…
  5. Random arguments and discovering a strange sense of unity in diversity with my Module & ICP teams… I know this is as cliché as it is could be…
  6. Learning it is perfectly okay to not “start” and be in a supporting cast when needed
  7. A marathon of cases, projects and assignments… I’m a self-confessed nerd!
  8. Thriving on 4 hours of sleep for almost 3 months in a stretch and then start again….
  9. Re-visiting my love for kicking a football and people in the dungeons with my favorite Dutchman!
  10. Hogging on croissants during classes so generously provided by my benevolent first friend at IMD!
  11. Bonding outside the main building on let’s just say “stuff” in every damn coffee break!
  12. Covering three continents in two weeks with 89 similar crazy people and discovering true meaning of digital and entrepreneurship: D
  13. Summer barbecues and breath-taking views on Handson’s terrace!
  14. Getting hammered before a long flight and relying on my classmates to push me into the taxi….
  15. 1 am chats on my balcony with my Avenue d’Ouchy neighbours, cribbing about the Indian value system and how it has ruined us for life ?
  16. Dancing in Noname with friends as if there is no tomorrow….thanks for letting me keep my love for swaying alive….
  17. Becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable art of unabashedly expressing my emotions…. perhaps too comfortable given the frequency of my crying episodes!
  18. Developing an eternal fear of Brazilian falafels….
  19. Those warm hugs and smiles in the halls and dungeons which instantly brightened up my days!
  20. Writing and reviewing infinite versions of cover letters, late night interview prepping and managing anxiety build ups before interviews with my fantastic four….
  21. That it is okay to ask for help…. I feel bad though for some of my friends who after a point had no way out ?
  22. Ralf’s flower, Arturo’s trading session, Sean’s 5 C model and Jennifer’s leadership iceberg… I’ve a secret bet with my memory on this….
  23. Going to school and dungeons when I had nothing to do…I now very quickly need to find a new safe space….
  24. Assurances and confidence boosting from so many of my friends when I was at my lowest…. I’ve no idea how I would have survived the year without them….
  25. Realizing that I could trigger “true” emotions in someone and be lucky enough to be part of their favorite IMD memories….

And that extreme feeling of collective accomplishment on what we have made through as we walked in the auditorium on graduation amidst the music and applaud and Sean’s words.

I’m still in denial mode that it has all come to an end and earnestly wish I could relive if not all but a few of those moments. However, I’m confident that this is only a start and I now have secure bases and nests in 43 countries.

Au revoir!

– Neharika

 

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