Having been a child who grew up in the 90’s, I often find myself humming along to songs from The Lion King soundtrack at very unexpected moments. I am certain that I watched the VCR over a thousand times every day after school as a child. As I sit here writing, I can’t help but think of its theme song, The Circle of Life:
“From the day we arrive on the planet
And blinking, step into the sun
There’s more to be seen than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done”
We arrived in Lausanne at the start of 2020, stepping into the crisp Swiss sun. There was so much to do, so much to see and so much ahead of us. We blinked, and before we knew it, the year was over. But as our time as MBAs comes to an end I reflect on all that has been done. More than I could have ever imagined. Friendships were forged in iron and gold, the fountain of knowledge was drunk from in gallons and we are leaving very different people to the ones we started out as.
Thank you to IMD, the MBAs and their partners and our community as a whole for coming together to make this year great. It was a hard year, harder than we could have ever imagined, but I believe that now we are on the other side we should always remember that we did it. Well done to you the MBAs, IMD and everyone involved.
I would like to take this opportunity to hand over the blog to the next year. Thank you to all the writers from this year who diligently sat week after week sharing their experiences so that those that came before us could reminisce and those that come after can prepare and become excited. The Mighty90 are handing over the torch to you. Maybe you will be the Happy100 or the Tenatious110 – your identity we leave up to you. It is important because you are living in a world that will change and that identity can both be a secure base that will care about you while at the same time will dare you to be great (you will soon see what these words mean).
I leave you with these 3 challenges:
- Put in everything you can during your experience, you will get out what you put in (I put my name and speech at graduation day behind this), there is no harm in giving it everything
- Trust in the system that is IMD, they never failed us during possibly one of the hardest years the MBA has ever faced
- Open your eyes and mind, to your classmates, the community of faculty & staff and those who are there to help you grow. Have one another’s best interests at heart – ensure that your interactions are more than the sum of their parts and are truly multiplicative
Thank you to those that came before us. My heart, soul and friendship are with those that were there with me. Good luck to those that will come after me; always remember that you make your own luck.
This is the Mighty90 signing off – but this is not goodbye, it is simply see you later!
