One of the highlights of my year at IMD was participating in GNAM at UCD Smurfit School in Dublin, Ireland. It was an incredible experience to meet people from different MBA programs and, for the first time, to step outside the IMD environment. It gave me a true moment of gratitude: a chance to zoom out, see how we perform beyond our familiar bubble, and appreciate just how much confidence and knowledge we’ve gained. Exploring Irish culture with my IMD friends made the experience even more special.
Then came ICP, the consulting project that marks one of the most important milestones of the MBA. Our team traveled to Saudi Arabia, an unforgettable opportunity to discover a country rich in culture, contrast, and transformation. From standing on the Edge of the World near Riyadh, to participating in a camping exhibition in Hafar Al-Batin, tasting Middle Eastern food, working on a Smart City project, and meeting companies and governmental entities, every moment felt unique. I hope everyone gets to enjoy their ICP as much as I did, and with a team as inspiring and supportive as mine.
Now that ICP is coming to an end, I’m filled with mixed emotions: joy that the project went so well, yet sadness that this chapter is closing. Preparing for goodbyes is part of the MBA journey, and it offers a beautiful opportunity to reflect on this transformative year, both personally and professionally. We have done so much together in such a short time. We’ve learned, evolved, and grown side by side.
This year has been life-changing. Far beyond career development it has been an inner transformation. One of the clearest examples is how I relate to ambition. I used to shy away from the word “ambitious,” associating it with something negative. Today, I embrace it fully. I am ambitious, and I like it. That shift, among many others, is why I say I haven’t become a different person – I’ve become Ameny 2.0.
My first blog post was about courage: the courage that brought us to IMD. Now, once again, we need that same courage to fly the IMD nest. But this time, we leave with full hearts, full minds, and open arms, ready to embrace whatever comes next.
To anyone out there afraid of taking the leap into a new experience: close your eyes and jump. When you open your eyes, you may just find yourself in a place you never imagined, and grateful that you dared to try.
To end my blog, I want to say this: I truly believe that life is beautiful. When one door closes, many others eventually open, at some point in time, somewhere on this earth, even if not in the way you expect. Be patient. Without moments of difficulty, we would never fully savor moments of peace. To adapt the famous quote by German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, life swings like a pendulum – but not between pain and boredom, but between meaningful moments of fulfillment and contentment and the ongoing, an exciting quest for a better future.
