by Giulia Castro Neves Dal Mas, MBA2028
LBS keeps you so busy, and so immersed, that two months feel like a lifetime. Time has flown by, and I’ve already seen so many things through different lenses. I know I’m still at the start of this journey, so take what follows with a pinch of salt. But if there’s one thing I’ve learnt so far, it’s that the first few weeks can be a lot, in the best and most overwhelming ways.
When everything happens at once
You leave home and family. You connect with people from cultures you’d never met before. Every day you learn new subjects or see familiar ones from a completely different angle. And you try to take in everything London has to offer. It’s wonderful, and it can also leave you feeling a little lost.
There’s no shortcut through that feeling, but I will share what has helped me shape my experience so far.
The best advice I got before arriving
Before joining LBS, I spoke with several students to understand what my life would look like if I came here. One of them gave me a piece of advice I’ve taken very seriously: “keep the answer to “Why am I here?” close to your heart”.
The question is simple, and surprisingly hard. It has guided me ever since: how much workload to take on, which clubs to join, which electives to investigate and, most importantly, what actually feels right for me.
There’s no single right answer
For some people, the answer means spending as much time as possible in the classroom, learning from our brilliant faculty and building new tools. For others, it means meeting people from all over the world and investing in those relationships, exploring London, maybe travelling to other countries. For others still, it means taking on volunteering and work opportunities and testing different industries and roles before stepping back into the job market.
And for many of us, it’s a bit of everything.
You can’t spin every plate, and that’s okay
LBS floods you with incredible opportunities. I could never have predicted how many there would be, or how different they would be. It’s crazy and amazing, and it also means you’ll have to make some tough choices.
It’s tempting to try to keep every plate spinning. But is doing everything really what will make your experience richer and more meaningful for you?
For me, the answer has been no. Saying “not this time” to some things has made room to fully show up for the ones that matter most. When I feel overwhelmed, I go back to that question, “why am I here?”, and it usually points me in the right direction.
If you’re starting out, or thinking about joining, my advice is the one I received: find your answer, keep it close and let it guide you. It might change along the way, and that’s part of the journey too.