By Ariana Peralta, MIM2027
Before moving to London, I had been working at a full-time position for 18 months as an Investment Strategy Analyst in Peru. I had a great team, a supportive (and the most intelligent I’ve ever met) boss, and a lot of opportunities to keep on learning and growing. When I moved here, I left behind my family, my friends, the greatest food I’ve ever tasted (let’s go Peruvian food!) and the entire life I had built, between concerts, indoor cycling classes and, most importantly, stability. So, having that big of a trade-off, one would certainly ask: why would you leave it all?
I always knew I wanted to study abroad, after all, I love travelling and getting to know different cultures and places. I just never thought I could do it this early in my career. Back in December 2025, I got an email from London Business School regarding that round 2 of applications for their Master’s in Management programme was already rolling. I knew some people from my undergrad had done it before and thought “Why not? It doesn’t hurt to join an overview session.”
Fast forward to May, when I got my acceptance letter and scholarship decision, I was in utter disbelief. I felt so grateful that I was given this opportunity, and to be honest, I thought the surprises would end there. Oh, was I so mistaken. I definitely was not prepared for what the following months had in store for me.
Orientation & Away Day
I arrived at Orientation Day feeling totally anxious: “Am I wearing appropriate clothing?” “Where should I sit?” “Why does everyone seem to already know each other?” “Did I make the correct decision?” Being a very shy person, the room felt enormous and my fear of having made an incorrect decision was even bigger.
Thankfully, this overwhelming feeling eventually dispelled.
I met a lot of people from different programmes at Orientation Day, and we ended the day in the well-known pub The Duke of Wellington for a few pints. The following week we had our Away Day, where we took part of challenging team building activities with our study groups. This space gave us a chance to know better our stream and team members, and, surprisingly, build a lot of trust with people we had just met. Quickly, my group realised that we all had a very similar sense of humour, which has been crucial for the group work we’ve been assigned in our first three courses.
Beginning of the term
With Orientation over, everything started to unroll: classes, recruitment openings, employer presentations, career centre workshops and student clubs’ events. This is when I truly began to understand how hectic and intense this following year was going to be. But don’t get me wrong: I find it very amusing to have a lot of opportunities roaming around.
What I find interesting is that there is a lot of chances to meet people from outside your programme. Being a MiM student, I tend to meet mostly Graduate Master’s students, but thanks to the clubs, I’ve been able to meet people from the MBA and MiF too. Which is great because it allows me to amplify my scope and understand better other opportunities or industries which I wouldn’t have had the exposure to back in my hometown.
To survive this strong wave that comes your way, you need to find your people. And, happily, there’s so much diversity at LBS, that you will certainly find them: students from every country, background, industries, and more. There are also many bonding opportunities, even from everyday moments: pints at a pub, lunches or dinners, birthday celebrations and sporadic meetups at Regent’s park.
Recommendations
If I had to give recommendations to anyone who might be considering LBS in the future, I’d say:
- Take on opportunities: you don’t have to say yes to everything, but be aware that opportunities aren’t always going to be there, so grab them while they last! There is no better time to try on new things than now.
- Organise yourself ahead of time: identify which experiences and opportunities you want to take on from the beginning and map them.
- Do not feel low if you feel on your own: remember everyone around you is going through a similar process of moving from home and starting once again. Approach people, they are very friendly and warm!
Looking Ahead
After this first month, I can definitely say I made the right decision of coming to London Business School. The sense of community I felt even before getting accepted is something that continues to emerge in every classroom I’m in.
I’m sure this journey has just begun and there’s a lot of things to look forward to in the following ~10 months. Between recruiting, classes, and clubs, I’m sure it’s going to be both challenging and exciting.
And to answer the first question, I left it all because I wanted more: getting out of my comfort zone, moving to London, studying along with high achieving peers, gaining exposure to different industries and belonging to a supportive community. Safe to say this first month has already shown me it’s going to be more than what I thought.