If you’re just joining me on this journey, check out my three-part FROM LAGOS TO BARCELONA series to catch up with the ride🚇. To summarize, I came to study mainly because I wanted to live in Spain 🤣, learn and speak Spanish, and experience Spanish culture firsthand😂 – not necessarily because “I love books”. The good thing is – I got much more than I anticipated! It might sound unserious or not well thought out – well🙈, initially, that was true, but hey, mission accomplished🤫😉!
The exposure and experiences I gained during my Master’s were perfectly timed; 2023 was truly the best year for me to have been here – not too early, not too late. Talk about perfection😍!
THE MSc JOURNEY🚍🚌
First off, I’m such a clown for enrolling in a Master’s program focused on coding without any prior experience 🤡. I struggled, but it worked out in the end. If I could change anything about my experience, it would be to gain some coding knowledge before diving into an analytics course. My advice? Please get some coding experience or learn from platforms like DataCamp before starting. Aside that, I got everything I wanted from my journey in school and in Barcelona. A win is a win😉💃🤣.
ESADE organizes pre-courses for students without prior experience or knowledge, depending on the course and your undergraduate background. For Business Analytics and Finance courses, there are definitely pre-courses available, but they’re fast-paced! For your peace of mind, I highly recommend some prep work beforehand.
TERM TALES
The Master’s program is a one-year course divided into THREE terms. The first two terms focused on Business Analytics, while the third was dedicated to electives.
My favorite term was the third, thanks to the electives😘, followed by the first term, thanks to my teammates💓. The second term? Well, it was a love-hate relationship 🙄.
In the third term, I had the opportunity to take marketing courses as electives. Gosh! These were my favorite classes, and the professors were exceptional! I enjoyed every single class without a struggle. It was in one of these classes that I discovered how my love for colors could connect to potential career paths. Read more about this in CLARITY CHROMES.
The first term was my “struggle and adaptation” period, but my teammates made it bearable and worthwhile. One shocker for me was the grading system. In Nigeria, the grades are fixed but the grade range varies per school (e.g., 90 and above equals an A), whereas here, it’s a bell curve/relative grading system that’s used. For example, only the top 10% receive an A, while the next 40% might get a B and so on. This meant that even with an 8.8/10, you could end up with a C if the class was full of “shana” people (shana is a Nigerian slang which means “hot” or “really intelligent” ).
Additionally, during my first term, I delivered two bonus presentations in a course called Business in Society. The topics were Social Listening vs. Social Engineering and Freedom of Expression. I am very passionate about these topics, so I really enjoyed delivering these presentations. These presentations also influenced my choice to pursue marketing-related electives in the third term.
Below are the slides and feedback I received.
Not to say my Business Analytics classes weren’t great, but unlike those, I felt instant connection with marketing courses🤣. All my classes were amazing, to say the least👌.
Additionally, I loved that, even though it was just for one week after the first term, I participated in a finance exchange program in St. Gallen, Switzerland. It was my first exchange experience, and it was fantastic! It provided me with valuable insights into Swiss culture, especially since I had worked with a Swiss teammate in the first term.
MY ESADE REVIEW
If you ask me about ESADE, I’d say it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made, but on a deeper level, I’ll say:
- I’m genuinely grateful for the scholarship I received from ESADE – It made my dream a reality! I was surprised when they organized a scholarship “presentation” event and shared certificates. I think the concept is so cool!😊. Out of curiosity, I conducted a poll on Instagram and Twitter to see if this is a universal practice in the EU but I didn’t get many responses😥.
- With ESADE, you never feel alone. Their welfare support is top-notch. When I first met Ursi during my admission process in 2022, she was exceptionally kind. At first, I thought her kindness was simply part of encouraging enrollment, but once I started, I realized that this consistency in care is part of ESADE’s core values.
- More on the welfare, ESADE Careers feels like your job search buddy. From using VMock to polish your CV to personalized interview coaching sessions, to organizing career fairs, providing job search platforms, and interview resources like Case Coach. They also send regular emails to check in on your job search progress and keep you informed about post-study visa events. They’re like a mentor or an older sibling, guiding you every step of the way.
- ESADE helped to further boost my confidence. Networking events were incredibly valuable – perfect practice for my “selectively extroverted” self. The experience came in handy when I had to replicate the same for an “assessment center/interview”. Networking is such a big part of the European culture; practically, every meetup is for networking -conferences, career fairs, coffee chats. Honestly, it can be stressful but it is what it is🤣. Just choose your stress wisely.
- I loved the idea of a pre-course for people without a basic background in the Master’s they’re undertaking.
- I appreciate how ESADE constantly seeks feedback on your experience, organize task groups per course to gather input for better experience towards the next Master’s year.
- I LOVED the diversity in team groupings for coursework. It was such a highlight!. I had different teams for the three terms, with no two team members from the same country. In my first term, I worked with students from Germany, Switzerland, India, Spain, and Ecuador. In the second term, my teammates included a Colombian, Spanish, Spanish-British, Indian, and German. In the third term, I worked with so many nationalities across four different courses with four distinct teams. This structure enabled me to connect with people on both a broad and small scale. ESADE prides itself in its diversity, and I think they achieve that to a significant extent.
- When I was certain of my attending in 2023, I knew I have to give back to ESADE one way or another. For a start, as part of my extracurricular activities, I am proud to have served as the first MSc President of the Blacks in Business and Allies Club. This role strengthened my passion for promoting representation. One of my post-graduation goals is to raise awareness of this club and encourage more Black students to consider ESADE as a top choice.
So here I am, selling ESADE to you 🤣. This is your cue to consider studying at ESADE 😉. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me via my socials or send me an email – I’m more than happy to help in any way I can.
I genuinely loved my experience at ESADE. While I believe I could have made it even better (because everyone’s experience is what you make it), my time there was fantastic!
It’s been one week since I graduated from ESADE – October 25, 2024. I’m beyond elated and grateful for the experience. Currently, I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m glad I came, and I look forward to better days ahead because it can only get better. Watch out for me😉!!!!
