When asked to describe the most culturally rewarding aspect of your exchange experience, I think about the different aspects of the experience in which I was most exposed to the culture and what exactly is culture anyways…
cul·ture /ˈkəlCHər/
the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group
I think perhaps the best way is to break it down into two parts; the culture of the school and the culture of the streets society.
School
IESE Business School – University of Navarra just so happens to be one of the tops school in Europe. I knew that before arriving, but somehow I didn’t think that it would be reflected in the culture – say the style of teaching or intensity. While Kellogg is a top business school [pause: I don’t mean to focus on rankings, but hang with me…], I never really FELT it in the culture. This wasn’t the case at IESE. The students were much more engaged in class as if participation points defined their self-worth and the professors seemed somehow more passionate….ehhh…invested in the subjects than I was used to. This made for a very dynamic classroom experience and it made me want to “step up and show up”.
Admittedly, I wasn’t planning to have such a large part of my experience be academic. However, I grew to look forward to classes and heading to campus. (It was about a 45 min bus/train ride away or a 15 min taxi ride away from my apt in Gracia.) Over the three months there, I took seven…no eight different courses. No lie, it was hard to see friends down in Argentina in class for only two weeks… Ha. Anyway, my favorite classes, there were probably Business Model Innovation, Emerging Economies, and Business Spanish Practicum. While I love learning, grades have never been the most important to me. Showing up in these courses, in particular, was always a good time where I was focused and learned something new. That’s not always the case.
I loved the IESE student body. Yeah, I think love is appropriate.
IESE is a Catholic school and quite conservative in its brand positioning if you will. Every classroom had some homage to Christ – a painting or a small statue for example. However, the students were so “diverse”. If I pulled the stats, I’m sure that IESE would rank near the top in terms of the diversity of places that students came from. Lots of South Americans, Indians, Asians, folks from the Middle East, a handful of Americans, brothers and sisters from the continent of Africa, and plenty of folks from around Europe. This too added to the “color” of the cultural experience. Even with a small study body of around 300 per class, there were so many ideas, perspectives, beliefs, orientations, and personalities. Did I mention that everyone…well not everyone…but so many people were so attractive? I’d be remiss if I didn’t call that out.
IESE Exchange Students 2022 | about half not pictured
While the school is definitely “work hard”, there was an aspect of “play hard” too. First off, the students were so nice. They recognized that I wasn’t a familiar face and made sure to ask how they could help, how my experience was going, and extend invites to different events (organized and casual get-togethers). The Black@IESE and Out@Biz group in particular were both so welcoming to me. It’s within these groups that I found instant communities and “safe spaces”. Be that activities for the weekend, a friendly face to sit with at lunch, or someone to ping in class to joke around with or ask silly questions. Of course, I had the other exchange students as well. Oh right – back to the play hard bit!
IESE knows how to party Network….
Bar of the Week
Each week, they organize a Bar of the Week (BoW). There is an organizing body that partners with proper bars/clubs within the city each week to host exclusive IESE parties. Every. Week. It’s usually a bit earlier and then the place will open up to the public. It was a great way to see different sides of the students in a more casual environment and get to explore the party scene of Barcelona. My favorite BoW was probably Carnival BoW that the Brazil students hosted. They had a Brazilian band, caipirinhas, and the best DJ. Also, I was able to bring some close friends from Kellogg along to this one. That made it extra special.
SK-IESE
Oh - the party networking didn’t stop in Barcelona btw. IESE organized a huge ski trip to Andorra. A small country between France and Spain. (Nope. I had never heard of it before moving to Barcelona.) After learning that skiing wasn’t for me just a few months before during Kellogg’s ski trip to Aspen Snowmass, I had no intentions of strapping on the skis. I just wanted to go for the cultural vibes, so I rented a car – grabbed a few friends, and headed on the three-hour trek to Andorra. Ever drive up a steep snow-covered mountain while it was snowing at night to join new friends for an après ski? You’re missing out. While we were late for the party, it was well worth it. Think nighttime Coachella but freezing cold and the category is ski realness. That night I had great conversations with fellow classmates and started to feel embedded into the culture and less foreign.
Multi-Culti
Speaking of “culture”, the biggest event that IESE puts on is called “Multi-Culti”, short for multi-cultural. Admittedly, I was skeptical about yet another bschool party networking event for €60 with the promise of being the biggest one of the year – the one you don’t want to miss. I’m happy to report, that it was indeed amazing. As the name suggests, “Multi-culti” was a time for the students to proudly showcase their different cultures. With a rented out venue on Montjuïc, Poble Espanyol, there were tables with traditional dishes like jollof rice from Nigeria, deserts, and signature drinks from different countries. That in itself is nice, right? Well, there’s more. Not only could you “taste” the culture, but you could also see it because students performed cultural showcases. Bhangra from India, cueca from Chile, bagpipes from Scotland, and much more were all on display that night. “Kyron did you perform for the USA?” Of course! I joined the displaced Americans on stage to perform a flash mob to “Party in the USA” followed by a chant of Murica’. A classic bop.
Truly one of my favorite cultural experiences.
Society
I think I need some more time to process everything here. :) Check back later.