What a great phrase this is, as well as being perfectly apt to describe what the beginnings of this MBA year has been for us all. Between the community in this village, fondly known as Dublin, and the many new faces being introduced in the halls of Smurfit, there have definitely been a hundred thousand welcomes.
Most people run to the sun, but not me. Coming from Cape Town, South Africa, I packed my bags and headed north to begin a new chapter in Ireland. A warm welcome from my hosts made me instantly feel at home in my new surrounds. With a few days to spare I used the time to explore Dublin and productively “stalk” the profiles of my new classmates. Who were these people venturing on this journey with me? Are they crazy? Am I crazy? Let me not answer the latter.
And so, Foundation Week was here. Day one of school. Again, a hundred thousand welcomes. The feelings of excitement, curiosity, nervous energy and perhaps slight caution were all thrown together as we began our new walk together.
After a long day of financial reporting, we had a day of being put through spiderwebs, making shapes blindfolded and trying to find some “Jedi”. Without anyone knowing each other, the beginnings of this camaraderie had begun. So far, so good.
Next up was moving into Proby House. Here goes nothing. Six students of the MBA class moved into neighbouring apartments. The evenings were spent in a reasonably civilized manner drinking wine, introducing our best dance moves and getting to know people with different cultural backgrounds from different countries. I was in luck by landing in an apartment with an Indian and Kenyan roommate who both love cooking. Don’t worry mom – I’ll be “grand”.
One thing that is confusing me is the Irish obsession with “Crack” (better spelt “Craic”). This comes up plenty and is seemingly always involving fun. Is this some secret the Irish have discovered to eternal happiness?
We have a diverse class from around the world, all with such interesting experiences and insight into life. Bonds and friendships seem to be forming fast as we begin to tackle the challenges of this year. We are all on the same page at “having the craic” and bettering our lives in whatever way Smurfit has in store for us.
Hans Stauch FT MBA 2018-19