When I first arrived in Paris, it was the end of August 2019. Looking back over the past several months I spent at ESSEC, I find myself to have a lot to share. Studying in France has always been a dream of mine since my undergraduate years. When I learned that the Guanghua School of Management has a Double Degree Program with ESSEC Business School, I was excited and applied for it.

ESSEC is one of the top business schools in France and Europe, especially well-known for its Masters in Management program (Grande Ecole) which ranks No.3 worldwide. It offers more than 200 elective courses in French and English, and more than 20 specialized tracks and chairs sponsored by big companies such as LVMH, L'Oreal, BNP Paribas, Accenture, and Danone. I am lucky to be accepted by the Accenture Strategic Business Analytics Chair, which is very popular among ESSEC students.

我第一次来到巴黎是在2019年8月底。回望自己在埃塞克高等商学院（ESSEC）度过的这几个月，我有许多难忘回忆想要与大家分享。自本科阶段起我就一直梦想能去法国学习。当我得知光华管理学院与埃塞克高等商学院合作开办了一个双学位项目时，我非常兴奋，立即申请了这一项目。

ESSEC是法国和欧洲的顶尖商学院之一，尤以其世界排名第三的管理学硕士项目（Grande Ecole）而著称。该项目开设了200多门以法语和英语讲授的选修课程，还提供20多种由酩悦·轩尼诗－路易·威登集团（LVMH）、欧莱雅、法国巴黎银行、埃森哲和达能等大公司赞助的专业课程和项目。我有幸被埃森哲战略商业分析项目录取，这一项目在ESSEC学生中很受欢迎。

What impressed me most about ESSEC is its slogan, “The pioneering spirit”. It encourages students to be innovative and pragmatic. This spirit has penetrated into its flexible and personalized program. Students have the right to choose whether to do an internship for 6 months or to attend classes. It allows students to design their own study plans. As business school students, it is important to put what we learn within the classroom into practice. It also reminds me of what our dear Professor Douglas taught us: learning by doing.

Thanks to my first-year studying experience with international classmates of the IMBA class at Guanghua, I feel more at ease when immersing myself in a unique multi-cultural learning environment and interacting with people from diverse backgrounds. However, in terms of courses, I have to say they are more intensive than I thought. We even have an intensive week at the beginning of every trimester. For most of the courses, it is normal to do more than 3 group projects. I remember that we did 7 group projects in the Global Strategy and Luxury Business course. The moment we were celebrating the accomplishment of one project, we had to arrange another group meeting for a new project.

ESSEC的校训是“进取精神”，我对此铭记于心。校训鼓励学生在开拓创新的同时脚踏实地。这一精神已经融入其灵活和个性化的项目中。学生可以自由选择实习6个月或者上课，设计自己的学习计划。作为商学院学生，学会在实践中运用课堂上所学的知识是非常重要的。这也让我想起了光华的道格拉斯教授，他也常教导我们：实践出真知。

在光华的第一年，我曾与光华国际MBA的外国同学们共同学习。得益于这一经历，我已经能更加自如地在独特的跨文化环境中进行沉浸式学习，并与来自不同背景的人交流。然而，这里的课程却比我预想的更加紧张，甚至每个学期伊始的第一周都非常忙碌。在大多数课上，做3个以上的小组项目都很常见。我记得我们在“全球战略和奢侈品业务”课程上做了7个小组项目。我们刚完成一个项目，还来不及庆祝就要安排新项目的小组讨论会。

When it comes to romance, Paris has that special je ne sais quoi (I don’t know what) that captivates millions of visitors, day in and day out. Known around the world as the “City of Light,” Paris is celebrated for its beautiful city plan, architecture, museums, wide and luxurious boulevards, elegant cuisine, etc. A character in a play by Oscar Wilde said, “When good Americans die, they go to Paris.” 

I like to spend weekends discovering the city of Paris. Taking a cruise on la Seine river, wandering at Les Champs-Elysees boulevard, appreciating Monalisa in the Louvre Museum… You will never feel bored in Paris because there is a lot to explore. Since countries in Europe are not far away from each other, it is easier to visit one country during the weekend. Having a spur-of-the-moment trip has always been my dream. Studying in Paris allows me to realize that dream. To leverage the convenient transportation within Europe, I traveled a lot during the holidays. It’s a good way to explore different cultures and people in different countries. Also, it’s the best way to avoid the nation-wide strikes which lasted for more than one month in France.

当提到浪漫时，巴黎有一种无法言喻的气质吸引着无数游客夜以继日前来参观游览。巴黎被世界称之为“光明之城”，以其美丽的城市规划、建筑、博物馆、宽广奢华的大道、优雅的餐饮文化等闻名。奥斯卡·王尔德剧作中的一个人物说道，“当美国的好人死了，他们就去巴黎。”

学习之余，我喜欢在周末探索巴黎这座城市，在塞纳河上乘船游览，在香榭丽舍大道上悠然漫步，在卢浮宫欣赏蒙娜丽莎的美…在巴黎你永远不会感到无聊，因为总有无穷无尽的事物等着你去探索发现。由于欧洲国家彼此都相距不远，在周末游览一个国家并非难事。我一直梦想着开启一场说走就走的旅行，巴黎让我实现了这一梦想。欧洲的交通非常便利，我对此加以充分利用，常在假期四处旅行。这是了解不同文化和不同国家民族的好方法，也是避开法国已持续一个多月的全国罢工的最好方式。

This is one of the reasons why people love Paris but hate it at the same time. A saying goes, “if you love someone, take him to Paris; if you hate someone, take him to Paris.” In Paris, you can not only experience the romantic culture but also go through the strikes. Even the French citizens who get used to strikes said that the strikes since last December were unbearable. There was no train, nor metro. The revolutionary spirit always lives in the heart of the French people.

Above all, studying in Paris is a unique, enjoyable and precious experience for me. If Guanghua shapes my way of thinking, then ESSEC sharpens it. The Double Degree Program enriched my MBA life. It is a beautiful journey, full of adventure and surprises.

这也是人们对巴黎爱恨交织的原因之一。人们常说，“如果你爱一个人，就带他去巴黎；如果你恨一个人，也带他去巴黎。”在巴黎，你不仅能够体验浪漫文化，还可能遇上罢工。即使是对罢工习以为常的法国本地人也表示，自十二月开始的罢工已经令他们无法忍受。火车、地铁全部停运。革命精神一直扎根于法国人民的心中。

总而言之，在巴黎学习对我而言是一种独特、愉快和珍贵的体验。如果光华塑造了我的思维方式，那么ESSEC则让我的思维变得更加敏锐。双学位项目让我的MBA更加丰富多彩。我正经历着一段充满冒险和惊喜的美好旅程，期待着会有更多的收获与体悟与大家分享。

博雅汇MBA，专注于北清人等顶级名校MBA提前面试申请，拥有9年的辅导经验，帮助上千人成功拿到清北人复交等名校预录取资格。

20—21申请季，在师生的共同努力下，博雅汇的学员共拿下528个名校offer。辅导的264名学员中，面试综合通过率达到90.15%。其中，MBA项目北大预录取51人、清华经管预录取29人、人大商学院预录取42人，各校录取人数业内排名第一。想要咨询MBA添加助教老师微信（15810437141）