Finals just ended, I said some goodbyes, and I am all packed and ready. My first year at HBS has already come to an end, way too quickly, and I just boarded my flight to Singapore.

As you can probably imagine, I have not yet reflected on all that has happened over the past couple of months, and have definitely not digested the idea that I will be working in Singapore for the summer. I have the next 23 hours to do so, so let’s get started with some inspiration.

How was my first year?

I came to HBS with very little expectations of what the experience would be like. Similar to my situation now, before joining HBS I almost had every minute of my days and weeks filled with work, travel, goodbyes, and packing. Hence, I did not get to think of what I was about to get myself into. In many ways I am very happy that I didn’t.

The past year has been an amazing roller coaster ride in all shapes and forms. I’ve had the chance to challenge myself in so many ways; academically, socially, emotionally, psychologically. The environment is extremely vibrant and fast-paced. From engaging classroom discussions, to chats with random people at drinks, to deep 2am conversations with new friends, to silent moments with travel buddies.

I faced different challenges over the past year, which perhaps at the moment felt unnecessary or painful, however looking back has helped me and my relationships grow further.

Overall, I believe I’ve become a stronger person; I have found comfort in vulnerability, have developed more critical opinions, and have grown the empathetic side of me. On this journey, I am thankful to have an extremely supportive husband, family, and friends there for me from across the globe.

Why Singapore?

When deciding what I wanted to do for the summer, I had three main criteria:

  • Work in an emerging market

  • Do something I have no clue about

  • Explore a new destination

    • Throughout my search and conversations with Kurt Piemonte, an amazing career coach, I reached Global Fashion Group (GFG). A fashion e-commerce company based out of Singapore that operates in more than 25 markets in South East Asia, Australia, Russia, Middle East, and South America.

    GFG ticked all my boxes. I have never lived in Singapore or the region. It is one of the most emerging markets in the world, and I would be working in operations- far from my experience in management consulting and NGOs.

    My role as the Operations Intern is focused on assessing existing processes for specific partnerships in different markets and redesigning them to optimize operations and increase profitability. I will basically get exposure to the different stakeholders involved, in addition to a deep understanding of how their existing infrastructure functions. The output of my project will be a list of actionable business requirements and IT system adjustments needed to achieve the new processes that I will design.

    The team has been extremely welcoming and has expressed enthusiasm about me joining them and my project. I am very excited to take on this role and hope to create as much impact as possible at GFG!

    Next post reported from Singapore, until then.