If the truth be told, I was utterly bemused. Just 15 hours earlier I’d been drinking a cup of tea in Heathrow, and now here I was. In front of me was a woman in a shocking-pink suit, and behind me were 40 frisky men and women in blue T-shirts who—as far as I could fathom—were cheerleaders. It would not have surprised me remotely if the blueshirts had backflipped onto the stage or the woman had broken into song. “Class of ’07,” she told us, “you are the best incoming class ever. A NASA engineer, an opera singer, an adviser to the Afghan minister of finance, a producer for NBC.” And there I was thinking I would be surrounded by bankers and consultants.
Even a cynic cannot help but be impressed by the incoming Columbia Business School class. In the class of ’07 alone, there are students from 46 countries who among them speak 50 languages. As I meekly raised my hand on Day 1 to introduce myself, I decided not to draw attention to my GCSE French. Instead, I opted to highlight my (very) basic Mandarin. Big mistake, I realized, as my future roommate, Ya Zhu from Hunan, stepped forward.
It is this experience as much as anything that has changed me most to date. Back in London most of my friends are English. Only two of my friends out here are from Britain. In my study group last year I had Marc, an investment banker originally from Lebanon; Mili, a marketer for the Gap from California; and Kartik, a financial analyst from India, as well as myself with a media background in Britain.
Fortunately, the School makes every effort to create a welcoming environment for students from around the world. Take the new lobby, for example, with its airport-lounge style. Or the Survival 101 Guide for International Students at Columbia, which recommends, “Americans like to shower daily.”
So what will this international experience add to me as a future business leader? Obviously, it has provided me with a global network of friends and potential business colleagues that I feel I could call on anytime for help or advice. If I want to work outside the UK, then I know now that I can. Many of my peers are going on to work in different countries from the ones they lived in before B-school, whether it is working in the U.S. for the first time or moving elsewhere for the first time.
But more than that, I have learnt to build working relationships based on common goals as much as common ground. And I have seen firsthand that it really is true that the most diverse teams go on to be the most successful. If this were the only learning from Columbia Business School, it would have been worth it.
Add to this, however, a greatly increased level of enthusiasm and belief in oneself. The School has given me a skill set more sophisticated than I ever knew I wanted. It has made me want to get back out there and use these skills to make a difference—soon. And it has helped me realize that I can actually achieve this.
Last semester as I called alumni on behalf of the School’s Annual Fund, I couldn’t help but be impressed with the list of job titles. It was proof enough that thousands of Columbia Business School graduates all over the world are making a difference. This year, 600 more of the best-ever graduates will go on to join them.