Is this two years?

Wow, this really feels strange!

After two years I'm done with my MBA, what a bittersweet feeling (actually more bitter than sweet). On the one hand I am happy to be graduating on the other hand it is very sad to be done and to not be around this incredible group of people everyday!

It has been an amazing time!

I learned a ton, had a lot of fun, accomplished my goals, but most importantly meet so many great people and made wonderful friends!

Ross is indeed a very special place, which I will miss a lot!

I can't thank all of you enough, who made this experience so special!

Now looking forward to the summer and from August being back in Ann Arbor for the next chapter!

Barcelona

It has been a long time I wrote something here, but I do not only have an excuse, I even have a reason!

I spend January to April studying at IESE in Barcelona as part of an exchange program.

Ideally I would now tell you that I was so busy studying, I could not keep this blog updated, but that would not be entirely true. Let's just say that while I was reasonably busy studying and that the five day weekend is not a bad concept!

So really what kept me from spending time here was the city of Barcelona.

What a wonderful place, especially in spring!

Since pictures say more than a thousand words .... (ok, yes I am also a bit lazy!)

Oh yeah, I saw this sports team play.

I was told they play soccer. However, this is not the same game of "soccer" I have seen in stadiums before.

So I am still wondering about that and neither FC Basel fans nor Saturday's game helped.

It has been a wonderful few months in Barcelona, especially since I met a group of great people from IESE and other exchange students from around the world!

I guess there are few places besides an MBA program, where you can spend an evening talking about the Lehman Brothers meltdown with someone who worked directly for the CEO before going to party together.

The time difference between Barcelona (I guess all of Spain really) and northern Europe is still amazing to me: Having dinner until midnight, paying cover in clubs only after 3am, but most stunningly having friends from the US tell me "I have to go to bed now ...". I certainly never fully got used to that and I am not sure if I ever could.

But, I will surely come back and keep trying!

A tough decision to end an awesome 2010

When I started preparing for interviews I had a hard time coming up with a good story about a very tough decision I had to make in the past; while I hope to not be interviewing anymore in the near future, I now have a very good story on this.

After I decided to start my post-MBA career in the US, I was fortunate enough to receive offers from all of the top three consulting firms.

In the end I decided to join BCG in their Detroit office. I am super happy and excited about that!

I need to emphasize though what a tough decision this was. After a great summer and two other very compelling offers at amazing firms I had a very hard time deciding this. Therefore I want to thank everybody within and outside these firms who helped me make this decision! Very much appreciated - I owe you!

I now look forward to an exchange term in Barcelona at IESE. The downside is that my time at Ross is officially over. So it was a bittersweet feeling leaving Ann Arbor for Christmas.

Wish you all a happy 2011 and in case you like Barcelona as much as I do, come visit!