It is always wonderful to get back on Campus, especially when you get to welcome and meet your friends and classmates who are going to join you from the second semester! Prof. Harald Strotmann, Vice Dean of the Business School and Director of the MBA International Management program, warmly welcomed us for the start of new beginnings. He explained to us how our MBA program is the right blend of conventional business tools like Innovation Management & Business Models, and Sustainable Globalization, and advanced business methodologies like Strategic Management or  Business Controlling, along with electives such as Leadership or Decision Making. We then got a sneak-peak into our networking calendar with excursions planned in the Cologne-Düsseldorf region, Alumni meets, Guests in Classroom sessions and much more! We spoke about the significance of team-work as an essential learning and how supporting each other, interacting and engaging in the classroom, asking a lot of questions, and preparing proactively for every assignment are the cornerstones of the MBA journey. Prof. Strotmann also emphasized that a key aspect is also the openness to integrate within the culture and learn the German language. Intercultural integrity and communication are extremely important as a manager, in every field. The afternoon concluded with catching up after the semester break and some drinks and snacks.
A big thank you to Prof. Markus Oliver Schwaab, Tanja Solombrino, Janina Walther, Wencke Dürigen and Heide Kleckow for being a constant source of support and motivation.
We are super-excited to learn and work together and start our second semester with a bang!

Text and picture: Aditya Yardi, Class of 2025