Thus began my new quest — to find a suitable school and program that would intrigue me. Of course there were other reasons to continue my education, since I only had one year left of my undergraduate degree of International Businessat Carleton University, I was finishing a chapter in my life. Having something end can be scary if you don’t plan for something else to begin. Also the idea of working in a bank or being a tiny cog in a large corporation just didn’t seem too appealling to me and going to school was an alternative. So after careful research I narrowed down my choices. I’ve always been intrigued with the notion of living in Europe and my recent trip to Paris floored me more than I could have ever imagined so at least my location was chosen. I also knew that I wanted to continue my stream in business, or management however I did not want to waste my time on an MBA. Now don’t misunderstand me, I am not implying that an MBA is not a good course for people to take however with such a strong personal background in business it’s just not worth my time and money to be re-learning concepts that I’ve already mastered. Also with most MBA’s you don’t realize their true potential unless you’ve worked at least a few years in the industry and can bring some practical knowledge to the classrooms. This was another narrowing factor-my lack of industry related work experience.
I finally found a few Masters in Management Programs at HEC Paris, ESCP Europe, London School of Business and Queen’s University that piqued my interest. Three of the programs also allowed for something yet unheard of to me: double and triple degree options. What is a double degree you may ask? It is the option of getting an additional degree (or two) in the same amount of time and for the same amount of money as one. They also differentiate by the location of where you can attain these additional degrees. Some institutions offer them with partner universities so that in two years you would get two degrees from two completely different entities, or you can get them in different subjects from the same school. I was instantly enamoured by the multiple degree option and therefore narrowed down my options to the Masters in Management at ESCP Europe and HEC Paris.
Now the real journey begins.