47 Nationalities, One Vision: A Global MBA Journey Begins at HEC Paris

More than 170 MBA students have arrived on the HEC Paris campus ready to pursue a life-changing journey. It takes more than courage to leave one’s country, family, friends and career. It takes dedication, trust and sacrifice.

The September Intake, class of 2027, attracted 47 nationalities and 173 students, of which more than 41% are women.

For many of them it is the first time stepping foot in France or on campus. 

Aziz Ochilov, from Uzbekistan, has traveled multiple times to Europe, but the HEC Paris MBA is his first chance to see France. “It was full of new emotions, meeting the class, meeting a lot of people, so much diversity,” Aziz said. “[I] only have positive emotions and really, I feel this curiosity to find out more. I can’t wait to see what’s next.”

Meghna Gandhi, who is from India, said the one thing she was impressed with were the 47 nationalities. “Everyday I meet people from so many parts of the world and get to learn so much about their cultures.”

It feels like home already, said Mishel Andrasuna from Latvia. “What I noticed the most was the sheer size of [the campus] to be quite honest. Walking in you realize that this campus has a forest, many buildings, a chateau and there’s so much happening.”

Prior to the MBA, Mishel was working in digital marketing and specialized in the tech industry. HEC was the “perfect place” for her to find likeminded peers, and it gives her the opportunity to switch industries, she said. “When I walked into the first networking event at HEC, I realized that whether it was the staff, admissions or alumni, everybody had a very similar mindset—everybody seemed like they were extremely passionate, and I think that’s what inspired me the most.”

Xinyi Song, from China, said “I really want to embrace French culture and society and that’s why I’m here.” She has traveled to France many times and fell in love with the country and its “beautiful language.” Before moving into digital marketing, the former English lifestyle journalist started her own media brand, Niche Shanghai, which focused on niche experiences and events in Shanghai. She hopes the MBA will give her the roadmap to secure a market-leading job to eventually launch a personal brand focused on cross-cultural communications.

Xinyi’s goal is not uncommon in the HEC MBA Program. Many participants are looking to transition into a new industry or transform their skills and knowledge to play a bigger decision-making role. 

After working for seven years in government financial institutions, Naofumi Yasuda, from Japan, resigned from BNP Paribas in Tokyo to join the September intake. Post-MBA, he plans to target international financial institutions like the International Finance Corporation or Inter-American Development Bank to focus on sovereign finance in developing countries. “I want to fill in the gap between the private sector and the public sector,” Naofumi said.

Meanwhile, Meghna said she wants to pivot into the retail and luxury marketing segment and HEC Paris, which sits in the heart of the luxury industry, was the best choice.

Shalaka Lawrence, from Ireland, was attracted to HEC for its links to many luxury brands. Seeking to be in a multilingual, multicultural environment, Shalaka wants to expand her India-based business Revita into Europe. Launched in 2024, Revita is an herbal beauty product line by women for women. “My aim is to provide these beauty products to the mid and lower class, because the herbal beauty products on the market are very high and quite expensive. I want to provide it so that every section of society is able to afford it.”

Both the 16-month duration and on-campus housing which fosters the ability to build a strong network attracted Audrey Sedjro, from Benin. He founded a consulting enterprise that provided digital transformation services to companies. His main client was Sopra Steria where he led high-scale IT projects for Airbus in the manufacturing domain. A software engineer, Audrey wants to transition to finance or become a digital innovation leader. 

It was the campus visit that sealed his decision. Although he had lived in France for more than 10 years, he had never seen the Jouy campus. “I had an opportunity to attend a class during that day, and it gave me a glimpse of what the class experience would be like, how the professor interacts with students. I was very happy when the marketing team proposed this to me. After that day, I said okay, I want to choose HEC.”