Villa Vivanté

I have some very exciting news - I'm doing my MBA at INSEAD this year!

It's such a great feeling to finally be here. All of my spare time last year was spent studying for the GMAT (admissions test), then writing applications, then attending interviews, then learning French and then sorting out visas. There were several tears and tantrums along the way, but when I eventually got a phone call from a mysterious French number announcing my admission offer, it was all worth it.

So two weeks ago, I packed up my life in Brisbane (for the third time) and moved to France to go to the MBA school of my dreams.

Let me invite you into my new home Villa Vivanté.

The INSEAD campus is in Fontainebleau, a small French town inside a forest about 50 kilometres south east from Paris. Like many of my INSEAD peers, I had my heart set on living in a nearby chateau or villa shared with other classmates. (Ridiculous I know, but when else will we get the chance to live in a chateau in the French countryside?)

Villa Vivanté is an 18th century home with eleven bedrooms, almost as many bathrooms, and two living rooms and kitchens. There are eleven of us fresh-faced MBA students living here, and we come from all corners of the globe. That in itself is very unique and I hope to introduce my new housemates on the blog before long.

It all seems like something out of a fairytale, and I kind of feel that way about my life right now. With a little hard work and a lot of determination, dreams really do come true.