Last blog entry for the MBA 2009 year

- Marcella Rispo

IMD MBA Partner Coordinator

The partner coordinator, for those not in the know, is the resource person assigned by IMD to partners/spouses in order to guide them through the first few daunting and grey months when they arrive in Lausanne. From providing information on childcare to passing on titbits from the previous years, from offering advice on where to shop most conveniently to how to find a doctor who speaks English – I am here as a link, a ‘man on the ground’, a reference point. I am also an ex-partner myself – I too have taken this famous journey and can very much relate to those partners who choose to relocate to Lausanne.

Every year I welcome a new group, a new combination of nationalities, a new blend of characters, a new batch of varied, different yet always very interesting people. With the MBAs you sort of know what you are getting as they are interviewed, screened and grilled, whereas with the partners it’s mostly a lottery. Moreover, even if some do get in touch via email or visit Lausanne for a preview, until January comes and I actually meet their eager and expectant faces, I have no clue as to what the individual or the group will actually be like.

So we all get to know each other – I them, they me and each, the other. Yet it was soon evident that the partners 2009 were full of initiative, ideas, projects, and enthusiasm for the great unknown lurking before them. From early on they got busy organising partner evenings, playgroups, outings, cooking swaps, this blog, and surprisingly helped each other when in need, AND managed to keep it up throughout the year! That is truly impressive. I have seen 4 years of partners go through my hands and this year is definitely an A++ group!

Let’s not forget how difficult the first few months really were – settling-in in a new, (for some too cold) country, no family to count on, with often limited budgets, cramped in small at times uncomfortable flats, in a country that is not their own, nor is theirs to make, as after 11 months they will most likely be off to some new foreign destination. Some had left behind high powered jobs, lots of family support, huge networks of friends and colleagues, big houses, big budgets (!) for a year of (mostly) huge expense!

Yet despite that, they managed to raise kids, give birth to quite a few of them (!!), come out of bad spells, work and/or study, care for children while setting up their own business/finish their degrees, get involved in local projects, travel, learn French, get to know different cultures, deal with the stuff of routine, and..and..and..

Finally after 6 of the worst months at IMD, the students emerged from their dungeons to rejoin their partners for a well deserved break, as the blog entry below testifies and even though it seemed that December would never arrive it only arrived too quickly – suddenly it was the last partner evening, the last playgroup, the last birthday party, the last baby shower, the last time I would address them. And of course Graduation – the Ceremony in the morning, the Ball at night. Yet it was lovely – it was lovely to see them all together, formal in the morning, beautiful and elegant in the evening.

By the time this entry will be published, however, most will have left Lausanne – no more bumping into a familiar face in the local Migros, no more casual crossings on the way to the lake or into town, no more sharing the school runs with other parents.

It has been a pleasure to accompany this year’s mélange through their journeys – I am sad to see them go, but at the same time I am glad for them. Now they can start doing some real living in a new, hopefully, less temporary, destination.

I wish you all the best for your new beginnings, new adventures and new challenges and hope you treasure your souvenirs of this memorable year.

I will miss you

Marcella