Everyone is here! It was a hectic day—a slow morning allowed the counsellors precious time to plan, with only a few students trickling in every once in a while, but by mid-afternoon Freddy’s Bar was filled with animated chatter from students and parents.
Participants met their counsellors and were shown their rooms, often accompanied by keen family members (many of whom are INSEAD alumni, and who were very excited to be back in Fontainebleau to relive their INSEAD years!). Before long, shed of their parents, students were separated into groups of five for a scavenger hunt in which they had to take different photos across the INSEAD campus, from acrobatics in the grounds to avant-garde portraits of the staff, and the competition heated up quickly!
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- Saying goodbye!
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- Ice breakers kick off!
The first official activity was an introductory presentation given by Pascale, Marie-Angelique, Deputy Dean Peter Zemsky and Summer@INSEAD’s programme head Adrian Johnson, after which the students headed back into Freddy’s bar for a few ice-breakers. First, students had to group up by their home countries and arrange these clusters into a line that began with the country with the highest GDP and ended with the country with the lowest. The game was then repeated, but groups now how to line up according to GDP per capita. These quick activities were trickier than first expected and also gave everyone a good idea of just how diverse the program is – though Mr Google certainly made a few covert appearances!
Then, dinner. American flags, burgers and more getting to know each other. This was followed by another short meeting in the amphitheatre, after which participants returned to their YFCD groups for some more ice breakers, and a chance to really delve into the people with whom they will be working very closely for the next two weeks. A lot of the students (and the counsellors!) gladly headed for bed before the start of their first full day.
~ Andrea