An MBA Student’s Blog

Seda Saracer chose the SDA Bocconi MBA in part because of its international environment. As if classmates from 31 different countries weren't enough, she now finds herself with 11 fellow-bloggers scattered all over the world, all authors of an online diary of their experiences in the Business Education section of the Financial Times.

Born in Istanbul in 1984, Seda graduated with a degree in International Commerce and then worked in marketing at a multinational company in the varnish sector for three years. During that period, she became aware of the need for a turning point in her career path. "I chose an MBA because at university I learned simply through reading books, but then I wanted to learn new business skills along with other people who had work experience, who I could exchange ideas with and learn from as well," explains Seda. "And I chose SDA because it has a great reputation and it offers a specialization in marketing that interested me." Just before the program began in October, the proposal to write a blog on the website of the Financial Times came to her through SDA. Seda's outgoing and curious personality encouraged her to accept the proposal and so she found herself with eleven other bloggers, including a student from Kenyan who studies at INSEAD, an Indian student in Chicago and an American at Cambridge. "I was familiar with Facebook and Twitter but I didn't think of myself as a potential blogger. But I was curious about the proposal and now I'm really into it!" says Seda. "I started with the goal of offering a real view of what it means to complete an MBA. Often, in fact, only official information about MBAs can be found, while what I want to do is to describe what really goes on behind the scenes, personalizing my story as much as possible." In her various posts (an average of two per week) Seda has in fact talked about the intensity of the program, the importance of networking, and job prospects at the end of the program, but also about the recreational moments among students such as parties and soccer tournaments. "At the beginning it was a big effort, partly because I tried to plan my posts. Now I can be more spontaneous when I write, it comes easier and its almost a relaxing break from the frenzy of the program," says Seda. Between the program, the blog and clubs (Seda is a member of both the MBA SDA's Marketing Club and the Women in Business Club), Seda's commitments keep her from spending time on her greatest passion, oil painting. So, at least for now, her dream of painting the Duomo of Milan will have to wait.