Ah Barcelona! 24 hours and you’ll fall in Love!
Coming from Madrid, I approached Barcelona with one question in mind, would Barcelona be as good as Madrid, surely not? Despite all of my scepticism I tried hard to keep an open mind.
During my time in Barcelona I was lucky to have walked Las Ramblas, checked out Barceloneta Beach, and stumbled across a quietish restaurant on the way back to my hotel to have some exceptional tapas in a new and upcoming restaurant.
Barcelona is a seaside city with boundless culture, fantastic architecture that you could stare at all day long and a world-class food scene. When you choose to study in Barcelona you are choosing a city which offers picture postcard scenes and architecture that spans 2000 years. You may already know but within a short distance you’ll find a number of beaches which make a fine backdrop for the sporty types or something more leisurely along the seaside – and for the adventurous a refreshing dip. The thing that stood out for me at Barcelona was the food scene, you won’t be disappointed! Students once ate pot noodle and beans on toast, in Barcelona that’s not the case, that I’m sure of! The likes of Albert Adrià, Carles Abellan et al – are part of the long and celebrated tradition of Catalan cooking and are often recognised as masters of molecular gastronomy. Throughout the city you can see how other independent restaurateurs and bar owners have been inspired to push the boundaries and serve up high quality food with exceptional service.
Enough about food! So which university did I visit in Barcelona?
I took a short train ride from the central station and headed to ESADE situated 20 minutes north of the city in an area called Sant Cugat otherwise known as Castrum Octavianum in antiquity (which literally means the castle of Octavianus), it is named after Saint Cucuphas, who is said to have been martyred on the spot now occupied by its medieval monastery. The final part of its toponym, del Vallès, is a reference to the historical county where the town is situated. One thing I like about this role is learning about places!
ESADE offers programmes in Business and Law and was established over 50 years ago. Its key mission was to train individuals to become highly-competent professionals fully aware of their position and responsibility locally and globally. ESADE is a foundation and therefore whilst they charge tuition fees they constantly re-invest into the university. Although I became familiar with ESADE 3 years ago, it was great to visit the campus and meet the recruitment team. I sensed that ESADE is an institution which is constantly working in harmony with a set of fundamental values preparing students of today with the skills that they need for the challenges of tomorrow.
One of ESADE’s mission statements is ‘Inspiring futures’, I only spent a few hours at ESADE and I certainly felt inspired. I could sense students would be too. Students are supported from day 1 and are encouraged to get involved with social responsibility projects. Social responsibility is one of ESADE’s core missions. They are committed to training individuals who are aware of their responsibilities as citizens and professionals, and who can make a significant contribution in their careers to meeting society’s demands.
Interestingly, ESADE is a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact and of the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), a global network of universities and business schools committed to integrating social responsibility, ethics and sustainability into education. This is a good indicator about how ESADE views itself and its role in creating a culture of social responsibility.
We often forget, but looking at an institution’s alumni is often a good way to measure the success of its graduates. ESADE’s alumni is unquestioned: almost 40,000 alumni in over 100 countries, holding top-level posts in companies, public administration and the non-profit sector. Some of the alumni stories were eye-opening.
If you are interested in finding out more please visit their website here.
Programmes at ESADE for English speaking students are only available in Business as Law is typically for domestic students who speak Spanish. Business programmes are delivered in English, but you’d want to learn Spanish.
Want to find out more about studying overseas? Then visit one of our events!
Look out for more information on our events:
International Education Show Roadshow - Monday 12th March - Thursday 15th March 2018
International Education Week in the UK is a platform that aims to connect UK Students with universities outside the UK. It is the first official week dedicated to studying overseas.
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