Stacey Zhao, GMBA Class of 2017

GMBA exchange buddies Dante Wang and Stacey Zhao repping their home colors from Tsinghua SEM during their semester abroad at London Business School.

Having lived and studied in the U.S. and China, I was now curious about life in a European country. Though I had visited the UK once on a holiday, my travel as a tourist could speak little to life and culture there. I was eager to embark on this new adventure and explore the educational opportunities waiting at London Business School (“LBS”). The LBS campus was a small and intimate one, unlike the larger and more populated environment at Tsinghua with its broader disciplinary offerings. I was especially impressed by the one-on-one orientation with my exchange counselor. I settled in just south of Regent’s Park, across the street from my favorite publisher, Monocle, in a vibrant part of Marylebone, home to A-list restaurants and boutiques, just a block from Baker Street, and a short walk from school. 

Some of the courses I chose were highly recommended by past exchange students, such as Path to Power and Negotiation. These classes were focused on discussion and group exercises rather than traditional lecture. In Negotiation, our professor challenged us with multiple rounds of individual and group negotiations with our peers, to teach us how to maneuver the changing dynamics of negotiations, facing every type of circumstance. In Power, we practiced with a Stanford acting coach on being our “different selves,” playing roles with multiple personas, versatile body language, and varying levels of authority. In Managing the Channel and Salesforce, we welcomed a new guest lecturer every week to share industry insights and best practices for sales channel management. I found these sessions fun and the takeaways highly applicable in my personal and professional life.

Outside of campus, I slowly explored the little communities that grew out of neighborhoods in greater London, realizing how truly unique they were in their own sets of traditions, architecture, histories, and people. I loved London especially because it was not for the faint of heart, with its rugged politeness, chaotic grandeur, and traditional yet tolerant, fast-paced atmosphere.  There is a resounding life to the city with crisscrossing alleys, cultures, and cuisines, teeming with diversity and exchange of ideas, which was very tangibly present at school. A taste of afternoon tea, walks in London’s many parks, museums, shows and performances, and a short visit to The Lake District and Edinburgh left me with only fond memories of my time there and high recommendations to others considering the London route.