On October 29 and 30, 2021, ESSEC Business School held its Commencement Day. This festive event celebrates the graduation of the School’s pre-experience students and post-experience participants, and, most importantly, the new chapter in their lives that is about to open.
This year, for the first time, the ceremony was held at the prestigious Pierre Boulez auditorium of the Philharmonie de Paris. This majestic venue provided the perfect backdrop for celebrating together with friends and family, and honoring this individual and collective success.
In this emblematically philharmonic place, the various ceremonies had musical accompaniment, provided by the Lucia Ensemble Quartet.
This ceremony is called Commencement Day for good reason. Although your time at ESSEC is drawing to a close, this is, indeed, a beginning, a commencement. The new chapter that awaits you is going to be completely different ... And it will probably surprise you. I imagine that each and every one of you in this room has a career plan, a direction or an idea of what your future might look like—and that is wonderful. But, as the English saying has it, ‘life is what happens when you are busy making other plans’. So, seize all the opportunities that come your way and do not be afraid to let them lead you down different paths, these may lead you to something even better.
Vincenzo Vinzi - Dean and President of ESSEC Business School
The school has formed you to be committed and innovative women and men. The role of ESSEC Alumni will now be to help you deploy your potential and multiply your impact through the power of the collective.
Stéphanie Jossermoz - Managing Director of ESSEC Alumni - Graduated from the Grande Ecole / Master in Management in 1994
Grande Ecole / Master in Management
Looking back five years ago, when I arrived in France, to enter ESSEC, I was in constant fear also. It was my first time going abroad, studying in a prestigious French business school with nonbusiness-related academic background and limited level of French. As you can imagine there was a period I just spent my day wondering during group meetings, ‘what is he talking about’ and ‘why am I here’. I was so afraid of not being able to keep up with my excellent classmates, to contribute to group projects or to blend in. But the beauty about studying in ESSEC, is no one will tell you what you should do; they just go all the way to create opportunities, to support and help you whenever you need. Each one of us is encouraged to create our own path and to find our own answer.
Yilin Chen - Emblematic student of the ESSEC Master in Management
Our Alumni show us that after this ceremony we really can keep on dreaming: 40 gold medals at various world championships; some 70 members of parliament, ministers or ambassadors; countless CEOs and founders of startups like Ynsect now valued at several billion; renowned artists. [...] Yes, those who went before us give us reason to dream and their success is humbling. These men and women prove the impact ESSEC students can have, each at their own level. This means that we who are graduating have a responsibility to take what we learned and use it to serve society in the major challenges it is facing, such as the climate and ecological crisis.
Adrien Rose - Emblematic student of the ESSEC Master in Management
You are going to accomplish great things. Here is my message to you: dare to take risks. I believe it is more dangerous not to take risks than to take them. It is a development accelerator. It is going to be the way for you to forge the world of tomorrow, a world that you will want to live in and that you will pass on to your children. That is why I think you are the most important generation.
Béatrice Kosowski - General Manager of IBM France - ESSEC Master in Management Alumna (1987)
Executive Education
At ESSEC, I found what I was looking for: yes, an academic education that was comprehensive and would enable me to broaden and deepen some of my knowledge; but above all, that would be the opportunity for me to be exposed to new horizons and rub shoulders with different people. [...] Dare. Dare to change your mind. Dare to question past choices. Dare to think, dare to take a step towards what you are drawn to, without censoring yourself. Dare to live.
Cécile Mérine - CEO of La Plateforme du Courtage - General Management Alumna (2017)
The ceremony honored graduates of the following programs:
- General Management (MG)
- Management and Organization Management (MGO)
- Mastère Spécialisé® Strategy & Management of International Business (SMIB)
- Executive MS in Real Estate Management (MMI)
- Executive MS in Financial Management and Management Control (DFC)
- Executive MS in Strategy & Management of Health Industries (SMIS)
- Executive MS in Human Resources Management (DRH)
- Executive MS in Marketing Management and Digital (MMD)
We each arrived at ESSEC with an invisible suitcase filled with our career plans and our doubts. But, what is it that we are going to take away from our adventures? [...] My suitcase is filled with the people I met, the smiles, ‘matrices’ and many words I had never heard before ESSEC; and, of course our professors and the School’s administration. To all this, I would also have to add the moments of doubt and sacrifice that any change requires, but also our ability to have challenged ourselves and push our boundaries.
Paméla Nahmias - Emblematic participant of the Management and Organization Management (MGO) program
Global BBA
ESSEC gave us all the keys for following our dreams. Whatever your professional aspirations, as of now, you have the skills to make them come true. Whether you want to become a chocolatier, an artist, an entrepreneur, or join a large corporation, believe me, it is all well within your reach! Sometimes you will stumble, of course, but even against all odds, never give up because if you stay focused, you will be able to take it all in your stride.
Guillaume Caffin - Co-founder of Les Deux Gourmands – ESSEC Global BBA Alumnus (2011)
Together, we have forged bonds beyond friendship. Bonds that transcend countries, ethnicities and languages. I am very grateful for those friends who have become family, all over the world: those who are here today, and those who could not be. [...] The pioneering spirit of ESSEC has surely taught me one thing: to have the courage to dream, to dream big, and then not to give up until it becomes a reality.
Sonakshi Agarwal - Emblematic student of the ESSEC Global BBA
This journey we have taken together has been rich and full of learning, and for that, fellow students and professors, I am grateful. I also want to thank all our loved ones, because our success is also yours. Although each of our futures will be different, the one thing we have in common is that we have benefited from an excellent education, and we have graduated from this prestigious school. Now, after these four years during which we have received so much, it is time for us to give back. We must share and spread the knowledge and the ideals we have acquired, and use them, at least at our own level, to play our part in the social battles that our generation must face.
Thimothée Menke - Emblematic student of the ESSEC Global BBA
PhD - Master - Mastère Spécialisé ® - Isfogep
The ceremony honored graduates of the following programs:
- Philosophiæ doctor (PhD)
- Master in Data Sciences & Business Analytics (DSBA) - ESSEC & CentraleSupélec
- Master in Finance (MIF)
- Advanced Master Strategy & Management of International Business (SMIB)
- Mastère Spécialisé ® - Advanced Master in Business Administration Research (BAR)
- Mastère Spécialisé ® Entrepreneurs - ESSEC CentraleSupélec (ENTREP)
- Mastère Spécialisé ® Droit des Affaires Internationales et Management (DAIM) / LL.M.
- Mastère Spécialisé ® Gestion Achats Internationaux & Supply Chain (GAISC)
- Mastère Spécialisé ® Management de Projets Technologiques - ESSEC Telecom Paris (MPT)
- Mastère Spécialisé ® Management des Systèmes d’Information en Réseaux - ESSEC Telecom Paris (MSIR)
- Mastère Spécialisé ® Management International Agro-alimentaire (MIA)
- Mastère Spécialisé ® Management Urbain et Immobilier (MUI)
- Mastère Spécialisé ® Marketing Management et Digital (MMD)
- ISFOGEP
I am utterly convinced that everyone here tonight has one thing in common: a unique talent. We sometimes hear incredible stories of people building huge companies, and we are tempted to think they must be some kind of genius. But in fact, they are not. Successful people are the ones who have found within themselves one or two talents that set them apart. They have just as many flaws as you and I, but they have taken the time to understand their strengths, and then to build on them. The key is to find that unique gift that sets you apart.
Adrien Ledoux - Co-founder and CEO of JobTeaser - Grande École alumnus (2006)
If I were to remember only one word from my ESSEC adventure, it would be diversity. We all came from different backgrounds, different academic backgrounds and different nationalities. We took different courses, had different objectives, but ESSEC enabled each and every one of us to grow, to evolve, to reach our full potential and to do everything we could to find what we came for.
