#WEAREHEC: Meet Nerea Salguero Garcia, Master in Management Student
A fashion and tennis fan, discover Master in Management student Nerea Salguero Garcia's journey to HEC Paris.
Her story
Hi, my name is Nerea and I am an HEC Paris M1 student.
I am Spanish even though from a young age I have lived in a stimulating international environment! My childhood evolved within families sharing Spanish and French customs, thus, allowing me to embrace the essence of both cultures and teaching me to adapt accordingly. At 5 years old, I moved to Italy and entered an international school, where children from all over the world crossed paths. This event resulted in the elaboration of my personality and in linguistic diversity since I was able to communicate in three different languages from an early age. Eventually, my high school experience in France, my university experience at King’s College London – where I did my Bachelor in International Management – and in Singapore as an exchange student induced a gain of autonomy, self-discipline, and a strong will to pursue an international career.
Her studies
HEC was a genuine choice for me after graduating from my previous university! It was definitely a logical continuation of my personal path as it maintains an international orientation. In fact, HEC embraces diversity and builds on a multicultural community.
This year is definitely a challenging one and life on campus and at HEC has obviously been impacted by the health crisis. However, I was still able to create meaningful relationships with my peers by integrating clubs such as the HEC Tennis Club and the Women in Business society! Which really shows how strong and important community life is at HEC.
Her career
My career goal is to work in a multinational fashion company. I have evolved within a fashion-related environment. My mother is a stylist and my grandparents have a fashion boutique in Spain. When I was younger, I used to help my grandparents in their shop, by choosing the clothes to display in the shop window. Additionally, living in Milan and attending catwalks has contributed to my appeal for fashion. What I love about fashion is that I identify with it. Fashion is international, constantly evolving, and without borders.
Her values
The education I received from my parents and the values they passed on, combined with my experiences have played a key role in who I am. Openness, self-reliance, and ambition are the values I was taught and have acquired over time. Living by these values has been influential in how I have made and continue to make my decisions and matter the most to me.
Openness - During my childhood and early career, I have lived in five different countries. I had to learn new languages and discover new cultures. Being immersed in new realities and ways of living granted me the ability to feel comfortable with people from diverse backgrounds. These experiences allowed me to progressively grasp the concept of openness. I also learned that receiving comes from sharing and giving. This came as a precious gift when I started to build my professional network. Being open, meeting people, and understanding who they are and where they come from allowed me to create opportunities, such as internships.
Self-reliance – My parents also taught me to be self-reliant, as it was one of the key aspects to succeed in life. I fully understood its significance when I began my studies at King’s College London and lived by myself. I discovered that I had many personal resources I could leverage. Being independent is an important goal for me and it can be achieved by constant progress and adaptation.
Ambition – The successes I have enjoyed were the products of my ambition to learn, to achieve my goals, to become the person I want to be and to be free to make my own decisions. Namely, when I took the opportunity to do a year abroad in Singapore, I entered one of the most competitive universities in Asia (NTU) and undertook a three-month internship in the pharmaceutical corporation, Novartis.
Her hobbies
Playing tennis has always been a passion. I started playing when I was 8, played semi-professionally from 15 to 18 years old, and was a tennis teacher for children. What I love about tennis is that it is a real mental challenge. During a match I have to coach myself and constantly be looking for solutions to win the game, as what works in the first set may not work in the second set. I have to adapt according to what my opponent offers me and therefore, change my game plan throughout the game. Tennis taught me to celebrate my victories and accept my defeats, something that I have applied in my daily-life.
Another of my favourite activities is travelling, discovering new countries, new cultures and food. Travelling seems to me a very stimulating and enriching activity, it opens the spirit and in many occasions changes our biases. What I also like about travelling is organising the trip, finding the accommodations, booking the tickets, comparing prices, asking for opinions and making short itineraries of the most attractive places to visit and activities to do. Nevertheless, I try not to plan everything as I enjoy being confronted to situations I didn’t foresee, as it allows me to further adapt to the events, be flexible, and experiencing more exciting moments. When a trip ends, I’m already thinking about the next one.