Bianca's Journey to INSEAD (Master in Management)

Hello, everyone!


I would like to start by saying a huge Thank You to everyone who will be the taking the time to read a bit about my story, also about my dream to start a master degree (Master in Management) at INSEAD (France) in September 2021! My name is Bianca Florea, I am 32 years old, born in Bucharest, Romania, who is currently living in London, UK. I come from a scientific background, having worked in numerous laboratories from around the world. I have 3 degrees (top scorer in all of them) related to the life sciences field, and now I am looking to gain new knowledge in a totally new area, which is management. My plan is to combine management with my previous knowledge in life sciences, which will allow me to have a bigger impact on people's lives, as I am hoping to secure a position in a healthcare organization or even the Government, where policies related to scientific research are currently being made. I believe this degree will allow me to develop a complete set of managerial skills that I am currently lacking and acquire leadership knowledge that will prove to be very useful in my desired career pathway. 

In case you are keen to read more about how everything started, please feel free to read my detailed story below. Thank you again for your time!

My story starts when I was just 10 years old. Back then, I had both my grandmothers with cancer in the hospital (one with leukaemia and the other one with a brain tumour). It was a very painful time for me and my parents, I didn't understand what was actually happening, I knew I just wanted my grannies to be healthy again. Every day after school I was going to the hospital to try and help with everything that I could. Soon after, I made a promise to myself that one day I will win the Nobel Prize for finding a cure to cancer.

Time passed by, and I then fell in love with life sciences, especially biology. After graduating from high school, I enrolled to do a Bachelor degree in Biotechnology at the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine from Bucharest, Romania. Through hard work and dedication, I managed to be top of the class and also the top of the faculty in all 4 years of study. I was studying a lot, spending all of my free time in the library or in the lab, doing experiments.

During the summer holidays, I applied and got accepted to numerous internships. As a result, I was lucky enough to fly to Cambridge (UK) for the first time and work in research for 3 months, with a full scholarship, as an Amgen Scholar (Amgen Foundation). On another year, I was a Business Support intern working for Zentiva, a generics pharmaceutical company from Romania, as part of their so-called program Zentiva University, where I had the chance to see how generics are being produced in an industrial setting. Other activity involved being a Healthcare Analyst for the League of the Romanian Students Abroad, an organization that gathers together top Romanian students from all over the world with the hope of bringing them back home, where they could do great things for our country. On top of these, I had the honour to collaborate with a renowned Romanian female scientist, who discovered a sensor for the detection of cancer in its early stages, an invention that took the Gold Medal at the Geneva Invention Fair, where she also won the Best Woman Inventor Award (2010). I also collaborated with a research scientist from the Oncology Institute in Bucharest on the study of telomeres and telomerase in cancer (Nobel Prize for Medicine, 2009).

After graduating from my bachelor degree, I applied to the University of Cambridge and University of Oxford, being accepted by both, but unfortunately without a scholarship. After being advised by my supervisors to go back to my country in order to look for possible funding, I decided to follow their words so I went back to Romania. My attempts in finding funding back home proved to be quite unsuccessful, so then I decided to not just waste time and I enrolled for a Master degree in Biochemistry and Molecular biology at the University of Bucharest. After one year of study, I managed to be again top of my class and received a merit scholarship for my results.

After finishing my degree in Bucharest, I decided to apply again for Cambridge, and this time I was able to secure a full scholarship for a Master degree in Biological Sciences. I had the honour to have as my supervisor a British chemist who won the Nobel prize in Chemistry in 1997.  I graduated from this master in 2016, after successfully passing my viva.

Another internship worth mentioning that actually inspired me a lot in regards to traveling and exploring new countries and traditions was the one in 2012 (before I was offered a master degree scholarship in Cambridge). This internship involved working in research for 3 months in a research institute from Singapore, being offered a full scholarship by the Singapore Government. My time in Singapore was one of the best experiences I ever had in my life so far and opened to me a new world where I was craving all the time to discover new cultures, people and traditions.

After spending so many years in different laboratories around the world, I decided now is the time for me to enrich my knowledge even further, and broaden my horizons so that I could help even more people in the future. My long term goal is to work for a healthcare organization (or even for the Government itself) that has a role in improving people's lives through their activities. In the future, I see myself as a promoter of scientific research and its importance in the development of a country. But for this, I realized I need some additional knowledge in management, especially related to how healthcare systems work. After some research, I found out about INSEAD, which is one of the world's leading and largest graduate business schools, and about them offering a Master in Management (INSEAD MIM Programme) with the duration of 14-16 months. During these months, a person will have the amazing opportunity of studying management under some of the best professors in the world, in a totally international setting, having students from many, many countries. Enrolled students will be able to experience studying at different campuses that INSEAD has, including the ones in France (Fontainebleau) and Singapore. In addition, students will have the option to join study trips to other locations such as China, Abu Dhabi and the USA.

Now, in terms of the application process, it involves an online application, where you will have to provide all the details with regards to your background and experience. A high GMAT score is also required as part of the application, and I am currently preparing for taking this exam in February. Other things needed to be included in the application are a CV, 2 recommendation letters, and the possibility to write about why do you want to study at INSEAD, also to explain what will you bring to INSEAD. Based on previous years' applications, I can see there is a lot of competition for a place at INSEAD, and only very good and unique applicants manage to secure a place there. INSEAD also offers scholarships for a certain number of applicants, but these cover only a very small amount of the entire tuition fee, which is 49,000 Euros.  

This brings me now to the purpose of my fundraiser. I am planning to apply for the September 2021 intake and I am looking to raise the first installment, which is usually paid one month after admission. INSEAD offers a three installments payment setup, which consists of the 1st installment of 8,000 Euros, the 2nd installment of 27,000 Euros and the 3rd installment of 14,000 Euros. Depending on if I manage to raise the first installment, I will continue to raise for the second installment and so on. There is quite some time available in between the installments, so I am hoping to raise some money here, the rest being covered by the scholarship I am applying to, and last by not least, if nothing else works, I will have to apply for a loan, which I will start repaying after I secure a job.
 
I have no words to describe what your help would mean to me. I know myself and once I set myself a high goal, I will really try my hardest to achieve it. I will never disappoint and will push myself up to my limits all the time. I come from a middle-class type of family in Romania, I am their only child, and I always dreamt big. My parents have always encouraged me to do well in my education but also taught me how to behave well in society and in life. They always told me that someone can achieve almost anything as long as they never give up and try their best. These words followed me throughout my entire academic life and I can happily say I am very proud of what I have achieved so far, but I also know that I can do even bigger things.

This master degree with INSEAD will equip me with the necessary knowledge in management that I will immediately put into practice once I will graduate. I am sure this knowledge will prove to be tremendous and very useful for my future aspirations.

I dream to help people and bring a smile to everyone's faces. I hope that my next role will allow me to do this, as nothing else in the world makes me happier. I try and face all challenges that I have in my life with a smile, as challenges make you stronger. I know I still have a very long way to go, but I know that I can do it, I just have to keep working hard and strive for the best version of myself that I can be.

In case you need any additional details about myself, I can provide you with my CV, also with any other documents you might need, from transcripts to recommendations letters and many others. You can reach out to me at any time on my email address, which I think you can find via the GoFundMe website.

I will end this by saying a huge thank you to everyone who will decide to help me in my application to INSEAD. I know the world is facing a very difficult time right now, so in case you can't help with anything, it will be completely understandable. I am just grateful you took the time of your day to read a bit about myself and about my dreams.

I hope that 2021 will be a better year, a year where everyone will be able to heal and start fresh anew. I also hope for people to be kinder to each other and to stop looking for fights all the time.

Our world is such a beautiful place to live in. It just takes a moment for us to actually see its entire beauty. Everything starts with US. We are the hope for the future.

Thank you very much for reading these lines, and again, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to write me! I will happily answer any emails coming from you.

Please take care, stay healthy, positive and never lose your smile.


With all my respect and love,

Bianca Florea
Phone: can be provided on request, if needed