Fantastic

I usually don't give 10/10 ratings as there is almost always something that could be improved, but quite frankly the Beacon Fellowship left so little to be desired that demoting any rating category to a '9' just wouldn't be fair.
When the opportunity to embark on the Beacon Fellowship presented itself to me, I was hesitant at first – primarily because I was so late to the game, and had to make a go-or-no-go decision in a matter of a few days. Beyond vague generalizations, I had little idea what to expect, and still less confidence in my ability to thrive in the program and turn it into a truly positive window of personal and professional development. But with Emerson’s famed exhortation in my mind’s ear – “Do what you are afraid to do” – I punched my ticket to Madrid.
Writing this memo the week after the trip, I can say without hesitation that I made the right call.
I harbored admittedly few concrete expectations, true; but my adventure in Spain could have shattered expectations ten-fold greater than my own. Together with my peers in the Beacon program, I was able to experience the local culture on every level: from the way daily life is carried out and how the world is viewed, all the way down to the rich history of the place – captivatingly expressed through the very art and architecture that permeates nearly every line and angle of the public space. Add to this the occasion to sample the uniquely delectable local cuisine, and it becomes a nigh-irresistible proposition.
But these are elements which would be present in most any variety of international travel. What stood out to me as an unmistakable advantage of the Beacon Fellowship specifically was the opportunity for professional growth and maturation. We came face-to-face with a new market possessed of its own singular economy, and were forced to think outside the one-dimensional framework necessarily instilled in a person – no matter how smart – when confined to the sphere of their own country for too long. We connected with and learned from top industry professionals across the board – including partners of the boutique wealth-management firm Zechman Capital and representatives of the MBA programs at Instituto de Empresa (IE) and Instituto de Estudios Superiores de la Empresa (IESE), respectively the second- and third-ranked business schools outside of the United States.
In all these remarkable aspects of the program, it would be easy to overlook the one advantage which may yet surpass all those prior: the Beacon Fellows themselves. Your comrades in this program, the young professionals with whom you share your adventures, will invariably be highly ambitious, extremely motivated, surpassingly intelligent, and riotously fun. If this sounds like the type of professional colleague and personal friend you’d like to have, there is no better environment to find them than from among your Beacon Fellowship peers, and the unforgettable overseas excursions which you share together present the ideal furnace in which to forge your friendship.
Needless to say: I’d do it again.