One of the most entertaining aspects of welcoming new MBAs into the program is meeting them virtually through their student-made video. Designed to introduce participants to each other and to the rest of HEC Paris, these videos inevitably showcase compelling hobbies and far-flung destinations. For our January 2022 intake, viewers travel to Saud Arshi’s hometown of Manama, Bahrain, and Federico Obelar’s home country of Paraguay—and even take a deep dive into Dubai’s sunken city.

To put together this video, the 180 incoming students in our January 2022 intake voted on which 2 songs to include. They chose Best Days of our Lives by the American Authors because of their high expectations for the HEC Paris MBA, and Around the World by Daft Punk since they come from 48 countries worldwide.

The video’s beautiful editing is the handiwork of incoming J22 student Manhal El Khaldi, who explains that it was a great honor and pleasure to assemble all of the individual clips filmed by his classmates. An engineer and nuclear pilot by training, Manhal says he loves learning and trying new things (which makes him a perfect fit for the HEC Paris MBA 😊). Along with shooting and editing video, he’s also taught himself woodworking and metalworking, and made several videos, including 2 commercials for local businesses in France. In the video, he’s the one accompanied by a giant stuffed penguin, a gift for a friend who’d just had a baby.

So settle in and have a look. There’s this incredible video to view right now, and these 180 students’ accomplishments to be awed by in the near future.