Pola Nachyła
I am Pola from Poland—quite the coincidence, isn’t it? I currently live in the wonderful city of Madrid, and I’ve also lived in Shanghai on two different occasions. When I was deciding which degree to study, I knew I wanted to combine my interest in the corporate world that I inherited from my parents, with my love for history and different countries. Choosing one subject was too limiting for me, which is why I chose the Dual Degree in Business Administration and International Relations. As you might be able to tell, I have a broad range of interests, and at the moment they include nutrition, sustainability, different cultures and social impact. But it doesn’t stop there…
"During the pandemic, IE University showed its students a great example of flexibility that we will hopefully be able to implement in our own lives."
Ambition, interests and adapting to a global pandemic
One thing that Pola loves about studying at IE University is the doors that it has opened for her in terms of travel, exploration and discovering different cultures. She’d never visited Madrid before she was invited to attend the IExperience, and it was during the weekend-long orientation period that she fell in love with the city, the atmosphere and the IE University campus. For her, choosing Spain's capital city over London and Amsterdam was a no-brainer. Five years and countless experiences later, she still stands by her choice.
Not only has Pola had the chance to immerse herself in Mediterranean life in Spain, she’s also been able to pursue her passion for Asian languages and culture. In 2018, she spent a month in Shanghai for a sponsored summer program at Antai College of Economics & Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, as part of their partnership initiative with IE University. And it turns out that for Pola, Shanghai is the city that keeps on giving—she was so impacted by the experience that she decided to return a year later for an exchange semester at the School of Management at Fudan University.
Pola enjoys turning her international experiences into lasting tangible skills. During her second year at IE University, she enrolled in Spanish and Mandarin classes and was quickly able to jump from group 1.1 to 6.1. In just three years, she attained a HSK3 (B1) certificate in Mandarin, thanks to a combination of her teachers and the programs she completed while living in China.
In addition to languages, another of Pola’s passions is social impact and sustainability, and she’s been able to explore this as part of her role as Research Assistant at IE Business School. In the same vein, she also took advanced seminars on gender economics, development and energy policies in her early university years.
Pola is currently pursuing a joint thesis that will combine her Dual Degree in Business Administration and International Relations with her interest in nutrition. And her educational trajectory doesn’t stop at IE University—she plans to apply for the MSc in Sustainability and Social Innovation at HEC Paris for next year—and who knows, maybe there’ll be another language on the agenda.
Pola has big plans for the future, and she’s had plenty of professional experience that will help her achieve her goals. So far, she’s completed a business advisory internship at Ernst & Young and has taken part in virtual events with the Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company and McKinsey & Company. She has also been invited to an exclusive series of workshops by Delotte in Audit and Advisory. Additionally, she is a Board Member of the IE Consulting Club, and President of JIIE Consulting—a student-led organization in Madrid that serves real clients.
Due to her ambitious, multifaceted nature, Pola sees herself in a challenging career that blends sustainability and consulting. Her ultimate goal is to work as a business analyst at one of the world’s most important firms, and later specialize in either Asian markets, sustainability, or maybe even both! She asked us to wish her luck, but we don’t think she’ll be needing it.