“You can move now!” the bellboy quipped. “Yeah, I guess,” I murmured, gazing at the giraffe, standing right outside the cottage door, first thing in the morning. We were on one of the case team outings, staying at a game park in South Africa.

My project leader always told me to work hard and party harder. The team I was working with was truly international, with members from Cologne, Chicago, Dusseldorf, and Mumbai on a case in South Africa. I had never worked with a smarter set of people, so driven, intelligent, motivating, and fun. As an intern, I got to develop actionable business models and present them to the client’s top management. The amount of faith and responsibility invested in an intern is phenomenal.

When I look back, I am thankful that I embraced the opportunity with open arms, the opportunity named BCG.

Hitesh holds a BTech from MERI, Calcutta and an MBA from IIM, Bangalore. He worked as a merchant navy engineer officer with Chevron for over five years prior to his MBA. He is also a successful entrepreneur.

There are several aspects of the internship I can vividly recall—the intellectual challenge, an international team dispersed across South and Southeast Asia, extensive client interaction, and the independence I was given to run my module.

However, what impressed me most was the stimulating set of people I was working with, not just their intellectual capital, but more importantly their willingness to go beyond the call of duty to mentor and encourage a new team member. I was once told BCG is a firm with open doors. I couldn’t agree more.

Anurag joined BCG Mumbai in 2009 after a summer internship. He is a medical doctor and holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow.