Mr. Shankarah Lessey, is an alumnus of the MBA in International Trade Logistics and Procurement (MBA ITLP) programme at UWI-Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business, Senior Project Engineer at HDC, and author at Archway Publishing. We asked Shankarah to tell us what his experience was like throughout his enrolment at Lok Jack GSB, and on his current position. Check out his responses below:

5.30pm (or later if you were stuck in traffic!!) Dinner in the cafeteria.

The arrival times at the Lok Jack GSB Campus was notoriously varied across the student body with students coming from as far as Chaguaramas or Port of Spain after a hard day’s work. The well-stocked cafeteria was always my first stop before heading off to an evening of classes in the MBA ITLP Programme. Sada Roti, Aloo pie and sometimes pizza were all very welcomed treats that filled the corridors with lofty aromas that served to ease our daily stresses prior to starting our evening lectures.

Afternoon Seminars in YARA Auditorium

We often found ourselves in the large YARA Auditorium on afternoon sessions that tackled global issues in a local context with varied experts being invited to present to the student body, keeping our focus on making that impact in the industry and placing our studies into context. The seminars ranged a wide group of relevant topics such as climate change, the future of the oil and gas sector, public-private partnerships and waste-to-energy technologies in the Caribbean. These were all presented in a global setting but grounded in local and regional research in order to retain its relevance to the population.

4-8 lectures, industry experts presentations and student zoom sessions

I was always pleasurably intrigued by the depth of the MBA ITLP Programme and the connection the faculty had with industry which showed in the lectures and exams. The entire faculty was clearly guided by overarching policies that spoke to industry relevance, a relevance that came out in the frequent guest lectures from technical and executive personalities across industries of oil and gas production, port management, shipbuilding, Exim Bank and even from past students who currently act as ambassadors in their current workplace for the Lok Jack GSB.

Moving On

It has been really difficult to move on from the enjoyable life at Lok Jack GSB Campus, back to a work life that isn’t supplanted with daily lectures and monthly assignments from the semester’s group of lecturers. The most memorable part of the MBA was the International Business Trip in Shanghai, China organised by our Programme Director Dr. Khan. It was the experience of a lifetime, a different culture, business environment, trade zone and language was the ultimate MBA experience that connected all my learnings for the two-year programme and put it to use on a global scale in an international environment with other practitioners from across Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, China and Europe.

Currently, I have been accepted to Oxford University and Kings College London for different further graduate programmes that I am currently considering to pursue while I seek to publish my first print and digital books in August 2019. The MBA ITLP from the UWI-ALJGSB was truly an unforgettable experience that fully prepared me for the global business environment imparting the confidence, skill and focus that is needed in order to break into the global business environment.

For more information on the MBA in International Trade Logistics and Procurement programme please contact Mrs. Shivana Hosein, Academic Advisor at (868) 645-6700 ext.103 or email: admissions@lokjackgsb.edu.tt.