From Chennai to Bordeaux…

A foreign management degree is definitely a privilege, and if you had done an Indian MBA post a considerable work experience, this foreign management degree is an incentive. MBA from France – the fashion, luxury and business destination of the world is one of the finest among the many options one could think of. Thanks to my one year PGPM at Great Lakes, I had the opportunity to pursue a Level -M2 MBA from Europe. The six weeks experience at University of Bordeaux was truly amazing.

While I was working as a software engineer and decided to pursue MBA, I was in a fix – whether to look within India or go for a foreign MBA. I was skeptical of doing a European or US MBA considering the risk of fluctuating value of the Indian currency. Finally among the various calls I had, the growing brand name and the advantage of one year fast track MBA made me choose Great Lakes over other Indian B-Schools.

I still remember the first day welcome speech by our Dean, Uncle Bala (Dr. Bala V. Balachandran, Founder and Dean, Great Lakes). He promised that Great Lakes will do everything possible in its strength to help us cultivate a global mindset with Indian roots, thus making us international citizens. It did work for us. We were given an option to convert our PGPM degree to a Level -M2 MBA from Europe, as a result of the MoU signed between Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai and University of Bordeaux, France. Shortlisted students were supposed to spend extra six weeks at the University of Bordeaux, and would be awarded an additional MBA degree from Bordeaux, after the course.

Nineteen Great Lakers were selected for the program and we moved to Bordeaux in the first week of May 2015. Bordeaux is a beautiful city in the south west of France. It features in the UNESCO World Heritage List, and is the best rated tourist location of Europe for the year 2015, besides being a famous commercial port especially for wine trade and defense aeronautic industry. We were fortunate to move from one heritage city (Mahabalipuram – close to which Great Lakes is situated) to another heritage city.

As soon as we landed, we were thrilled by the beautiful city, pleasant weather, the river Garonne through its center, the scenic beaches and the historical and archeological treasures and most importantly its world famous wineries and chateaus.  Six weeks went in a jiffy. Accustomed to a diverse peer group even at Great Lakes, adapting to the environment at Bordeaux was not difficult. All of us were intrigued by the diverse peer group, teaching methods, thought process of students from different ethnicities. The experience was nothing short of spectacular.

The whole Bordeaux experience has widened my horizon and thinking – the term ‘Global Mindset’ has never made more sense. Thanks to Uncle Bala and Great Lakes for giving us this once in a life-time opportunity.

Jyothish Jayan V

Business Development Analyst, Cognizant

PGPM Class of 2015

Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai