This summer, Ashesi students had the opportunity to participate in a number of programs around the world. Richard Odame ’15, Ashesi student body president, and Sojaa Sayuti ’15, visited Babson College for the Global Leader Development Experience.
Read more here. Sela Agbakpe ’15, and Benedicta Amo Bempah ’16, spent two weeks at Yale University learning business and leadership skills at the Global Pre-MBA Leadership Program.
Sela writes: When I realized I needed hands on business training and skills to scale up my non-profit organization, Adesua Ye, establish a second business venture, and also pursue a global career, I knew the Yale School of Management’s Global Pre-MBA program was the perfect fit for me. Yale SOM’s mission and its concentration on non-profits, fits my career path remarkably well.
The Global Pre-MBA Program is highly selective (with a 5% acceptance rate) and includes some of the most diverse and smartest young people from around the world. Benedicta and I were 2 of 59 professionals selected from 24 countries worldwide. Goldman Sachs sponsored this year’s program.
It was a remarkable experience that made realize just how much more my classmates and I could achieve in Ghana and Africa. My experience also helped me better understand the relevance of an MBA for my career, life, and my intention to engage the world through business and enterprise.
During the two-week program at Yale SOM in New Haven, I took compressed versions of MBA courses, including Sourcing and Managing Funds and Operations Management, and attended networking, leadership development, and test preparation sessions. I also had the opportunity to apply lessons from the classroom during the Audubon Street Project, an exercise in which teams of students developed a hypothetical business plan for an enterprise that would have a positive social impact, based on a storefront near campus.
The Pre-MBA program has given me the confidence and tools to strategically look back at my achievements and work towards achieving my future goals. Having international exposure and perspective really helps you compete on a global level. If I had to give my fellow students one piece of advice, it would be: visit the Office of Diversity and International Programs, and make the best of all the opportunities it provides!
Benedicta writes: The students we met at Yale were just beyond imagination. It was a group full of diversity, intellectuals, entrepreneurs, and many others. Participants were sure to emphasize a freethinking environment. Every single input was respected and each experience enhanced by the vast number of MBA courses that were introduced to us.
We established great networks and highly regarded each other. There were sessions where we all shared our experiences, rigorously questioned the Yale MBA system, and actively interacted with the distinguished lecturers.
The integrated curriculum of the Pre-MBA program was also remarkable. The courses, lecture styles, and professors taught us about management, and the different ways students could run businesses. The real-life case competition we worked on was intense, as we had to integrate two weeks worth of learning to pitch the perfect proposal.
Our case presentation won the first place by “people’s choice”, but the judges awarded us second place based on creativity, presentation, content, style, and appeal to an audience.
On my birthday, the pre-MBA students surprised me by organizing a dinner and karaoke night which was well attended. It was phenomenal. I am constantly in touch with my new friends and we update each other on new opportunities every day.
I learned a lot from the Yale Pre-MBA and I encourage each and every student to take up this opportunity. A big thank you to Ashesi and all others who specifically manage such programs; it was just incredible!