“It’s time to go, to compete, and to be the best.”
These are the words I was repeating during my graduation speech in 2022, after
completing four years of hard work to get my bachelor’s in mathematics. I was full of motivation and enthusiasm to embrace the professional world and the real world
itself, literally. The discovery of the diversity and the quality of the American-style
education and the amazing and diverse relationships I have developed at IUGB
drove me to want to see what the other parts of the world could offer.
In fact, I didn’t just want to go study abroad, I also wanted to grow in the best environment, following the path of excellence I started in the “Lycée Scientifique de Yamoussoukro” and at IUGB. Unfortunately, the best universities are generally the most expensive and even
though my application was accepted in most of them, I did not want to impose this
financial burden on my parents who already did so much for me.
I didn’t want to settle for less, so I started looking for scholarship, and while I was doing so, I completed several internships in big companies (LONACI, Ecobank, Schlumberger, etc.), thanks to the University-Industry Liaison Office (UILO) at IUGB and one of these internships was about to change my life.
In October 2023, I received an email from UILO about a fully funded scholarship
offered by Banque d’Abidjan to study at IESE Madrid (TOP #3 MBA in the world in
2023 according to the financial times).
The recipient of this scholarship were to be selected among a dozens of candidates,
all coming from west African countries. And they were all required to go through an
internship program in countries where the bank was represented.
The offer was mainly addressed to student in the field of business such as finance,
economics, management…etc.; but, despite my background in mathematics and
against all odds, I decided to apply, and after multiple interviews, I was accepted for the program.
In Côte d’Ivoire, we were four students from IUGB to be accepted in the program out of the total number of 5 students selected for the competition.
I spent several months working as an intern at the bank during the day while at night I studied in preparation for the last test. In the end, I was finally selected as the sole recipient of the scholarship to study at IESE Madrid. I am grateful to GOD, my family and the International University of Grand Bassam,
who contributed in making all this possible.
My goal for this new adventure is to perform in the best way possible, and to come
back here in Cote D’Ivoire as a perfect trilingual.
For all the aforementioned reasons, I will address these words to my peers and to myself again: “It’s time to go, to compete, and to be the best,” because that’s what
our motto is about: EXCELLENCE, ACCOUNTABILTY, OPPORTUNITY.
