Raya describes her Flexible Executive MBA journey and the experience of distance learning from her home in the United Arab Emirates.
Raya Aldhanhani is the Master Data Manager in the Digital and IT Department within EDGE Group46. Prior to joining EDGE, Raya worked at Etihad Aviation Group as a Product Manager.
I chose the Flexible Executive MBA because it was one of the few programmes available that offers such a degree of flexibility, whilst still accommodating my professional workload. I’m only half a year in and it has already given me the opportunity to interact with a huge variety of interesting subjects, and the module-based programme means I can control when and where I engage.
I come from a family background where education has always been considered extremely important. Though my own parents did not have the opportunity to access education, they did everything to support me to excel. In the United Arab Emirates students tend to take up courses provided locally. I wanted to push myself outside of my comfort zone, and when I set my sights on higher education, Trinity Business School was top of my list.
Trinity Business School is one of the highest accredited business schools in the world. It has a reputation for inspiring great minds for over four centuries. Joining the first-ever cohort of the Flexible Executive MBA is history in the making. I wanted to be part of Trinity’s history.
I am so impressed by the quality of the programme. It has brought together such a diverse and international group of people with different skills, backgrounds, and experiences. The project led approach provides autonomy to plan and execute each task in a structured manner. It also provides the space for collaboration and innovation to flourish.
We live in a global village which is powered by technologies that help us to connect, communicate and share information instantly. The technologies provided as part of the Flexible Executive MBA have been instrumental in bridging the gap in communication between classmates and professors. The Matrix Room at Trinity Business School is as good as face-to-face interaction and has enabled many fun shared experiences.
My favourite tool so far is, “The Best Possible Self” – it has helped me to organise my thoughts and set deadlines. Learning and understanding financial accounting concepts has added significant value to my projects and has helped me to communicate more effectively with my business stakeholders. I’m putting my learning into practice in real-time as I manage my own team and stakeholders at work.
The key components to success on the Flexible Executive MBA are to keep the communication constant between classmates and professors, and to keep asking questions. The other important drivers for success are to keep an open mindset and challenge yourself to deliver quality assignments and to set personal goals and deadlines.
I am savouring each moment of my MBA journey. One of the most important things I’ve learned so far is not to underestimate my capabilities. An MBA is a hugely formative period in the life of each student, and we are lucky to have the experiences and helpfulness of Trinity Business School academic, administrative and career support professionals on our side.
