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Chasing After Entrepreneurial Dreams

Thu, 04/14/2016 Deanna Bonaparte
Chasing After Entrepreneurial Dreams ESSEC Business School thrives on an indefatigable pioneering and entrepreneurial spirit, and this is certainly alive in the institution’s student community. For Keivin Cheng, first-year student of the ESSEC Global BBA programme, his enrolment into this influential school is the first step towards realising his entrepreneurial dreams.

The Raffles Institution alumnus believes that ESSEC shapes and develops future influential leaders in the business world. On top of equipping students with comprehensive business knowledge, the school also encourages students to create their own start-ups in school, form connections with global and local business partners, and even pick up new languages.

The Best of Both Worlds

Like many budding entrepreneurs, Keivin considered ESSEC’s repute as one of France’s top business schools before deciding to enrol into its renowned Global BBA programme. He tells us that he had secured placements in business schools in the US and contemplated travelling across the globe to begin his undergraduate journey. However, he knew that he wanted to remain close to his family and study in the comforts of his own home.

ESSEC gave him the best of both worlds – the ability to pursue a globally-recognised programme and the means to study locally. Keivin shares, “By enrolling into ESSEC’s Asia-Pacific campus in Singapore, I get to be in an overseas environment in the comfort of my home country! I am able to immerse myself in an international community of students and professors with different cultures and backgrounds, and at the same time build up my local network.”

A Multi-Faceted Approach

A unique attribute of the ESSEC Global BBA programme is the requirement for students to take up two languages, and for non-French-speaking students, one of these two languages is French. Language classes are conducted on a weekly basis, ensuring that students are constantly made to practise the language. “Multilingualism is something that will be useful in the future, be it for work or for leisure,” Keivin tells us.

The programme’s international focus also enables students to spend time in three different countries during their course of study. Keivin explains, “During my third year, I will spend a semester in the France flagship campus before doing an exchange programme in one of ESSEC’s 132 renowned partner universities. Since I have always been interested in the Japanese culture and their language, I hope to complete my exchange programme at Waseda University.”

He also recounts his experiences with the Kallystée game, a business simulation game developed for ESSEC with the support of L’Oréal Paris. This game is designed to simulate a real-life scenario in a company. “We worked in groups to apply our marketing and economics knowledge imparted in class. The objective of the game was to earn the greatest market share and profits for the company. I found the game to be challenging and insightful, as it gave us a taste of how to run a business, and allowed us to understand our classmates’ styles of thinking and working dynamics a lot better,” Keivin shares.

Overall, Keivin stands by the learning experience at ESSEC Business School. He concludes humbly, “I believe that ESSEC is the place for anyone who is searching for an unconventional university pathway. Given the school’s strong global positioning and numerous opportunities worldwide, ESSEC’s newly built Asia-Pacific campus here in Singapore presents itself as a hidden gem. The rewards are certainly high for those who are willing to take the road less travelled by.”

Interested in pursuing a programme with ESSEC Business School? More details can be found here. Go ahead and explore other scholars’ stories as well!

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