Industrial Trip to Turkey 2022

Abstract

My primary motivation for focusing on these three courses is their relevance to my educational and professional background so far, however, they are not limited to just the past. They align with my future career aspirations as well, which I will expand upon in sections pertaining to each subject. The courses themselves were quite concise at 3 hours each, however, that did not take away from the fact that I walked away with a plethora of learnings which I will attribute to well-versed faculty in their respective domains. For me, the industrial trip delivered on all my expectations that I had going into it. The trip was planned in a way to ensure that all participants had ample time to explore cities of Turkey along with the lectures and the industrial exposure. The trip provided me with much needed time away from the daily routine that I have gotten into ever since I have stepped into a Senior Management role. I was essentially able to experience life as a student once again, albeit very briefly, yet still a worthy experience. This summary will mostly focus on the educational aspect of the trip; however, I will utilize this introduction part of the write-up to highlight the social aspect of such visits. I was able to experience the Turkish culture first-hand which to me was as valuable as the academic outcomes. In Istanbul, I met a lot of welcoming people who were more than happy to help out when needed and got to experience the Muslim history and culture of their wonder years firsthand. It also gave me an opportunity to reconnect with my EMBA batch mates as well, one of them I had not seen in 2 years. Izmir for me had the warmest people, it became a second home to me as well and if given the opportunity I would like to live there. A city by the coast where there aren’t that many tourists and you can actually experience how locals go about their lives. I came to know through Sir Adeel that residents of Izmir are of Greek descent, therefore, are very welcoming and openhearted. This proved true in my interactions during my time there. The most impactful part was the interactions at Yasar university itself which as stated above I will expand in each of the course’s sections below.