Sri Lankan student Jehan Jegachelvam hopes the Master of Business Administration degree he is completing at CQU Rockhampton will provide fresh career directions, after a wave of change in his home country.

Jehan was employed as an accountant in the tourism/travel industry but this sector has been devastated in recent years, since the Boxing Day tsunami and conflicts with rebel forces.

Jehan at the Going Home ceremony

He now hopes his MBA will provide the knowledge and confidence to find a management role one of Sri Lanka's manufacturing industries (he previously worked in the garment industry early in his career).

Jehan came to CQU in February last year with help from an IDP Tsunami Scholarship, after completing undergraduate business studies in Colombo.

Although his wife and daughter have visited him, he has had to endure being away from them for long periods while completing his postgraduate degree.

Jehan notes that CQU electronic library resources have been a big plus, compared with the often-dated texts available in his homeland.

He said the ability to debate and discuss things with his CQU lecturers was also welcome, given that the Sri Lankan lecture model was the more traditional presentation style.

Jehan was recently (May 28) among 31 students from 11 different countries who attended a ‘Going Home' ceremony at CQU Rockhampton.

The ceremony was for students who have completed their studies but are unable to stay in Australia for their graduation ceremony. Those attending included 12  full-degree students and 19 Exchange/Study Abroad or AustraLearn students.

The students attending were from China, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong, USA, Canada, Mexico and Japan.

 
Hats off to the departing students 
Participants in the ceremony 
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Angela Delves congratulates Jehan