A Semester in Hong Kong

I recently spent a semester in Hong Kong as an MBA exchange student. It was an absolutely amazing and fantastic experience. This is one of the wonderful opportunities that Freeman school gives you when you join the MBA program here.

My friend and I were the first students to go on exchange to Hong Kong after hurricane Katrina. There were a lot of procedural details to be worked out, and I was not sure until the very end whether I would be going. After completing my internship in NOLA, I headed to India en route to HK. The partner university is HKUST, and the program there is highly regarded. In all, there were a total of 55 incoming MBA exchange students ! There were students from all around the world, and the international exposure I had at Tulane came in handy.

I chose to stay on campus which is 45 minutes from the center of the city. [ HK is a very small place ] Staying in the dormitory made me feel young all over again. I got a chance to interact with all the first years, and tried to make them more aware of our program.

There are a lot of places to visit around HK, and throughout the semester, I tried to go to as many places as possible. Many students also travelled to neighboring countries, but I chose to stay in HK. China is the next rising super-power, and I would recommend all students to learn more about the region. Tulane also has a mandatory China course and trip during the last semester, which is think is critical in today’s changing world. I took a few China specific courses, and it was engaging to interact with the local Chinese students.

By the end of it, both my friend and I were totally in love with HK. But we also honestly missed all our friends back here in NOLA. I was sad to leave HK, but at the same time, Change is the only thing constant !

During my trip, I could see the strengths of our program more clearly. I will talk about them in my next post.

Karthik Mahadevan