EXED postgrad students on the cutting edge with logistics projects – Part I
“Don’t tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.” – US General George S. Patton
AS A teacher, I like to stretch my students. I like to push them to their limits so that they can define and redefine what is possible and what success means to them. I believe it is my responsibility as an educator to get my students ready to not only thrive, but to equip them with the skills and mindset to be able to shape the world in which they live.
This personal mission has become all the more pressing with the rapid technological changes under way as the Fourth Industrial Revolution takes shape and gathers momentum in both scale and scope.
This article is written as a tribute to my students, a testament to their capacity to learn, their capacity to take that learning and transform it into meaningful action, and their capacity to shape their individual futures as well as the collective future of this country, Jamaica land we love.
Deciding to teach, albeit part time, has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
I vowed long ago that if I ever had the privilege to teach, I would do two things:
1. Explain to students the realworld application of what they were studying;
2. Give them something extra. What that extra was I did not know, but knew I had to do it as part of my community service. In this case it was the gift of digital storytelling, but more on that later.
Well, opportunity came knocking and I answered: the post- grad logistics programme at the School of Business and Entrepreneurial Studies at Excelsior Community College.
I will admit that teaching is not my profession, but it is a deeply held passion. Another passion of mine is Jamaica’s development into a logistics-centred economy. And that allows me to combine both passions, each being mutually reinforcing.
In working, collaborating, and learning with and from my students, we are literally doing what it takes, albeit in our own small way, to transform the Jamaican economy into a logistics-centred one.
MY STUDENTS
These students, my students, were the victims, or should I say, the victors of this personal mission.
These intrepid souls are all young professionals who, for either professional or personal reasons, decided to up-skill their knowledge and skill sets in the area of logistics. And even with my biased view, I think they made the right choice. Logistics – the careful organisation of a complicated activity so that it happens in a successful and effective way (Cambridge Dictionary) – after all, is the glue that keeps our globalised world together. For all but a few of the students, logistics and supplychain management was a whole new subject area.
They are simply great students! A teacher could not hope for a better group of students. And as much as I stretched them, they equally have pushed me to be better.
And for that I must tell them a special THANK YOU!