Experiences during our childhood play a particularly large role in the shaping of our basic confidence in life. When we were growing up, our successes and failures, how we were treated by the members of our immediate family, by our teachers, coaches, religious authorities, and by our peers, all contributed to the creation of our basic self-esteem. Experiences rain on us by the thousand, feelings, sensations and knowledge all accrue within us all, but some of those experiences or messages begin to spill their poison which spreads throughout.

However there are some possessions which would not lead us through experience. A typical youth, despite the gender will face the ordinary question of selecting a proper path which helps to enhance his or her dream career at a specific point of time.

When I completed my GCE Advanced Level examination in 2008 August, I started searching for several opportunities that could immensely help me to boost up my career according to my expectations. As usual I saw a number of print and electronic ads which were placed on both daily and weekend papers. The advertisers were targeting the student population who had just finished their A/Ls at that time to join them to follow degree programmes.

Instead of replying to the barrage of ads, I thought of carrying out 'my own research'. I used my contacts to find out the exact reality which lies beneath the institutions providing Business Management degree programmes. Apart from that I made a number of visits to most institutions. I was more concerned over the quality of the degree programme, the contents, the validity, the recognition of the university which it is collaborated with and whether the degree is internal. Having a basic idea over the standard of the institute and the university affiliation, my next intention was to get a basic idea over the techniques used by the lecturers and class room activities carried out.

After a number of visits made to several institutes situated in and around the capital city of Sri Lanka, I was able to identify that Imperial Institute of Higher Education (IIHE), was the top among the list which fulfilled my expectations. The degree content, the validity of the programme and the selection of subjects with the option of specializing in areas such as Marketing, Human Resource Management (HRM), and Finance encouraged me to consider the IIHE programme . More importantly the degree offered by IIHE in collaboration with the University of Wales (UoW) is not only internally validated but it is not offered as a franchise or distance learning programme. In short, IIHE is the off-shore campus of UoW in Sri Lanka. Therefore it is exactly the same as the degree offered by UoW.

Presently, I'm following a B.Sc. (Hons) in Business Management at IIHE. There are some important points I wish to highlight regarding this programme. The lecturers here at IIHE, are very supportive and highly interactive with the students. They are always willing to help and guide us in any means. They are well qualified and experienced in their respective fields.

BSc (HONS) IN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Year one is used to lay the foundation while progressively in years two and three the emphasis shifts from lectures to guided reading, learner-centred resource-based activities such as student-led tutorials, case studies, problem-solving workshops thereby moving the student to a situation where they begin to bear more responsibility for their own learning, while staff play a facilitating role. The culmination is a dissertation that provides a special opportunity for independent learning and for demonstrating deep understanding of the theories and concepts learnt, research capability, and the application of theoretical knowledge to a real-world problem from business and industry.

The course aims to provide the students with a firm disciplinary base in business administration, a broad understanding of the functional areas of Business and Management, the environment in which these operate, and of the emerging issues as well as some experience of the tools and techniques available to a manager so as to be able to move eventually into the world of work both nationally and globally in industry, commerce and administration, as professionals capable of meaningful contribution, particularly as managers and leaders.

Life at IIHE is remarkable. It has now become a turning point in my life. Finally, before concluding this work sheet, let me pen down some thoughts of an American writer and futurist, Alvin Toffler:
"THE ILLITERATE OF THE 21ST CENTURY IS NOT THOSE WHO CANNOT READ OR WRITE, BUT THOSE WHO CANNOT LEARN, UNLEARN AND RELEARN."