20-year-old now holder of MBA in Oil and Gas Management

AT just 20 years old, Divya Doerga has already achieved a Master of Business Administration specialising in Oil and Gas Management from the University of Bedfordshire, England. Even though things were not always smooth-sailing, perhaps she succeeded because she saw the need to prioritise her academic achievements over what she deemed temporary social fulfillment.

There were many other things that could’ve occupied her time and taken up her energies, but her focus was always to act smart; to put in all of the hard work first and then to relax and enjoy it afterwards.
“I love education,” she expressed in an interview with the Pepperpot Magazine, as she noted how there were many things that she chose to turn down to pursue her education. Today, she is glad that she made the decisions she did and is now ready to sit back and enjoy the fruits of her labour.

“I am actually now investing my weekends into reconnecting with family and friends and those persons I haven’t gotten to in the last two years; getting back into my social groove,” she quipped.
Even so, Divya definitely has a focus on implementing what she’s learned in her studies as opposed to just having a piece of paper in hand to state her qualifications. “Knowledge and competence are unbeatable. I am not studying just to have a piece of paper saying I have a degree; I am studying to implement what I’ve learned. Whatever I would have done in both my Bachelor’s and Master’s; I would like to implement it into my personal and work life,” she shared.

Divya pursued her Master’s because of her work with operators in the oil and gas industry. She felt that doing so would help her to keep up with the trends in the field. Meanwhile, pursuing her PHD is surely on the cards, but she wants to do so when she feels that she is fully ready.

STILL SINKING IN
Even as Divya is very proud of her accomplishments, there are times when she feels very anxious and nervous. “I feel like it hasn’t sunk in as yet and I am still processing it. I know the work and sacrifices I’ve put in to be able to achieve something like this at 20, so I think that’s definitely a lot to be proud of,” she said.

The classes she took were on the weekends, from 09:00 hours – 16:00 hours, and during the week, she’d work from 08:00 hours to 17:00 hours. At times, she’d well go past 17:00 hours due to the roles she has in the different companies she works with. “I would be doing assignments at 2 am and then having to get up for the classes. The commitment level I had was really high; I think I missed only a single class last April,” she shared.

Although it became exhausting at times, Divya wouldn’t have it any other way. “You have to know what your goals in life are,” she said, adding, “I believe in hard work, and with hard work, you can get anything you want, especially when it comes to education. The possibilities are endless.”

She took all of the necessary, practical steps that would’ve helped her to succeed, including asking for advice, speaking to mentors, and burning the midnight oil. “Everything wasn’t smooth-sailing. I chose the wrong studies, made mistakes, even failed a few times, but what got me here today is that I kept getting up and I never ever stopped because I knew where I wanted to be.”

One of her lecturers, Dr. Dexter Phillips, endorsed this approach by Divya, describing her as someone with an inquisitive mind and a staunch determination to succeed. She was also quite personable and always willing to lend a helping hand to her peers, according to him.

“Divya was a student in my MBA Dissertation class. She’s one of the most hardworking and dedicated students I know. I believe her success in the MBA can be attributed to her open-minded approach to learning,” Dr. Phillips further commented.

The MBA course combines core disciplines with innovative subject areas supported by the latest research in strategic management and leadership to develop business competence and strengthen confidence and credibility, providing practical and theoretical capabilities to master the complexities of a competitive and changing business environment.

The MBA (Oil and Gas Management) is a flagship qualification designed to meet the needs and aspirations of early career individuals through the combination of a general management education with the specialist area of Oil and Gas Management.

The course, according to University of Bedfordshire, adopts a practical and applied business curriculum and aims to develop an advanced knowledge of organisations and their effective management in the dynamic competitive global context, and the ability to creatively apply this knowledge and understanding to complex issues to systematically and innovatively enhance strategic business and management practice.
Successful completion of it highlights a student’s potential to have a real impact on the transformation of the organisation they are working with.

FAMILY SUPPORT
Divya believes that it is important to have a very good support system and she is therefore grateful for the help she’s received from her parents Vishnu and Davitri, along with her other family members and friends.

Her family, she shared, has never tried to talk her out of pursuing any goal that she had in mind. Her parents have always instilled in her the importance of becoming a responsible adult and working hard for anything that she wanted. Nothing has ever been laid out on a silver platter, she related.

“Divya has always been my proudest achievement. She amazes me daily by her maturity and intelligence. When she joined us in our business development companies three years ago, she was considering the path to take educationally. Coming from a business family and knowing that our country requires professionals who understand the oil and gas industry allowed her to choose the route of a MBA in Oil and Gas management,” her father related.

Her discipline and mental evolution throughout the course were exemplary, he continued. “I can see how her level of strategic thinking has impacted her vision and the performance of the three companies she is growing.

Guyana’s future is bright not because we have this new windfall; it is bright because of Divya and all the talented professionals who are making the effort to develop themselves and this country. I’m immensely proud of Divya and excited about the many ways in which her life will impact our world,” the proud dad expressed.

Divya’s mother, too, shared that her daughter has always been a very disciplined child from a young age, especially when it comes to her academics. “She would always give priority to her studies and we are very proud of her achievements,” Davitri related.

Divya said the qualities that her parents instilled in her as an only child have shown her the importance of working hard and saving. In fact, she is proud of the fact that she has been able to pay for most of her education so far on her own.

“With my parents, it was not just about asking for something and then getting it; I always had to put in work or make sure that I understand the value of what I was asking for…There was nothing that I was just given. Those simple lessons have remained with me throughout the years.”