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When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get An Education

While the country suffers through the recession, there are people from all walks of life, from countries across the world, who view the current difficulties as just one more challenge to be overcome. Some great examples of these can be found studying for an MBA at the University of Leicester. One example is Thomas Lynch, an modestly unassuming 27 year old, who has seen more than his fair share of adversity. He is one of the organisers and participants of an international MBA conference at the University of Leicester on 8 June from 2.30pm-7pm.

Having spent much of his childhood in care, and losing both parents to drug addiction before he reached the age of 15, Thomas had more than enough excuses to cry 'woe is me' and accept that he would never amount to much. He left school in 1997, without a qualification to his name and after working three jobs for over 70 hours a week from the ages of 15 to 17, walked past the Armed Forces careers office and with no thought joined the Royal Navy.

The Royal Navy, 'Life without Limits', the same can be said for Thomas. Just one short year after signing up, Thomas won the Royal Navy New Entry Award, having achieved 100% in all his exams. Impressive start, but it was just the start. The year after, he undertook Royal Navy Communications Training at the Maritime Warfare School, winning the Royal Naval Communications Award for top marks. From there, he went on to spend the next three years travelling the world, including a 7 month tour around Afghanistan, as part of Operation Veritas, gaining a medal for the hunt for the infamous Osama Bin Laden.

Since then, Thomas has gone from strength to strength, climbing each and every obstacle put in his way, from undertaking Specialist Intelligence training to winning Apprentice of the Year, a competition open across the armed services. In 2006, Thomas won Academic Achievers Award for the Military, for his preparations to undertake his Masters of Business Administration (MBA) with the University of Leicester. Having left the Navy in 2008, and while undertaking his MBA, Thomas remains a Reservist, ready to answer the call to arms again should the need arise. "I believe at the end of the day, you have a choice. You can either be thrown in the deep end and let yourself drown or you can choose to swim. I choose to swim and the more I swam the better I become, the more confidence I gained and the more I could contribute back.

This ultimately leads me to where I want to be and that is a person of substance that can only be achieved through continuous growth and contribution." "If I could be an inspiration to just one person, that would be fantastic. If I could show that anything can be achieved through hard work and perseverance and inspire more than one person, then that's as much of an achievement as any of my personal goals." Coming to the end of his MBA program, Thomas is working with other students to organise the 'Managing Turbulent Times' conference, an international event with high profile speakers, all alumni of the University of Leicester, who will be coming together to consider the lessons that MBAs should learn from the current financial crisis.

The event takes place at the University on 8th June 2009. People may think that for a 27 year old, Thomas has already achieved more than many who have not had such a difficult start in life. But that's not the end of his achievements. This year, Thomas made the final 50 for the BBC's 'The Apprentice'.

Unfortunately, he did not make the final 15. Sir Alan's loss is, no doubt, some other fortunate company's gain. He has also just been nominated for the National Training Award Scheme. A prestigious UK based award scheme for those who have achieved against the odds. That sums it up well.

University of Leicester MBA conference: 8 June 2009 2.30m-7pm Frank & Katherine May Lecture Theatre Henry Wellcome Building