"In 2014, 90% of the world's merchandise transited by sea", this is how started my dissertation on "Maritime Agent in French law" defended in September 2016. It is indeed this notice on the necessity of maritime transport, which led me to take an interest in maritime transport while I was still only in Bachelor’s degree. The second reason for my interest in this matter is that during my Research on this subject, I realized that the main port of Côte d'Ivoire, my country of origin, was ranked 1st on the region of West Africa and 8th on the whole continent. Yet I also found that there were not many specialists in the field. That is why I decided to be a lawyer specializing in this sector with the ambition to open a maritime law firm in Côte d'Ivoire later.

Passionate about maritime law, I obtained a second year Master degree in Law of the sea and port activities at the University of Le Havre at the age of 17. In the framework of the validation of this Master 2, I completed an internship with the CMA CGM France Group, the leading French ship-owner and third in the world. I understood that my only training in French maritime law would not be sufficient to best meet the present and future needs of African ports, which have certain peculiarities. So I need some additional training that will certainly enable me to have a global vision of the maritime domain.

The Port and Shipping Technology and Management Engineering program offered by Ningbo University thus appeared to me as the training that corresponds most to my criteria and professional objectives. This training, which is both theoretical and practical, will enable me to have a vast field of knowledge and skills that will help me later participate in the development of the ports of my country. Also, studying in China will allow me to see the world from a different angle.

At CMA CGM, I worked in the legal department with the cargo claim service in charge of dispute resolution arising from maritime transport and the Corporates service, which deals with all juridical and non-maritime issues to carry out its activities. The master offered by the University is of capital importance insofar as it brings me the status of a good manageress very familiar with the legal situations linked to the management of a port and therefore to be sufficiently equipped to anticipate, to avoid certain problems and other developmental challenges. My internship enabled me to understand the different legal needs of a large ship-owner. I developed the capacities of adaptation and assimilation allowing me to go from one domain to another several times in the same day.

Also, several other experiments have enabled me to develop certain human qualities. This is particularly the case of my participation in a competition of legal culture called "Juriste en herbe". This competition between several faculties of law in Côte d'Ivoire saw the team of my university which was at its first participation, composed only of girls. At only 14 years old, I was the captain of this team whose other members were at least 6 years older than I am. In spite of this, I was in charge of implementing the training program taking into account our timetable conflicting schedules, preparing the content of the training sessions and supervising the girls of my team so that they do not forget the studies of the current semester. This allowed me to develop a great capacity for teamwork and leadership that I could highlight during the exercises of groups proposed in the master.

The following year I was involved in the design and implementation of an association within the Faculty that would now be responsible for supervising future applicants to the Legal Culture Competition. I was in charge of updating the university's web page and recruiting new candidates. I was able to develop communication and motivation skills. I finally was the tutor of two first year students while I was in the second year of law. This supervision continued until they were in Master 1. This experience enabled me to learn to identify problems and to provide solutions.

These are all these qualities and many more, as well as the desire to learn even more about the maritime field that push me to want to integrate this Master where I am sure to be a future student of exception. N’da Hyasmeen BIFFI