EDUCATION SPECIAL... STUDENTSPEAK UK

STUDENTSPEAK UK

GLOBAL LEARNING 

Karan Desai studied Master’s in International Business and Management at the University of Westminster in London, UK. He shares his views on the British education system

    The one year that I spent pursuing a postgraduate degree in UK turned out to be a life changing experience for me. Given the number of countries, universities and courses on offer to an Indian student, zeroing in on the “final destination” is almost a scientific process and I would recommend that every aspiring student does sufficient homework on the course content, reputation of the university and availability of scholarships among other criteria to make an informed decision. I knew that I wanted to pursue a higher degree in business management and finally chose UK and specifically London due to India’s historical ties with the UK,
my passion for big city life and the desire to build a long lasting network of friends and potential business associates. The University of Westminster is one of the oldest and reputed B-schools in London and runs what is probably the most extensive scholarship programme in UK. I found the course I really wanted to pursue and was fortunately awarded a full tuition fee waiver scholarship. I was one of only two Indian students in a class of 60 people. I enjoyed every minute of the experience of interacting with students across the world and learning from their varied backgrounds and cultures. Teaching methods in UK vary considerably from those back home – emphasis is always placed on practical learning and group exercises as opposed to learning by rote. This takes a little getting used to, but is a fantastic way of forcing the mind to think out of the box and working closely with people from different backgrounds to arrive at optimum and consensusbased solutions.
    UK is not all about just studying though – there is ample opportunity for personal development as well. One must take advantage of any free time to enjoy the sights and sounds of the country – museums, art galleries, parks, historic sites,
sports facilities and much more.
    An obvious truth is that UK is an expensive country to study and live in, but this can always be offset by working part-time during the semester and summer break. I pursued two parttime jobs, that helped me earn a little pocket money to manage my social expenses.
    I would strongly recommend UK as an education destination to any student who wants a global perspective to start off his/ her career.
    –As told to Ruchi Kumar EDUT130128