Happy Holidays

Growing up, I heard many Igbo proverbs from my father. I remember one that says "the lizard that jumped from the high Iroko tree said that it would praise itself even if no one praised him". I am feeling very reflective today and I am not even at the end of my master's journey yet. That proverb refers to the lizard; it is very well known for falling from very tall trees and nodding it's head in self-praise, as it lands on the ground. Self-motivation is absolutely necessary on this student journey, on any journey for that matter. But especially for an international student living and studying in the UK, from the heat of sub-saharan Africa, in the middle of the winter and with expectations which may have been too high.

A Lizard suns itself. Photo credit: www.southwestguidebook.com

I think that in order to have an all round experience, every potential student must be realistic with expectations for living and studying successfully in a new place. It is important to research your course, the career options, the lecturers who will teach you, the economy, employment rates, standard of living in the country, the university itself, and the town or city in which you will live. This will help with your expectations and budgeting in more ways than one. As with everything else, knowledge is power and an understanding of how the system works, will provide a soft landing for you and your SMART goals.

In some ways, I have to say that studying/living here for the last nine months has been a mixed bag of sorts. I was not totally unprepared, but the actual thing is an experience which one has to live through to actually understand and appreciate it. I have researched and written assignments in 24 hours, I have moved flats (carrying my clothes in their hangers since that's what students do), I have written exams running on adrenalin and mental caffeine (as I had to pull an all-nighter and I am allergic to coffee), I have had a bag of sugar thrown at me from a moving vehicle (I ducked, thank heavens, still not sure who they were or what that was about), I have attended interviews which have amounted to nothing much, and I have made some lifelong friends from everywhere. As I write this post,I have not slept for 48 hours; no thanks to an internship, a very part-time job, a new and exciting something, and a full day of classes at the university.

Books and coffee. Source:www.pnc.edu

To recall the Igbo proverb, I shall be like a lizard and sound my own drums. Yes, I have done a great job of juggling it all, so far. Invariably, my time here so far has had its ups and downs, its disappointments and hardships, but I doubt that I will have it any other way. I still have about 5 months to go, before I complete my coursework, and I think it is time for a much needed break for me. The christmas holidays start in a few weeks and I have received a number of invitations from some friends to spend christmas here in the UK. I hope we get some snow; atleast for a few hours; one cannot live in England for the duration of a master's degree and not see some authentic snow especially at christmas.

Happy holidays to you. Enjoy all that turkey and see you in the New Year.

Rain, coffee, and stuyding all night: My Msc journey

For the last eight years, I worked in international development; working in cross-cultural teams delivering various forms of projects which were donor funded interventions geared towards improving the lives of people in mostly Nigeria. I worked in varied areas of intervention from public health to secure livelihoods. I worked steadily in community liaison and operations management of the various projects and programmes that I was involved in. After six years in the sector, I re-evaluated where I was and what I wanted going forward. I wanted more responsibility, better pay, a more diverse experience and increased project involvement spanning several continents. Having conducted some research and spoken to a few mentors, the answer, to begin with, was a master's degree. I chose to study project management as I felt it was the perfect opportunity to understand the tools and techniques required to respond successfully to any business case, and to validate the experience which I already had. For the last two years, I planned and saved towards this.

The first decision had been taken, but then came the choice of location, universities/facilities and cost. I chose the UK for the language ease and the length of the course as I did not want to spend more than 12 months away from the sector. I also reviewed over 10 UK univerisites and evaluated them based on learning and living support, feedback from alumni, and costs. The University of Bedfordshire came out tops based on my listed criteria and in March 2014, I arrived Luton to begin one of the most exciting journeys of my life so far.

When I arrived Luton and Beds exactly four months ago, I was struck especially by how diverse the university community was, how there was so much going on, and a plethora of offerings to choose from. However, I was initially concerened at how everyone seemed almost five to ten years younger than I was; surely this would impact on my experience? Four months later, I have found that this community is a mix and match of different age groups, ethnicities and life experiences. This is very much a global community in every sense of the word. I am excited to be a part of this. In my PM course units, the teaching method is a mixture of lectures, practical work, and research. The tutors are very helpful and respond to emails very often, I was very surprised by this. The learning resource centres are also open 24 hours, 7 days a week, and for someone like me with a background in English language and literature, this is all very convenient as I have had to put in extra work to make it all worth it.  The department has also made provision for Msc PM students, should they opt for this, to be tutored and undertake foundation and practitioner certification work/exams for the very well respected PRINCE2.

There are a few things I would like to change here; I wish the weather wasn't so rainy, I wish I could avoid pulling an all-nighter for several assessments involving case studies and 3000 word reports, I wish I could drink coffee and red bull to stay awake and finish those reports quickly, I wish I could spend as much time as I wanted dancing in the town centre. I wish Geert Hofstede wasn't right and all his 6 dimensions weren't manifesting in the dynamics of the group work which we are required to do. But invariably, it is what it is, and I have thoroughly embraced the delightful journey and crazy freshness that this experience has brought with it. I have made some lifelong friends here and have learnt so much about the practice of PM in such a short time. Within this blog, I shall continue to record and detail the milestones and living which lead up to the achievment of all the goals for which I came here.

Photo credit:
1. Photo of some PM full time students; Sept 2013 & March 2014 entry with some tutors during a field trip
2. Photo of the new Student's Union lounge