Living in the UK: Some of my Favourite Villages/Towns/Cities

I arrived the UK in the first week of March 2014 to begin my Msc at the Business School of the University of Bedfordshire. During the fifteen months that I have lived here, I have travelled quite extensively throughout the Country and even within the rest of Europe.

The University organised some of the trips, while I booked others by myself. The key to travelling within the UK is to use your railcard and NUS cards extensively. These cards gave me excellent discounts which were very useful for a someone like me living within a tight budget.

Below are some of the photos I took from visiting the following UK villages, towns and cities. They are listed not in any particular order.

Luton
London
Hitchin
Oxford
Cambridge
Edinburgh
Bristol
Henley

The Royal Mile of Edinburgh

Stunning Bristol

Henley

London Eye 

Hitchin

Luton Carnival 2014

Punting in Cambridge

Oxford

2015: New Year, New Resolutions & Steadfastness

Happy New Year everyone. 2014 went by really quickly, quite naturally when one is busy trying to study for and obtain an Msc less than sixteen months. I cannot believe we are already in 2015 and I find myself regularly putting 2014 down as the date, still. I suppose this happens to a lot of people in the new year. Anyway, I have made a quick but firm list of how I would like this year to play out. I know that this sounds like such a usual "New Year" talk, but I believe this is different. I shall tell you why. You see, as I got older, I got rid of the "New Year resolutions" which sounded like commandments; I shall not drink, I shall not eat junk food, I shall not spend money unnecessarily, and so forth. Instead, my resolutions have now become those things which I like to do, or where I see my life. I know it may sound like a load of new age talk, but it actually works. My resolutions last year in January included enrolling at a university for a postgraduate degree, finding love, learning to cook new healthier recipes, travelling, finding a job which is challenging and enjoyable, among others. I can tell you that everything I set out as goals for 2014 came to fruition, except for the job bit, but I think there's still time and that will happen once I have graduated.

source: www.franky242.net

For 2015, I would like to excel in the final units of my course and graduate with an excellent overall grade, I would like to travel some more hopefully within a job, and I would like to write more. The whole idea is to remain steadfast in the vision and goals I have for my life. Thus I must end on this note, lest I run the risk of sounding preachy or too new age; whatever your plans are, it helps to write them down and put dates and action plans beside them. If one of your plans is to study for a CPD, undergrad or postgrad degree, then this is the time. Begin your journey here today, it will be well worth it.

Have an excellent 2015

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.

My CV, Jobs and a Salary: A Holiday Challenge

Last week marked the end of the first term of my course. It ended with a 24 hour time constrained case study released on a wednesday morning, and requiring that we submit a 3000 word response to the case study by the next morning. Suffice to say that I stayed up all night working feverishly, willing my brain and my eyes to remain open, both failed quite a few times and I ended up either staring cross-eyed at my laptop screen, or falling asleep over  it. Not a very pretty sight. But I triumphed in the end, and submitted my essay 15 minutes to the deadline. It has been a very busy term; one minute we were out having dinner and drinks in the town centre, or partying in Sub2 the Student's Union lounge, and the next minute we were living on red bull and research references.

It has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride of a term. My course had several 1500 and 3000 word papers and reflective essays to research, write and submit within deadlines. In addition, we also had to work in cross-functional groups to work on and deliver a live case study to develop, research, prepare and deliver a presentation on utilising the 4Ds of project management; Define, Design, Do, Develop (also known as review). I believe that working in groups may have been my hardest challenge at this Msc so far, but the specifics are for another blog post. All I can say is that this is as real as it gets. As a project manager, we may work on projects of international proportions spread across geographical zones and cultures. The onus falls on you as a key member of the project team, or as a project manager, to ensure that all members of the team stay on target and achieve results. I am presently on summer holidays, and whereas I am very excited to be able to do whatever I want at my own pace, the life of a student means that income is limited.

Consequently, I began to look for a job at which I can work for the stipulated 20 hours per week, per the requirement of my tier 4 student visa. As soon as I began to search, I was amazed at the resources available to University of Bedfordshire students as a support structure towards finding jobs. I went into the university career and recruitment centre in Luton and had a discussion with a member of staff. The pointers I received were extremely helpful, and I have listed some of them below:

- Make out time to re-write your curriculum vitae (CV) every few weeks while actively searching for a job. Trends change and the job requirements differ, thus learn to highlight the achievements of what you have previously done which speak to the job being applied for.

-Never submit your cv in tabular format. Always use regular microsoft word format without any tables or bullet points if possible. Some recruitment software used by certain employers does not recognise tables in cvs and will make your cv ureadable.

-In application letters submitted together with the cv, make sure you highlight what position you are applying for, what you have done in the past, how that experience will benefit or add value to the organisation that you are applying to, and why you wish to apply to this employer.

-Try to keep your cv within 2 pages, unless you have worked for decades, or are in academia where your research papers have to be listed.

These are some of the key areas articulated. I have since edited my cv per these suggestions and I have now been invited to four interviews; three in London, and one at the university. The first two london interviews have come back as unsuccessful, the third interview will happen next week and the fourth will take place on August 4th. Although I did not get the first two jobs, I am optimistic that something excellent will work out. The important thing is to make one's cv good enough for recruiters to take a second look at it and invite you for that important chat. I shall keep you posted on how the remaining two interviews go and my quest to earn a living during the summer.

This is my holiday challenge to myself; find a job, and to you; re-write your cv, it does not matter how little or how much experience you have. The only rule is to try to keep it within 2 pages, you do not want those recruiters yawning over a complete detailing of your roles and responsibilities.

In the interim, should you wish to have a look at the university's career centre, view it here. Follow it also on twitter; @ubcareers.

Goodluck!

Photo sources:
1. Official students' Union wednesday nights at Sub2 for Bucs Sake: Photo is from the BedsSU page.
2. From my personal photography collection; panning the movement of a cyclist in London.
3. A photo of the UoB Career and Recruitment centre found on the university website.
4. From my visit to London. A lunch menu on Oxford street.