Equivocal

Studying abroad – what to do and what not to do – part1

September 25, 2011 at 4:10 am (Uncategorized)

This blog post might be regarded as sermons for many. If you don’t like advice, then please stop reading it straight away.
A 1 yr masters in UK. A lot of expectations, a new land, new people, new culture and most importantly I was alone for the first time in my life. At first it looked like a lot to take and at the end of it I still stand by the point, It was a lot to take. There are a million kids who come abroad for higher studies every year from India and every one will have their own stories and how easy or hard it was, well here is mine. I am sharing my ways here, hope it helps. I call them as success mantras if I may call it.

1st – Re-incarnation
I got a lot of guidance about how to live in UK even before I left India and that was something which was very helpful. Because, Once I was here there were too many things to take care off. There is simply no time to come and start learning here is what I felt. I sort of tell this to people who go abroad for their studies, consider yourself being just born and start leading your life. This I believe is the key to success and has helped me a long way in the last one year. I used to learn everything at the university, sometimes even the basics. I even went to free english classes at the university, not because I can’t speak well in English but learning it from the brits is something new. You must admit, its after all their mother tongue and they are better than us in the language. I took up all training courses which the university offered, be it the careers team, be it the student support and to my surprise there was always something new I learnt. I know a lot of my fellow friends who did mock at me and thought I was silly, but I still stand by what I did and it has helped a lot. So, please give up the attitude that you know everything when you come abroad.

2nd – Know yourself
Some of the students are really not sure why they do their masters course. People get offended when I say this, probably I don’t see them working towards their goal, maybe that’s why. Keep yourself a goal after a year, whats your highest priority. Work towards it, do not stop until you hit the target no matter how hard it is. There would be people who might say that your target it unreachable and impossible, never stop. STOP LISTENING TO PEOPLE AROUND YOU, its your life, fix your priorities and proceed towards it.

3rd – You are always healthy
Now, most of the students start missing home at times, well even I have. It’s human nature, you will miss your dear ones. But make sure you hide that away from your parents. There are 1000 miles away, the last thing you want is them worrying about you. I still remember when I wasn’t well, I washed my face put on some make up and then spoke to my parents on webcam. When you see them happy, am sure you get well in no time.

4th – Cycle inversion
This apparently is something people are very proud of, they are awake all night and sleep all day. Screwing up ur sleep cycle might sound fun at times, but be aware your productivity goes low drastically. You would feel tired all the time, miss classes and can’t cope up.

The list is endless, but I got to stop blogging and head back to work now.
More of it will continue later.

Balaji