Questions

What do you hope to achieve during your postgraduate study at Birmingham?

I hope to make new friends, learn and engage with new concepts and hopefully challenge my already existing beliefs. I’m also hoping to experience the culture of the surrounding areas of Uni of Birmingham, such as Stirchley, Edgbaston and Selly Oak, all of which have seemed rich with culture and full of friendly people so far.

What are you looking forward to most on your course?

I’m most looking forward to undertaking research as part of my dissertation, I have never had the chance to perform academic research before and I find the prospect to be incredibly enticing, especially as the University fund part of it, which could see me travel abroad as some past students have done, to places like Botswana or Indonesia.

What have been your first impressions of Birmingham so far?

Living in Warwickshire all my life, I have never been too far from Birmingham so I had prior knowledge to the city before starting my daily commute. I think Birmingham is an incredibly vibrant and active city, with so much to offer to people from all walks of life.

What was your motivation for postgraduate study?

My experience with the National Farmers Union gave me technical insight into how our government is looking to operate in an increasingly climate-conscious world. However, it was my feeling that these processes are not moving fast enough, so I decided to undertake the Environment, International Development and Politics MSc course with the hopes of going into a career where I can help to change how government’s view infrastructural change through the prism of how it will affect the environment and climate.

Tell us about yourself and your journey to postgraduate study.

I initially studied Journalism at Nottingham Trent University, following that I worked as a freelance sports reporter, a journalist in Worcester, and most recently as a member of the communications team for the National Farmers Union. I’ve decided to go back to university to study Environment, International Development and Politics, as through my work with the NFU, I became more and more conscious of the growing threat of climate change. I chose University of Birmingham as it is an incredibly prestigious university, offers a great variety of courses and modular options and is near enough to commute from my home town in Warwickshire.