Questions

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

Apart from being successful in life, career wise, I hope to learn to interact, socialise and network with other people who have been equally if not more successful in their respective fields of study. To pass out as not only an expert in my field but also as a person who has come a long way and has grown as a better human being overall since they have joined the University, is what I will be considering as an actual victory. To be able to empathise, be kind and treat everyone equally, no matter their ethnic or financial background, is what will make me and everyone around me true achievers.

What are you looking forward to most on your course?

The advancements made by my seniors in this course through their projects have been very fascinating and I am looking forward to one day brainstorm ideas and to work on it to make further developments in this field and to contribute my part and knowledge into making the digital world a better and a secure technology. I am fresh out of my Bachelors degree but some of my fellow classmates have experience in the same field and I am looking forward to be able to match their level of comprehension of the subjects through constant discussions and collaborations on various projects.

What have been your first impressions of Birmingham so far?

Cold! Super cold! Jokes aside, that architecture of the buildings, the greenery and the city itself are so welcoming. The people that I have met and made friends with are the ones that I will have so many things to learn from. The diversity of the culture and woken up a new and a much more knowledgeable person in me. The gardens and the warmth on a pleasant sunny day have made me feel like I am in a home away from home.

What was your motivation for postgraduate study?

Studying abroad has always been an alien concept for my family and the pros and cons of it were almost never discussed. It had always been my dream to move away from my house and outside of my comfort zone and to pursue and achieve something that has never been done in the history of my family. I have always believed in this saying back in my hometown which literally translates to “You first jump in the well and then learn to swim” which might sound dangerous and far fetched but it actually means to drop oneself in an uncomfortable zone and letting oneself figure out a way to survive and thrive in any given situation. This saying has always stuck with me and has helped me grow in any given situation. To meet new people from various ethnicities and to see and learn things that I have never heard before both in my field of study as well as other things in general is something that will always keep me on my toes, excited and entertained.

Tell us about yourself and your journey to postgraduate study.

I am from Karnataka, a state in the south of India. I have completed my Bachelors degree in the field of Information Science Engineering and enrolled myself into the University of Birmingham for my Masters in Cyber Security course. I have had some experience in photography and videography as a freelancer and have worked for several organisations back in India. Moving to United Kingdom was and is probably the biggest decision that I had to make in my life up until now and when it finally happened I was excited and nervous and was going through convoluted mixture of other feelings simultaneously. My parents have always had my back and have been supporting through all my ups and downs and throughout the entire application process up until dropping me and seeing me off at the airport. It has just been 2 weeks since I’ve landed in Birmingham but the things I have learnt and the repeatedly occurring culture shocks have made me more empathetic and wiser as a human being. I am looking forward to come out as a sorted, independent and a multi-skilled person by the end of my course here in this University.