Yes, I have received the Birmingham Business School scholarship for MSc Sustainable Innovation and Entrepreneurship. It helps me feel more confident in trying my best to achieve the greatest achievements, I want to use my time wisely at Birmingham to study more and connect more. Additionally, as a student coming from a developing country, Birmingham funding has released my financial burden on tuition fees.

I hope that after graduating from my Masters at Birmingham, I can land my dream job as a Sustainability Consultant for any big corporations or enterprises. Moreover, the network of alumni and professors is a key to me to have after studying at Birmingham.

I’m looking forward to connecting with peers who have the same mindset, the same career goals, and more importantly, the top-industry experts in this field.

Back in early 2023, my old colleagues and I co-founded a climate-tech startup to solve water risk in Mekong Delta region, Vietnam, which has been suffering and very vulnerable for salt intrusion, drought, and flood. In the team, there was an American guy with a Masters degree in Water Management, two guys who can code a SaaS platform, a girl who can do marketing, and me who can raise funds, do business strategy, growth strategy, networking, sales, and network. The deeper I joined, the more eagerly I wanted to pursue a Masters degree in Sustainability.

Hello, I’m Vannie, a 24-year old Vietnamese girl who has a strong passion for sustainability and currently pursuing the MSc Sustainable Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Birmingham. I had a dream of pursuing a Masters program in Sustainability a year ago and stop hesitating to transform my dream into the real offer letter since December 2023. Then, besides focusing on my full-time job, I had shifted my attention to the application process to study at the University of Birmingham. It was so memorable that I spent 30-45 minutes a day preparing my personal statement, reference letters, contacting teachers in RMIT, my mentor, and my ex-boss. I first received the conditional offer letter in the 3rd week of March ’24, I was surprised and tearing up as I hadn’t expected that the day would come so early. If I remember correctly, I clicked the submit button for UoB in early March or late February. I felt that “Oh it’s real, that day is coming fast, I’ve already transformed my fears into opportunities”. After that, I found available funding resources for my programme and applied for it seriously. Fortunately, I have received a 40% Business School Scholarship, which is the cap amount for my programme. I shouted loudly to my parents and definitely, they were very happy and proud of me. That was the best feeling ever.