Hillside views, beautiful places all around, welcoming society and the most supportive academic staff

How does it feel to have been awarded a scholarship?

The scholarship made me feel exhilarated and provided me with the confidence, supporting my first journey as an international student. I could feel the over joyous me, elated and excited to step onto the global platform. The scholarship made me feel how realizable my dreams were. 

What made you choose to study at Sheffield and your course?

I am a food technician, specifically interested in combating problems like hunger, malnourishment, and obesity. Working for society and relieving their pains had stood firmly as my dream for a long time. The University of Sheffield is a member of the Russell Group Universities and one of the world leading universities globally. It felt like a perfect place to root my dreams and grow gradually. My course, MSc Human Nutrition is included under ScHaRR (The School of Health and Related Research), which regained the years of fame through enormous hard work of research and researchers resolving and combating the hardships of community unitedly. I desired to become a tiny fraction of this wide network and here I am.

How did you research the University to find out about studying in Sheffield?

There is no definite university as the best possible University for me. It is just how much I believe the opportunity I am having in hand is worth clinging on. Just when I received an unconditional offer letter from the University of Sheffield, I felt that I didn’t want to miss this opportunity which made me go through the course modules and pre-requisites millions of times before going ahead with the confirmation process. Then I tried contacting alumni and professors of related courses and tried to find the best fact-based reviews. The positive response from faculty and alumni made the decision firmer and more faultless.

What are you enjoying about your first semester? 

With the cold breeze, hillside view, beautiful places all around, welcoming society, and the most supportive academic staff, everything is too precious to miss out on anything. The experience is exhilarating and new to me. Though the sudden transition of weather took a short period to adapt, now the weather seems beautiful. The place is perfect for a short stress-relieving stroll after long hours of assignments or studying. Sheffield city is a nature-friendly place, studded with the tram as a convenient means of commutation. 

About the academic aspect, I am enjoying a different face of the education system from my country, as here the application-based knowledge is worthier than photogenic memory. No subjective answers are marked more preciously than the real-world skill of combating problems and resolving them with my knowledge. This system awed me and made me more pumped up to know more as the purpose of learning is becoming day by day transparent to me. Another exciting provision of allotting a personal tutor for every student is boosting my confidence to rely on someone for any problem that I might be facing in the future, may it be adapting to a new city system or difficulty in solving questions from any course modules. A week that I missed during quarantine made me anxious, but it was easy to cope with as the academic staff is reliable and easy to reach out for any help needed anytime.

How has (or will) the scholarship benefits your studies? 

Scholarship for me is a step closer to my dreams. It reduced my financial burden to a certain extent and helped me in enrolling as an international student. I have been hesitating if education loans are the more realistic way of carrying on with my studies as I wished to exclude my parents from the expense of my dreams. The financial support provided by the institution made my path smooth and comfortable. I can focus more on my studies rather than finding part-time. It saved me from the financial stress all around during studying as it could have been more struggling to find the right work-study balance. But now I can take my own sweet time to understand the way things work academically, later I can look and take up jobs performing better at both ends. I am highly obliged to the university for awarding me this scholarship and supporting my studies.

What advice would you give to a student considering studying at the University of Sheffield?

Take your time and be firm with your choices. Enjoy the process of hesitation, anxiousness, brainstorming, talking, and reaching out to people, as all will be worth it in the end when you land up in the place where you feel like you belong right here and right now. Just go ahead and choose this university, it can serve you the perfect platform to provide wings to your precious dreams.

What do you hope to do in the future?

I wish to turn my destination of being a nutritionist into a great success and worth for millions of people. WHO, UNICEF, with their tireless efforts to combat problems as no world hunger till 2030 made them my dream organizations. I will persistently try to attain my stand in the global research field, resolving and bringing down the elevating figures of malnourishment and obesogenic population globally. My long awaiting dream is an orphanage and an elderly home in my home country, where I feel I can realise my dream of bringing a family to some beautiful souls. I wish just no stomach goes to sleep while growling for food.