MY REFLECTIVE STATEMENT
My transition to University and my progress so far has been altogether an interesting event in my life, taking place from the year 2013. I tend to be quite an enthusiast if an experience is going to be a big one for me. This all started in the last quarter of the year 2012, the need for a whole new educational experience had become a necessity, a big one I said to myself. Also, the thought of aiming so high, given my past educational experience was quite daunting I must say, but on the other hand was worth the trouble, and so did my search for a University in the UK began. Do I cut my coat according to my size was a question I kept pondering upon, for the economy in my country at the time was what I will describe as “precarious”. Resources were hard to come by, finances were unstable, and hence, found myself caught in the cross-fire of decision making on which university to choose. My options were open and vast during my search, as there were the very top universities known as the Russell group universities, and the new emerging ones. I like to aim high as said earlier, but venturing into the sphere of Russell group universities was preposterous and out of the question, as they were way too expensive for me to financially afford. I had finally settled for Southampton Solent University after putting into consideration the resources available to me. This however had taught and developed my management and decision making skills. When plunging into unknown grounds, which in my case was finding and enrolling in a new university, I always like to play on the safe side, and by so doing, I paid and registered myself with an educational organisation affiliated with Southampton Solent University in my country. Upon my successful enrolment, I learnt immensely the essence and importance of outsourcing.
It may feel disconnecting in a way for one to leave his or her country for the first time, to face the cultural differences, climatic shock and all the concomitant that goes with travelling to a different continent entirely. For me personally, it was all agog, an experience of a life time, the whole drama of flying for six hours in a plane, a brand new way of doing things, new culture, new people and a new phase in my life. “Good”, I said to myself, I had always wanted to explore above and beyond. It finally came the day I was going to board my plane to the Uk, it was the 18th of January I could remember vividly, the noisy airport environment, its busy check-ins and the echoing Airport announcements kept on instilling in me anxiety which was second to none. I am quite a bold person, fairly out spoken and so I could battle with my anxieties. Very quick and short interviews are carried out during the check-in process which I was unaware of, and my turn wasn’t an exemption. This, not occurring to me early enough caused anxiety to sweep me off like a chaff in the wind. I could remember my brother telling me that the blow you don’t see coming is the one that takes you down, aha! But the lesson learnt there was pro-activeness and observation as I stuttered and stammered at the simple questions I was being asked at the check-in point.
It was a Friday night when I arrived in the UK, it was almost dark, it was cold, and it was -2 degrees Celsius, to behold the beautiful trees whose leaves had fallen under the spell of the winter where snow cover were the passwords. I began thinking to myself, “could this be real?” as I was experiencing a degree of cold unknown to me. This was my cup of tea, as I had been warned time without number about the cloths I took with me, as they were barely winter clothes. It is a good experience I must say because I learnt how to listen to people and evaluate others opinion to get the best out of them. It is not unusual that I had made arrangement for the apartment I will be staying when I arrive in the country as this was one of the prerequisites before I could travel. School was just about to begin and I had to move with the times. It was quite an awkward situation I found myself as I got lost trying to locate the school because where I lived was just a ten minute walk away from the school. I had spent 3 hours. Now asking questions would have saved me the trouble, another lesson learnt.
Here in school, I got registered and properly enrolled on a foundation programme which lasted for 6 months. My foundation year was definitely a building block for me, as it got me acquainted with how things are being done here in terms of education in the UK. Here, I came across the word “plagiarism” for the first time. It was quite an interesting concept for me as the school kept hammering on it. I also learnt IT related subjects like Microsoft Access, Microsoft word, PowerPoint and Excel. After my foundation year, I decided to study Mechanical engineering. I would say my ideology and orientation about the choice of my course of study after my foundation year was greatly influenced by my financial sponsors and the available industries back there in my country where I come from. I should have looked at a bigger picture and gone for what I was good at. I did my 1st year in Mechanical engineering here in Solent University and found it a though nut to crack. It was a tight spot I had put myself into as I struggled with every bit and pieces of the course with little or no result to show. Then did I realized that it was time to turn a new leaf to a course that I was familiar with, and it was marketing with Advertising Management. My decision had originated from the fact that I am success oriented no matter what I did in life. In this light, I have been studying for the CIM exam of which I passed the online diagnostic test with 94%. This independent learning process had broaden my mind to the basic concepts in marketing. Also, this was quite apparent when I finally got into the class with other students as I perceived myself to be ahead of the class, and there did I learn the importance of carrying out independent learning. The best part of this new course were two concepts called PESTEL and SWOT analysis because I could apply these concepts to my personal life. During classes, lectures on particular subject and topics such as the marketing environment and psychological pricing got me intrigued because I could readily relate to these topics as I have experienced them in real life. Now the main deal was our weebly website. I found it rewarding because it was going to be there for future use and employability.
All these experiences put together had fortified me for what is ahead of me. I personally think of it as an experience of life and reality in play.
My transition to University and my progress so far has been altogether an interesting event in my life, taking place from the year 2013. I tend to be quite an enthusiast if an experience is going to be a big one for me. This all started in the last quarter of the year 2012, the need for a whole new educational experience had become a necessity, a big one I said to myself. Also, the thought of aiming so high, given my past educational experience was quite daunting I must say, but on the other hand was worth the trouble, and so did my search for a University in the UK began. Do I cut my coat according to my size was a question I kept pondering upon, for the economy in my country at the time was what I will describe as “precarious”. Resources were hard to come by, finances were unstable, and hence, found myself caught in the cross-fire of decision making on which university to choose. My options were open and vast during my search, as there were the very top universities known as the Russell group universities, and the new emerging ones. I like to aim high as said earlier, but venturing into the sphere of Russell group universities was preposterous and out of the question, as they were way too expensive for me to financially afford. I had finally settled for Southampton Solent University after putting into consideration the resources available to me. This however had taught and developed my management and decision making skills. When plunging into unknown grounds, which in my case was finding and enrolling in a new university, I always like to play on the safe side, and by so doing, I paid and registered myself with an educational organisation affiliated with Southampton Solent University in my country. Upon my successful enrolment, I learnt immensely the essence and importance of outsourcing.
It may feel disconnecting in a way for one to leave his or her country for the first time, to face the cultural differences, climatic shock and all the concomitant that goes with travelling to a different continent entirely. For me personally, it was all agog, an experience of a life time, the whole drama of flying for six hours in a plane, a brand new way of doing things, new culture, new people and a new phase in my life. “Good”, I said to myself, I had always wanted to explore above and beyond. It finally came the day I was going to board my plane to the Uk, it was the 18th of January I could remember vividly, the noisy airport environment, its busy check-ins and the echoing Airport announcements kept on instilling in me anxiety which was second to none. I am quite a bold person, fairly out spoken and so I could battle with my anxieties. Very quick and short interviews are carried out during the check-in process which I was unaware of, and my turn wasn’t an exemption. This, not occurring to me early enough caused anxiety to sweep me off like a chaff in the wind. I could remember my brother telling me that the blow you don’t see coming is the one that takes you down, aha! But the lesson learnt there was pro-activeness and observation as I stuttered and stammered at the simple questions I was being asked at the check-in point.
It was a Friday night when I arrived in the UK, it was almost dark, it was cold, and it was -2 degrees Celsius, to behold the beautiful trees whose leaves had fallen under the spell of the winter where snow cover were the passwords. I began thinking to myself, “could this be real?” as I was experiencing a degree of cold unknown to me. This was my cup of tea, as I had been warned time without number about the cloths I took with me, as they were barely winter clothes. It is a good experience I must say because I learnt how to listen to people and evaluate others opinion to get the best out of them. It is not unusual that I had made arrangement for the apartment I will be staying when I arrive in the country as this was one of the prerequisites before I could travel. School was just about to begin and I had to move with the times. It was quite an awkward situation I found myself as I got lost trying to locate the school because where I lived was just a ten minute walk away from the school. I had spent 3 hours. Now asking questions would have saved me the trouble, another lesson learnt.
Here in school, I got registered and properly enrolled on a foundation programme which lasted for 6 months. My foundation year was definitely a building block for me, as it got me acquainted with how things are being done here in terms of education in the UK. Here, I came across the word “plagiarism” for the first time. It was quite an interesting concept for me as the school kept hammering on it. I also learnt IT related subjects like Microsoft Access, Microsoft word, PowerPoint and Excel. After my foundation year, I decided to study Mechanical engineering. I would say my ideology and orientation about the choice of my course of study after my foundation year was greatly influenced by my financial sponsors and the available industries back there in my country where I come from. I should have looked at a bigger picture and gone for what I was good at. I did my 1st year in Mechanical engineering here in Solent University and found it a though nut to crack. It was a tight spot I had put myself into as I struggled with every bit and pieces of the course with little or no result to show. Then did I realized that it was time to turn a new leaf to a course that I was familiar with, and it was marketing with Advertising Management. My decision had originated from the fact that I am success oriented no matter what I did in life. In this light, I have been studying for the CIM exam of which I passed the online diagnostic test with 94%. This independent learning process had broaden my mind to the basic concepts in marketing. Also, this was quite apparent when I finally got into the class with other students as I perceived myself to be ahead of the class, and there did I learn the importance of carrying out independent learning. The best part of this new course were two concepts called PESTEL and SWOT analysis because I could apply these concepts to my personal life. During classes, lectures on particular subject and topics such as the marketing environment and psychological pricing got me intrigued because I could readily relate to these topics as I have experienced them in real life. Now the main deal was our weebly website. I found it rewarding because it was going to be there for future use and employability.
All these experiences put together had fortified me for what is ahead of me. I personally think of it as an experience of life and reality in play.