Maybe now is the perfect time to think about studying abroad?

I was comfortable in most aspects of my life but I knew that I wanted something to fundamentally change about where my life was going.

In 2016, I was in a career path that was fine and I was comfortable in most aspects of my life but I knew that I wanted something to fundamentally change about where my life was going. Now that many of us are being faced with uncomfortable questions and circumstances in the middle of a global pandemic, maybe this is a really good time to reflect on whether or not that career path might involve upskilling ourselves and pushing ourselves to broaden our horizons while we do it. I made the choice to pursue postgraduate studies in early 2016 and learned a lot of lessons along that way that may be helpful for anyone who is thinking about whether or not that’s the next step for them.

Once I had decided that I wanted to do a Masters degree, the two most important questions I had to ask myself is what I wanted to learn during my degree program and where I wanted to be while I took time off to study. I’ve always been interested in politics, political history and international relations so the first choice was easy, but the second choice was a little more complicated. I spoke to a few friends I knew who had completed their Masters degrees recently and two themes stood out most from their various inputs. Firstly, that trying to balance work, a personal life and postgraduate studies was a lot more difficult than it looked and secondly, that there are plenty of opportunities for funding overseas study if you knew where to look. That pushed me to start figuring out where those funding opportunities where and where I would want to live if I could choose a foreign country to be in for a year or two.

I first applied to a course in International Political Economy at a university in Paris, France. I got into the course I applied for but because I was a novice in the whole process, I didn’t apply for funding at the same time and found myself in a situation where I couldn’t take the admission offer up. This was an incredibly valuable lesson to learn: in the process of thinking about and then applying to universities overseas, there is no value in waiting for an admission offer before searching for funding, the two things must happen at the same time. The other very valuable lesson was the relief I felt when it was clear that I wouldn’t be taking up the admission and moving to France: I don’t know how to speak French and while it probably would have been fun to learn French for the social aspect of it – the vast majority of postgraduate programs at universities almost anywhere in the world are taught in English – it would have been a very significant challenge to undertake.

A few months later, I took a far more methodical and logical approach to trying to find the right country, university and program to apply for. I started with universities in the United Kingdom, because they speak English there, and then decided that I want to be in the south of England because it gets unbearably cold and grey in the north during winter and I didn’t want that to be part of my experience. I’m very cautious so I looked into a wide variety of courses available at several universities and then applied to several so I could have a lot of options. I applied to Sussex, the London School of Economics (LSE), the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Bristol knowing that Sussex was my first choice because of the university’s reputation but also the really good mix of modules in the course I eventually settled on. As I was going through the process of applying and talking to friends and friends of friends who had studied in the UK, I also realized that I didn’t necessarily want to live in London because of how expensive rent and the cost of living is there but that I wanted to be close to London so I could visit whenever I wanted.

Think very carefully about where you’ll be when you study abroad because this will have an enormous effect on your schoolwork, social life, mental health and day-to-day life. If you’re someone who enjoys the outdoors then maybe a big, dense city like London, Paris, New York or others might not be for you. If you’re someone who likes a buzzing nightlife then universities in rural or secluded areas like western Massachusetts in the United States or northern England might not be for you. All of this matters in the end.

Finally, finding funding can seem daunting but it just requires diligence and patience above everything else. Most funding programs are linked to the country you are applying to or are linked to specific universities. These programs include but are not limited to the Chevening scholarship, the Commonwealth, Fulbright, Gates Scholars, Erasmus Mundus (for the European Union) and many, many more. After successfully applying for the Chevening scholarship for Masters study in the UK, I compiled a very detailed “how-to” guide in 2017. This document has more information on when applications for universities and funding programs open; which programs have stipulations and conditions attached to them; which programs pay for tuition and which also provide a monthly stipend payment; and other useful information. The vast majority of these programs make the names and sometimes the contact details of successful applicants and alumni of the programs available somewhere on the internet so that’s something important to remember for when you do research on which program might be the best fit for you. Speak to as many people as possible about their experiences; there is a lot to consider before taking up an offer at a university or with a funding program so gather as much information as you can. The most valuable advice I can give in this regard is to apply to multiple funding programs; they are competitive and the last thing you would want to do is hang your hopes on only one option.

The reward at the end of successfully applying for postgraduate study abroad is the incredible opportunity for personal and professional growth that these opportunities bring. I have grown so much in the past two and a half years and I have met so many amazing people I would never have if I hadn’t pushed myself. The process won’t be a cake walk but how does that age-old saying go again, “you get out what you put in” right?

by Ziyanda Stuurman

Twitter: @ZiyandaS_

Image by @byjono (Twitter)