Acceptance to the University of
Sheffield and accommodation were sorted, luggage and flight tickets were ready.
Finally, the day had arrived; I was about to start my postgraduate studies in
the UK. However, I had absolutely no idea about the academic experience I was
about to embark upon. Having studied my undergrad and master’s degree in
Mexico, I thought it should be fairly similar to the academic world I was used
to.
Initially, I knew I had
compulsory modules to attend and that I had been assigned two supervisors. My
first assumption was that I would attend lectures every day and have meetings
with my supervisors at least once a week. Little did I know about how it all actually
worked! Soon I found out that students here are given a great amount of time for
self-study, and they are responsible for their own academic and personal
development. That was a big change coming from Mexico, where we have long hours
of lectures and workshops. In fact, I didn’t even know the difference between a
lecture and a workshop; in my home country we just call them classes.
Fortunately, the University of
Sheffield has plenty of opportunities for students to help them become familiar
with the UK academic system. I spent my first PhD year complementing my
compulsory modules with seminars and training from the Doctoral Development
Programme-DDP (http://www.shef.ac.uk/ris/pgr/ddpportal/).
I found a wide range of support on their website - from language skills,
research study skills, career management and university counselling service (amongst others). I booked myself onto all the sessions I could in order to
understand more and also to change the study habits that were shaped by the
Mexican educational system.
Before long, I acknowledged how
the academic and research world functioned around here. It certainly became a
lot easier to navigate the challenges of being a PhD student. Along with all
the support from my supervisors, I felt more confident developing my academic
profile. A huge change has been the realisation that YOU (as student) are
responsible for your own development, no one else. Opportunities are out there
for you, it is just a matter of making the most of them.
Mariana Estrada-Robles, PhD
student (Management School)
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