Blogs

I began my career in the private sector, having first obtained a bachelor’s degree in business administration at Copperbelt University in Zambia in 1995.

After graduation, my passion for children’s rights led me to work for an international development organisation, providing public services to rural communities in Zambia. The role involved advocating government to develop and implement public policies for children.

However, I wanted a more influential and direct role closer to where public policies were developed. 

I have been a student in England for more than a year and a half now, but I have to confess – I still feel quite overwhelmed, physically and mentally, when things do not go according to my expectations.

Even though the Dutch and Danish cultures are not that different from each other, settling in another country still takes more adjustment than one might think.

For me, starting my two-year master’s programme in another country felt quite different from going abroad on exchange during my undergraduate studies.

Prior to coming to Copenhagen for my master’s, I had undertaken a semester in Taiwan at the National Taiwan University. At that time, I was a bachelor’s student in the Netherlands – and that semester abroad was just a lot of fun. 

Going to the University of Oxford to pursue an MSc in higher education was the first time I had travelled outside Gaza for 14 years and the first time I had done it alone.

Universities are failing to meet the needs of commuter students across the UK even though the number of students choosing to live at home is increasing.

A study conducted by social mobility charity the Sutton Trust in February 2018 highlighted that about 55.8 per cent of students under the age of 20 attend a university less than 57 miles from home, while only one in 10 students attends a university more than 150 miles away.

In the wake of the documented rise in student mental health rates, and on University Mental Health Day, I wanted to discuss my own experience of depression as a student, as well as share my thoughts about what universities should be doing to tackle this potentially devastating illness.

Having been in the US since August, I’ve become more than aware of the cultural differences between myself and my classmates. I had been aware of the disparities between home and the States prior to my arrival in New York but now, in my second semester, I can attest to the benefits of my experience of both cultures.

The strike action of academic staff over changes to their pension has dominated conversation among the student body here at UCL over the last few weeks. Some  whispered excitedly at the prospect of classes being cancelled. Others looked apprehensive about the issues facing their professors and vowed to join the student demonstrations. 

Classes are about to start up again for me over on the Camden campus at the University of Sydney. After a lot of debating, I have decided to stay in my apartment for the first part of the year and maybe move out to Campbelltown, which is closer to the campus, later. One of the things I’ve been thinking about because of this though, is who I am going to hang out with for the next chunk of the semester.

My university, King’s College London, sent an email to students about the planned staff strikes on 5 February, but there was very little detail. The email mentioned the University and College Union (UCU) and Universities UK (UUK) without any context and, while references to pensions were made, it failed to explain exactly what the strikes were about.