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My name is Dhruv Gandhi, and I am in my second year of studying BSc Business Finance and Economics with a Placement Year (Year-in-Industry) at the School of Economics.
I reached UEA on 16th September with a long list of ambitions, goals, and hopes. I am from New Delhi, and so I was used to the Indian learning style where the concepts are taught through standard textbooks. I was very surprised to see a different learning style, one that is centred around the applicability and the practicality of the theories in the industry and the world around us, while the lectures are conducted through each professor’s notes reflecting their research. It took me a few weeks to understand and fully adapt to this structure, where I also had to factor in self-study and independent research.
The University offers an array of opportunities to work alongside studying. I got my first part-time job on UEA’s campus in November. This helped me a lot to develop time management skills as well as to earn some pocket money. I stayed in the University Accommodation on UEA’s green campus in my first year where I met some amazing people from different countries and had a fantastic time with them. The University has around 215 different societies (cultural, academic, charities, religions, games) and they organise events as well as celebrate all the different festivals. The Diwali Ball organised by the Hindu Society is one example where I met a lot of people from India and a few of them are now my best friends and flatmates.
Each School at UEA offers a lot of extracurricular opportunities alongside teaching. As a student at the School of Economics, I have enjoyed and been a part of most of these opportunities. The School offers Spring and Summer Internships to students, organises alumni speakers events, hosts employment events with numerous companies, do regular podcasts and other activities to involve students with the outside world. Participating in these activities has helped me learn a lot, to make new friends, to network with alumni and to build new skills. UEA has helped me to shape my personality, helped me to gain different perspectives on everyday problems in the world, to meet new people from different countries and to work with them. I can say proudly that UEA is helping me to achieve my goals in life and to fulfil my dreams and ambitions.