This blog has been written by Junzhe, a current student on the BA Education Studies course at UCL. Junzhe has completed her work placement at London Higher.
Why I chose to study in London
I came to London as an international student for several reasons. Firstly, I wanted to experience a new culture. As the UK has a long history and the most famous city, London, is culturally diverse, I feel that as a result I gained a rich cultural experience as a university student living there for an extended period of time. In addition, London is the largest city in the United Kingdom, with lots of different opportunities, and it is very friendly to international students like me who come here to study. I was attracted to the fact that the universities in London are very high quality and diverse, with some small specialist institutions and some large-multi-faculty institutions. Based on my previous visits, London’s higher education institutions have always accepted many international students, and I feel they provide a lot of targeted support and help for international students which makes us feel more accepted in a foreign country.
My placement with London Higher
My placement opportunity at London Higher came to be through a practice-oriented module on my course. I was very interested in learning about higher education and policy-related work, so this was a great opportunity to do so. My placement experience at London Higher has been enriching, and I am very grateful to my line manager, Darren, for the wealth of work and the patience he has given me. I have worked on a range of projects during my time here, such as writing report summaries, attending several policy events and conferences hosted by London Higher, and collecting and collating information related to soft power research and mental health. The variety of work made me feel that the placement experience was very fulfilling and gave me a different understanding of various aspects of higher education policy, such as mental health, business and enterprise, and equality. In addition, I got to work with other policy officers at London Higher, allowing me to understand their job and the critical role of higher education policy organisations in the UK.
Through this placement experience, I was able to develop a variety of skills. My communication skills have improved significantly as I am not a native English speaker, so I have never been very confident in speaking or working on English. However, through interacting with people at work and reading reports, I feel I can now handle these tasks in English much better. In addition, on a macro level, I have learned a lot about how higher education institutions in London operate and how they relate to government and business.
I am very grateful this experience for helping me develop my skills and interest in policy-related work, which has been a great addition to complement my studies.
