I did my A-level’s in my home country of Mauritius; I came to Plymouth in September 2004 to study International Hospitality Management.
In order to come and study in UK, I had to apply through UCAS. I contacted all universities in UK giving the course to get more information, both about the course and the university.
The description from the University of Plymouth seemed to be more appealing and when I read more about the university, I discovered its reputation and that it is one of the best in the country in terms of teaching for international hospitality management.
The city also looked very nice and I am convinced that I made the right choice by coming to study here.
When I came to Plymouth in 2004, one of the main things that I had to get used to was to adapt to the way of living in Plymouth. In February 2006, I went as a candidate in a contested election at the University of Plymouth Students’ Union (UPSU) election for the position of deputy president and I got elected.
I worked there for a year. I have now completed my undergraduate degree in International Hospitality Management with a first class honours and I got an international student scholarship. So, I will start a masters at the end of September in Business and management.
My main interests include volunteering with the Students’ Union volunteering group, “Volunteering in Plymouth” (ViP) and running. I ran the Plymouth half marathon during the past two years. I also follow closely politics in UK and in my home country Mauritius.
As I am involved with several things happening at the university and in Plymouth, I will be pleased to describe them from my point of view in future blogs and I will often try to get the opinion of other students both from UK and from other countries and also sometimes the opinion of some “experts” on several topics.
There are also some sensitive issues that concern students both from UK and other countries. One of them is burglary in students’ houses and the other one is the feeling by a few students at University that the police should support them more when they are victims of “crime” like it was the case when the University had a police liaison officer which unfortunately stopped for various reasons.
The absence of a police liaison officer was highly felt several times last year and a solution has to be found as soon as possible.
In the four years that I have spent in Plymouth, I think that the city has developed at a very fast rate. The university also has grown at a very fast rate with several new buildings which of course brought mixed reactions in the community.
When I came in 2004, the first thing that I remember about the university was a huge car park which has been replaced by modern teaching facilities.
Plymouth and the South West have some very good places of interest which are famous worldwide like the Hoe, Barbican, the Eden Project, Mount Edgcumbe… Before coming to UK, I saw these places on various documentaries on the satellite TV channels that we have in Mauritius and which is available in many countries around the world. So, Plymouth is popular and well known in other countries also.
September is the time of the year where many members of the university and the students’ union are getting ready for the arrival of the students who start in September.
I will be part of a team of students who will welcome the new students and help them during their first few days in Plymouth by helping them to find accommodation, answer any questions that they may have, point them in the right direction, do city tour and campus tour... Students are not always welcome by members of the community and there are often tensions.
This is a problem that both the students’ union and the university are aware and are trying to breach the gap between students and people from the community by organising several community events or volunteering projects.
