In the blog, alumna Jing Liu (Karen), shares her experience as an international student studying in the UK and how the skills learnt studying in another country have enhanced her career.

Jing studied at Loughborough University in London from September 2015 to December 2016 and graduated with an MA in Media and Creative Industries. However, Jing now has a successful career in journalism.

I remember when I first arrived at Loughborough University London, I could smell new carpets and see glossy reflections on the recently polished glass walls. An ambitious roadmap of the city’s emerging hub could be seen in the ongoing construction work in Here East, east London where the campus was located. We were its very first students in the very first year and everything was so shiny and new. 

I felt the same as I was beginning a fresh start to my life as well, after waving goodbye to Hunan, my hometown in south-central China and Beijing, the capital city and heart of the country. I felt the need to embrace different cultures and see the other side of the world and luckily, a scholarship brought me to study in the UK.

It’s certainly not easy to settle down in a strange country. For me, the mission of “try to act like a Londoner” was initially full of awkward moments, like the hesitation when a supermarket cashier gratefully said “cheers” when I had only ever used it for toasting before.

But observing the way I should react and adapt to everything around me was a learning curve. And London, the kaleidoscope of tradition and innovation, continued to serve me up with new adventures. 

With previous experience in Chinese newsrooms and a passion for media, I chose to study the programme of media and creative industries, which was combined with both theoretical discussion and practical knowledge, ranging from in-depth topics like the power dynamics behind the media landscape to the copyright debates over the Happy Birthday song. Our professors, with extensive research and industrial experience from South Korea to Latin America, taught us to “think critically and think globally”.

You can read the full article here.

You can find out more about our alumni and Karen Liu on the alumni page on our website.