Lydet Pidor a full-time student in MSc Business Innovation with Entrepreneurship shares their experience of studying in London. 

Lydet Pidor at Birkbeck’s Malet Street campus.

As an international student, there are three reasons why I chose to pursue my master’s degree in Business Innovation with Entrepreneurship at Birkbeck. Firstly, the availability and the nature of the course that I wanted to study, secondly, the location of the university itself (I wanted it to be in a capital city where I’d have access to class activities), and lastly, the credibility of the College. 

Although it is my first time living in London, I found the city is quite unique in terms of its history and its well-preserved historical buildings.  To me, London is one of the most dynamic capital cities in the world, especially compared to big cities in other developed countries. By the way, I am also fortunate enough to have secured student accommodation with the assistance of the International Office at the university. I’m sure that finding accommodation is quite a time-consuming task, especially for new international students with little experience of travelling abroad.  

I found Birkbeck’s orientation week at the beginning of the year extremely useful. The various events helped me to familiarise myself with my course timetable, professors, and the campus, and most importantly, networking with my new classmates. I found that many of them have an interesting background and experiences that I can learn from.  

The first few weeks here were a bit overwhelming because of the differences between the education system here and where I am from, particularly as Birkbeck is among the top one hundred universities around the world. Nevertheless, with the wealth of online resources such as the study skills workshop and readings, I managed to keep up with the speed and standard of the learning here.  

What’s more, I think I chose the right place to live. I was in a place where there were a lot of transportation links and facilities including the underground, and museums could be reached within minutes. Furthermore, the city is full of events besides what has been provided at the university, so I have no regrets about my choice.

An Excursion with international students into Bletchley Park, the famous sight of the Allied codebreakers during the Second World War, and it is also where Alan Turing created the British bombe machine capable of breaking the German Enigma code.

Making friends is one of my interests and something I am good at. People here are friendly and helpful; I can collaborate and have discussions that optimise my knowledge of a specific subject that I have in common. Moreover, I had a good experience with extracurricular activities that have been arranged by the university recently to enrich student knowledge and understanding of some historical sites in London. 

For instance, a trip to Bletchley Park, the house of the World War II Codebreakers and workplace of Alan Turing – a world-renowned pioneer in the development of theoretical computer science – and hundreds of intellectuals from across different disciplines. I learned a lot from the trip both about the historical site and through the conversations I had with other students. I usually keep my eyes on Birkbeck’s Facebook page to keep up with new activities and make friends. 

A group photo with international students during a walking tour of Greenwich as a part of Birkbeck One World Festival 2019/20

I must admit, the tourist traps and historical sites in London attract me a lot. I really like how some of the city’s historic architecture stands alongside the newly built skyscrapers.

Presently, I am at a stage of considering my dissertation topic and really thinking about how I can make the most of it in a way that is practical and beneficial to either the business or education sector under the rapid evolution of technological innovation in this 21st century.  

Although I have only studied here for a year, I am keen to meet like-minded people that I could potentially work with to generate a solution that can address a problem here. I am keen to utilize and leverage the skills I gained from College as well as resources I had to build an impactful business, particularly in areas of education, finance, and health by using tech and business model innovation. 

Lydet Pidor is a full-time student studying MSc Business Innovation with Entrepreneurship. He is one of the Chevening Scholarship awardees, class of 2019, funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and partner organizations.