A desire to specialise in innovation and electronic business led Nigerian, Ayomide Disu, to enrol on Birkbeck MSc Business Innovation with E-Business.  In this blog, the recipient of one of Birkbeck International Merit scholarship, tells us about his background and life in the UK.

Ayomide Disu, MSc Business Innovation student from Nigeria.

Tell us about your background. What were you doing before you started studying at Birkbeck?

I am originally from Lagos, Nigeria. During my teens, I came to study at a boarding school in Gloucestershire in the UK. Following that I went on to the University of Central Lancashire and Cass Business School for my BSc and MSc respectively. Prior to Birkbeck, I was working as an independent consultant/advisor to a non-profit organisation in which I collaborated with C-Level executives and other stakeholders to gain an understanding of the business process which lead to bridging the communication gap between management and employees. I also suggested, pitched, trained and implemented the use of software such as Slack to increase productivity and pitched and developed a new website and algorithm for organisation operations.

Why did you decide to come to Birkbeck?

Studying management twice has its pros and cons, the understanding of different functions and different models of business are some pros, but the drawbacks are the overlap in knowledge and a lack of specialisation.

I wanted to specialise in innovation and electronic business which is what has led me to undertake a second postgraduate degree in that subject. I could have studied at Warwick and Newcastle, but I choose Birkbeck because I wanted to be in London, and it was the only university that had the exact course I wanted to do.

I attended orientation and it was quite useful just to get a feel for the surrounding areas, the Library and all other facilities. Birkbeck is unique as it’s the only place that gives working professionals the chance to study and work simultaneously (not that I’m working). However, for me as a full-time student, it allows me to be flexible and manage my time as I don’t have classes till 6 pm. However, although we don’t have lectures until night-time, there is still plenty of work to do in the day, so managing your time effectively is a must.

What it is like living in London?

The UK generally and London feels very much like my second home as I have been coming here since I was two years old for holidays and family gatherings. For me moving was quite simple as I had lived here when I was studying for my first masters.

Transportation is quite straightforward and efficient, and I love London as it’s so multicultural and has one of my favourite places in the world (Ronnie Scott’s).

What have you found most challenging about your time in the UK so far? What have been your highlights so far?

The only challenge for me personally is the weather and lack of sun, but I think it’s all part of the experience and I’m grateful. In terms of actual study challenges, I feel that the university could do better in bringing together the full-time students, so a sense of community may be fostered outside of the classroom. My highlights so far have been taking modules such as intellectual capital, digital creativity as they are so unique and give me a fresh perspective on how I approach business. Also, the friends I have made are lovely. I am looking forward to taking the block chain and entrepreneurial finance modules in the summer term, hopefully getting more sun and submitting my dissertation.

The advice I would give to prospective students would be to get involved in activities you enjoy, cultivate a habit of exploring different friendship groups outside your nationality and bring an umbrella.