Written by Nekhaa Narayanan, a current MA Linguistics student.

My name is Nekhaa Narayanan, born and brought up in India, and currently pursuing a Masters in Linguistics at UoM. If starting a postgraduate degree itself can be terrifying on different levels, starting a life afresh in a new city or country might sound catastrophic. To be honest, I cannot really emphasise how exhausting this time last year was for me. Although, I’ve come to realize that it isn’t as terrifying as it sounds. Millions of people are getting through every year and I’m definitely happy that I’m one of them too! Here’s my starters kit to all the offer-holders starting their PGT study soon here at UoM.

1. University orientations are the teasers to your main picture
   There will be plenty of online inductions and welcoming sessions before you arrive here at Manchester. Make sure to attend all of them as it will help you familiarize with the university, course, city and a lot more. Who knows, you might as well find a cafe that serves the best hot chocolate in the city! Keep an eye on your emails, you might not want to miss them.
2. Connect with current students even before you are here
   Unibuddy is an amazing platform that helps you connect with the current students of the university. This also means you get to clear your head flooded with doubts directly through a person and not just a bot or random google articles. The student profiles on Unibuddy will provide basic details of the person along with their interests and background that makes it easier for you to connect.
3. Explore all societies and clubs
   At The University of Manchester you’ll be able to find a club or society that relates to your interests amongst a multitude of them. Even if you don’t find any, you have all the resources you need to build a clan all by yourself! From personal experience, I’d say that it is best to get out of your comfort zones and make use of all opportunities available to you as a student.
4. Know that help is always available
   Be it just a simple mental block or even a serious career decision, there are multitude of resources available that can help you. For some of us asking for help might not be the go-to solution, however let me put out the truth it may not be a solution but a pathway.
5. Ballet balance with your time
   Postgraduate degree isn’t an extension of undergrad or just page long assignments and dissertation. It definitely calls for an extensive amount of workload but that also includes a life lesson on how to balance life. Schedule your time efficiently so you could do what makes you happy or whatever the term ‘fun’ means to you!

Here’s a very simple yet promising quote that a good friend of mine shared: Life is short. We are young. This basically keeps me going every single day and surprisingly turns out to be an answer to most of my questions. Get all set while The University of Manchester awaits your presence.

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