I never used to have a subject that I was passionate about. As a 17-year-old, too-many options on UCAS made me struggle in choosing a university course. Unlike the courses for GCSEs, A-levels, or International Baccalaureate (IB), a university course is a specific course you would dedicate your three years of learning to. I struggled in choosing a course especially because I didn’t have a specific subject I was most interested in. Choosing the UK as a place for my study was also a challenge.

Before coming to the University of Manchester, I lived in Japan. I went to a Japanese public school for a short time in both primary and secondary school, but I spent most of my school experience in an international school. It was a common choice among my friends and classmates to study in a western country for university. However, I was planning to study in Japan after college. I knew the expensive fees and felt insecure to leave a country I’ve been in for my whole life.  

Why the UK?

I chose to come to the UK to study after I compared the different university systems. The Japanese and American systems are different from the British system. Most universities have four years of university and students can choose to study several subjects and courses. For the British system you chose a specific course to study for three years. Since I wanted to focus on interesting topics to study and receiving a degree within a shorter time was appealing to me, I chose to study in the UK.

I wanted to be certain that I would be willing to study the university course I chose for three years. To do so, I reflected on my interests and experiences. I’ve always been interested in humans and society. I love being around people and getting to know about them; culture, hobbies, and interests. Through reflecting on my experiences so far, I remembered that I’ve always questioned why adults from different countries can’t get along with each other when children can. This question first arose at pre-school, when a group of parents from different countries were arguing in the school playground, while their children were playing with each other. As I saw the news about international conflicts and studied the war in History classes, I was even more curious about the predominant cause of disputes and possible solutions.

Why BSc Education?

Studying IB Biology allowed me to understand the great influence of the environment humans grow under on how they develop. History taught me that citizens can easily be manipulated. I also learned how stereotypes towards other groups lead to enragement and conflicts, and how education can be used as a tool for and to resolve the indoctrination. The knowledge I learned in IB made me believe in the possibility of education being a solution to solving conflicts between different groups. Studying about education became an option for what I wanted to do in university. I chose to study BSc Education at the University of Manchester because this course allows me to study education through the scopes of Sociology, Psychology, and find solutions to problems in the society caused by education systems. The course not being about “teaching” was the biggest deciding factor.  

The most important thing when choosing a university course is to find something you’re interested in. While this can be a difficult thing to do, reflection on your interests and experiences that make you unique will support your decision.

Written by Hanako, a current BSc Education student in SEED. 

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