{"id":2858,"date":"2026-07-23T16:28:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T15:28:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/alumni\/?p=2858"},"modified":"2026-07-23T16:29:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T15:29:31","slug":"returning-to-westminster-a-special-birthday-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/alumni\/returning-to-westminster-a-special-birthday-trip\/","title":{"rendered":"Returning to Westminster: a special birthday trip"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Pooja Nadkarni (MA Marketing Communications 2001)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June, I travelled to the UK with my mum to celebrate my 50th birthday, and I knew there was one place I absolutely had to visit during our trip: the University of Westminster!<\/p>\n

We started our day at the Marylebone Campus with a coffee in the caf\u00e9 before taking a walk around. So much has changed since my student days. I remember when the central area was an open quad, whereas today it is a bright covered space. Although it was quieter than usual because the academic year had finished, it was wonderful to be back and soak up the atmosphere. We even had the chance to meet a student, Ibrahim, who has worked closely with the Alumni Office, and who shared a little about his Westminster experience today.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the highlights of the visit was exploring the OPEN exhibition, where architecture students were showcasing their work. It was fascinating to see the creativity on display and to wander through the studios, admiring the impressive architectural models and projects.<\/p>\n

We were also given a tour of Zone29, Westminster’s new careers and enterprise hub. The facilities are fantastic and it was exciting to see how the University is investing in opportunities for current students. During our visit, we unexpectedly bumped into Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Bonfield and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Dibyesh Anand. Having met Dibyesh previously at alumni gatherings in India, it was especially lovely to see him again. I’m looking forward to welcoming the Westminster team back to India later this year.<\/p>\n

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I was also delighted to collect my Alumni Card before we left.<\/p>\n

My birthday trip included visits to Scotland and several other wonderful places across the UK, but returning to Westminster was undoubtedly one of the highlights. It brought back many happy memories and reminded me that, even after all these years, Westminster will always feel like a part of home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Pooja Nadkarni (MA Marketing Communications 2001) In June, I travelled to the UK with my mum to celebrate my 50th birthday, and I knew there was one place I absolutely had to visit during our trip: the University of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":866,"featured_media":2863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,11],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-2858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-stories","category-international","category-westminster-india-alumni-network","tag-international"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/866"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2858"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2869,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2858\/revisions\/2869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}