Westminster Business School Blog My Life As An International Development Management MA Student

My Life As An International Development Management MA Student

October 20, 2014
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Time is my biggest concern at the moment. I never realised that when I embarked onto this International Development Management MA “journey” that time would become my biggest adversary. My life is now filled with academic journals, textbooks, group projects, websites, dissertation topics, and study groups whereas beforehand it was simply the monotony of mind-numbing work and never-ending meetings. And though now I never seem to have the time to “see the sights” of London or overindulge on my favourite U.S. TV shows via Netflix, there is something so exhilarating about my new life as a student.

During orientation our course leader Dr. Ola Sholarin insisted that as students we were responsible for being prepared prior to every class. “Study the PowerPoint presentation! Read around the subject! Don’t get behind in your coursework” he repeated. I laugh now [insert evil laugh] knowing that this, will never be entirely possible. Sure, you can read the PowerPoint, you can even make some notes but what I understand now is that there is always more.

For every acronym, for every theory, for every equation, there is more to learn and deep down past my exaggerated eye-rolls and around the corner from my complaints and internal groans, I love it. I love being challenged in way that I have not been in a very long time. In past jobs I was always told how and when to do a specific task, and I did, and I did it well. Now, having to express my critical opinion and support it exercises a part of my brain that atrophied sometime around the age of 7 when I stopped asking why.

Time. The International Development Management program is an intensive, 1 year program and there is just so much to learn. I sometimes fall asleep wondering “How can I learn more efficiently? How can I squeeze more into my brain each day?” The answer? I still have no idea but what I do know is that we are being taught to not only pursue knowledge but to do so critically. This is a skill that we will take with us beyond the library, past the doors, and into the world where we hope to make a real difference. It would be impossible to know everything by the time I graduate next year. What I do know is that this program will allow me to not only explore the subjects that are critical to International Development Management but will also teach me how to be a lifelong learner. And so, maybe time isn’t as big of a deal as I originally thought.

This blog is written by Annie Carisma