A Student Blog by Johnathan Young
Johnathan Young shares his experience as a part-time MA student.
I come to UCL as a mature student and I am studying for a two-year part-time MA in Central and South East European Studies at SSEES. Why part time? It’s ideal for me because I have a small company in Bucharest which I need to tend to on an occasional basis and I have some ongoing business in Berlin. I have been able to group my modules so I am in London 2 days a week, but I can travel on the other days if needs be.
Having been out of full time education for a while, it took me a while to get up to speed with the reading and the precise requirements of the essay writing - but once up to speed it has been absolutely fine and I have found the content of the modules incredibly stimulating. Not just that - the fact that it is a taught course means I get a proper chance to interact with both the tutors and the other students in the seminar environment. The diversity of the intake is a good part of what makes the seminars so interesting. The range of responses to the subject matter is super stimulating and I genuinely look forward to each session.
I have too much going on in my “other” life to participate in a lot of what the university has to offer. The inbox is full of interesting opportunities, and I regret that I can’t make more of them. That being said - I feel I am getting more out of the whole UCL experience than I imagined, and I had high hopes. For me it is a great opportunity to get some real academic knowledge in an area I had a great interest in but never had the discipline to go deeper.
Now I am halfway through the course I am quite preoccupied with how to build on what I have got from UCL. It has whetted my appetite, and I want to go further. It’s just a question of - exactly which direction.