By Rammohan Khanapurkar, UCL Institute of Education- MA Education and International Development (2018-19)
For most of us international students, submission of our Master's thesis coincides with the first anniversary of our arrival in the UK. While we might find ourselves in a celebratory mood (that dissertation didn’t write itself!), there’s always that gnawing feeling of our student visa expiring. Five months is all you have after the submission of your dissertation for a last hurrah in the UK. Even EU students are currently on tenterhooks due to Brexit. Recently, the UK government announced a two-year work visa to non-EU international students enrolled in a Master’s courses from the academic year 2019-20 onward. Still, students are generally ambivalent about the phase after the thesis submission.
What to do after the thesis submission?
It's a question with many knots. Not everyone can disentangle it easily after the high-octane thesis writing. There is a general despondency and ambivalence among the non-EU international students regarding the post-thesis phase in the UK. Many lack a clear vision of ‘things to do’ in the UK after the thesis submission. Some opt for travels around the UK and Europe while those short on a budget prefer to head back home.
The thesis writing process drains many students. At their wits end with the writing process, sleep-deprived and seriously homesick, they lack resolve to stay put in the UK after they’ve submitted their thesis. Those not on any scholarships have serious concerns due to the high cost of living in London. Quite a few prefer to just ‘unwind’ by driving away from the zombie set in them due to the thesis writing phase. Remember, by the time you complete the thesis, you have already identified the area of your interest or niche you want to carve in the next phase of your career. Taking a paid job is not the only way of productive investment in time. Skill enhancement and networking are also productive ways of increasing the worth of CV. London is a vibrant place to do extensive networking: do short-term courses, get on UCL Careers for their networking events, keep in touch with people from your course, including professors, and get enough stimulus to evolve as a truly ‘international person’. It is worth every penny to exhaust a few more months in extensive networking and gaining international project exposure of some kind.
Always remember that some groundbreaking and cutting-edge research is always happening across the UK in all the sectors and disciplines. Some trailblazers or new age reformers are already working in your area by forming communities. In the era of social media, it is not difficult to connect with them and trust your infectious passion to do the rest.
Some students look for a job that would pay them. It’s not a bad idea to pay your bills from your pocket. Though, armed with an international degree, a lucrative career is anyway going to beckon once we return our home countries. So, think again before you pack your bags because someone told you that it’s not going to be easy to stay here doing ‘nothing’. Before you succumb to their world view of ‘nothingness’, remember there is ‘lot to do’ if you put your best foot forward. There is certainly a room for those who want to stay put and give it a shot.