Monica Lestari Paramita

Monica graduated her MSc Information Management in 2008 and is now pursuing a PhD at the University of Sheffield

I chose University of Sheffield because it is one of the best universities with Information Management programme. It has a strong and active research group in my interest, which is Information Retrieval and it also has professional lecturers and great facilities for students. The city itself has the lowest living cost and is one of the safest cities in UK, which I think is very important for a place to study to have.

Later on, I realize that I did not make the wrong choice. Sheffield is the perfect place to study. It is very student oriented and the campus provides various facilities for students, such as English classes, enormous access to libraries and e-resources, group meeting rooms, careers service and other facilities, and they are all reserved for students without any charges.

I study Information Management, which is a program in the Information Studies Department. Having passed my first month here, I realize this course requires a lot of independent work to know about the development of information use in the recent years. We analyzed case studies to learn how information systems are developed in organizations and the reasons for its failure or success. It requires strong analytical skills, critical thinking and creative solutions to any problems we might face. Thankfully, the faculty staffs are very helpful and they always encourage students to gain more knowledge by arranging events such tutorial for information literacy skills, trips to libraries, and seminars by experts in specific topics.

Sheffield is a city that you could easily fall in love with. It has beautiful view and the people are very warm and nice. It is safe and very student oriented. Moreover, it gives places to students to focus on their studies, as well as places to have fun.

In my spare time, I like to hang out with my friends, explore the city, go on trips, go shopping in City Center, play piano in the music room in Student´s Union. And since I love soccer, I also like going to bars to watch the games with my friends.

The most difficult aspect for me would be cooperating with high amount of workload from the university. We are expected to do a lot of independent study on our own, which means spending hours in reading journals, analyzing problems and developing a critical analysis from resources that we have read. The classes were pretty different too: sometimes lecturers ask questions and make us think creatively about a specific subject instead of telling us what to think, which is sometimes hard because I am not used to it in my previous studies. Although, the lecturers always appreciate any answers and they always encourage students to ask questions as `there is no stupid question´. This really encourages me to be more active and critical in learning the subjects of my study.

Coming to Sheffield will be the best experience you will ever have. The first week might be hard because it´s going to be your first time living abroad by yourself, so my advice would be to join the Orientation programme. It has helped me so much to deal with the lonely feeling, as I know that I am surrounded by other international students who might feel the same way. It is a great way to meet new friends and to explore the city and the campus.

It is amazing how being surrounded by your new friends could make you stronger and happier. And meeting new people from more than 50 different countries is such an unforgettable experience. So, smile, don´t be embarrassed to approach new people, do a lot of new activities (mine had been walking 30 mins to the nearest supermarket and buying groceries on my own), and you´re going to be amazed how you feel like being home so soon.