Greetings all, I am Simba (unfortunately not the lion), my name means power.
I am an international student currently on an industrial placement with Arup in London. I study Electrical & Electronic Engineering at the School of Engineering, Design and Technology at the University of Bradford.
Moving to England to study has been a journey full of good and bad experiences. The moment I got on the plane to come to Bradford I became an independent man and started to become responsible.
My first day in England, I got to the Interchange and asked where I could get a ‘taxi’ (in a proper African accent) and the guy thought I was asking about ‘tax’. I will never forget that day and I then had to repeat myself after a speech about HMRC.
However, I have had good times and have managed to adjust appropriately. The International Office made my settling much easier, I really enjoyed the shopping trips they organised, especially the one to Ikea where I got lost and kept going in circles, it was good fun.
Engineering, um? Difficult? Cool? Fun? Demanding? Well I don’t know what will be the best answers to these questions. Please see the short video Engineering.
My first year was pretty chilled as compared to my second year. If you fancy a course that has more classes then Engineering might be your path. Engineering is not easy and it’s not difficult, you just have to be prepared to do the hours. They say the second year is the make or break point. I agree that second year was pretty challenging, especially taking the 7th module, ‘placement hunting’. I said the 7th module because on top of the six modules I was taking, placement applications demanded the same amount of time I was giving to my studies.
It was not easy getting a placement, I submitted a total of 20 application and got 3 interviews and 2 job offers. Comparing the amount of time and effort I put in searching for my placement to the responses I got that it wasn’t proportional, hence my title. Nevertheless I managed to get a placement.
I work as a Designer in Electrical Building Services and I am working on a project in Saudi Arabia; the experience I am getting is amazing.
