An insight into my life as a student in Birmingham would be incomplete without you guys knowing a few little things about me.
Let’s begin with my name and what I do. Mohsin, studying Mathematics at the University of Birmingham. Some of you might be yawning at this point, but over the next nine months, you’ll realise exactly how much Maths means to me and why I have come to love it as much as I do. I’m sure we will revisit this in another blog (or even several more of them).
Let’s go right to the beginning. I was born in India 19 years ago and moved to the UK at around 4 years old. Having lived in London for the first year, I’ve only actually been in Birmingham for 14, and literally everything about the city has changed since. Moving to a primary school in the middle of an academic year was tough to say the least, and coupled with a slight language barrier made for a difficult couple of years settling in, but these experiences define who I am and I wouldn’t change them for the world. My first vivid memory in a classroom was playing snakes and ladders and here I am in a huge lecture theatre computing triple integrals.
I want to share something that’s very important to me, and that is the work that I do for an education charity called Debate Mate. I’ve been fortunate enough to teach in various cities across the UK, as well as in Nepal and I am excited to have been gifted an opportunity to teach in Japan this coming January. The work that this organisation does is absolutely phenomenal, aiming to increase social mobility by providing children from disadvantaged backgrounds with the tools required to increase their public speaking skills through a debating medium. I can’t wait to tell you guys more about how I got involved with this and an entire blog post about my time in Japan.
Over the coming months I’m going to be talking about every aspect of Birmingham, including life from both a social and educational perspective – sharing some of the things that I have learnt growing up in Birmingham, the best food spots in and around campus as well as the best ways to manage your friends and your assignments! There’s going to be a lot more too, so stick with me and I promise it’ll be worth it! P.S the Brum accent does not exist.
Look out for my blog next month where I will be discussing a day in the life of a Maths student at Birmingham!
