I grew up in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in the northwest of China. A beautiful place, through which the Yellow River flows, and the Great Wall runs along its northeastern boundary. Nevertheless, the economic and educational development there is quite poor. But due to my strong interest in my subject, Pharmacy, I was determined to pursue further study abroad and decided to apply for a place at the University of Bath.

Applying for a scholarship

With great teaching resources and a rich science pedigree, I really wanted to study my master's degree at Bath.

However, the tuition fees and the expenses in Bath were a massive challenge for me. So when I received an email from Bath introducing all of their available scholarships for international students, I decided to apply.

The University offers a range of scholarships for overseas students, including the Global Leaders Scholarship and GREAT scholarships, among others.

The procedure for scholarship application is quite simple. I used the link in the email and searched for more information about the scholarships to find the most suitable one for my circumstances. I eventually decided to apply for the Global Leaders Scholarship because I had good experience from my professional study and had also been class representative during my undergraduate studies.

After submitting my application for the scholarship and waiting a month or two, I received another email from Bath. They informed me I had been chosen as a candidate. I was very excited about this news, and it also gave me far more confidence to pursue study abroad. I could also see the pride it gave my parents, teachers, and classmates.

More to Bath than studying

I am now studying on the MSc Drug Discovery course and I'm loving life at Bath. My parents visited Bath before I came here and they always told me it was not only a liveable city with distinctive natural scenery but also had a world-class university.

I feel so lucky to be able to study here, and I wouldn’t be able to do that without the Global Leaders Scholarship. I'm thrilled to be studying my passion and enjoying all the modules and seminars taking place. But there is more to life than just studying.

After classes, I like to drink coffee and eat desserts with friends. I also visit the Jane Austen museum and enjoy the scenery along Pulteney Bridge. Everyone here has been so nice and kind and I still have so many places waiting to be discovered and explored. I certainly don’t regret my decision to come to Bath to live and study.

Choosing my next steps

Now my postgraduate degree is drawing to a close and I need to pursue a new starting point in my field of pharmacy. The PhD programme here in Bath will help expose me to plentiful research modules and the latest pharmaceutical tools, so that one avenue I am looking at.

This year will certainly bring new challenges, but I’m not giving up on the dream I have been holding for so long. I am loving my time in Bath, and could not imagine being anywhere else.