The drive to pursue a career in cloud computing, the technology buzzword in 2012, was planted in me by a senior IT professional while I was working at IBM. My background in IT and business management made him suggest this career shift. I was disappointed by the lack of cloud computing courses on offer in India.
Moving abroad was a difficult choice for me as my husband’s career was also at stake. With inputs from an international educational advisor and weighing the pros and cons of the global choices available, I applied to Sheffield Hallam University’s M.Sc. in Web and Cloud Computing. I was lucky enough to get my offer letter in person from the university delegates who were on an official visit to the country.
I was also awarded a scholarship based on my past academic and professional achievements.
FIRST IMPRESSION The university has a wonderful induction week and an active international student service team. I was immediately made to feel at home by the staff, both teaching and non-teaching and the student volunteers. Sheffield, also known as the steel city with its contribution to industrial revolution in the 19th century, is home to two lovely universities. Sheffield Hallam University is a modern university which was formed following the higher education reforms after World War II, but the campus boasts a proud history dating back to 1836. The University of Sheffield is a Russell group University which is more than a century old. The clubs, pubs and other entertainment venues in the city host one of the country’s best fresher’s weeks for the students. Actively participating in the events organised by the university helped me meet students from across the world and make friends.
Practical experience
While I was in India, I had been quoting experts in my academic writing or reproducing definitions in textbooks without proper referencing, not knowing that I was inadvertently committing an unforgivable mistake — plagiarism. This was the first major hurdle I had to encounter, but thanks to the university’s foresight, the first module in our master’s degree introduced us to the British way of academic writing. The master’s degree, unlike in India, is not one where you get taught everything to earn a degree; instead students are introduced to topics and are actively encouraged to conduct desk research, group activities, presentations and so on to improve the subject knowledge. Less emphasis is laid on exams and more on academic writing, group assessments, practical work and presentations that contribute to the awarding of the degree. The master’s courses have a dissertation or project work which provides a platform for research and development.
I realised my research potential during my dissertation and decided to enrol for PhD in the university.
The writer pursued M.Sc. Web and Cloud Computing at Sheffield Hallam University, U.K. She is now studying for a PhD at the university.
