Hello! My name is Jian Rong. I am Malaysian but was born and raised in Brunei, where I attended an international school under the British curriculum and completed my International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma. I am now in the UK at Aston University, where I will be studying and living for the next four years.

My Background and Process to Aston

Toward the end of IB, each student is challenged to write an extended essay/research paper on a topic of their choosing, I had decided to do this research based on a logistics question, which is where I found that my passion for logistics may be what I wanted to pursue in the future.

I do feel that, in a way, I defaulted to UK universities through UCAS, mostly because the school I was in was more British-focused and pushed more towards the UK. However, when researching different universities I did look at some Asian countries as well such as; Japan, Korea, and Singapore but didn’t really find courses within those countries that suited what I wanted to pursue along with the fact that most of the degrees that focused on logistics were directed more toward master's and PhD levels with much less for entry.

UCAS was very helpful as it’s a platform that connects chosen universities for students who wants to look for higher education, whether it be undergraduate, master's, or even PhD. It provides an easier and simpler way of applying to up to five universities simultaneously. When filling in my application, I gave my IB predicted and final grades as well as my IGCSE grades to give a better feel for my academics. Then, within a few weeks, through UCAS, I received my offer letters.

Why I Chose Aston

The main reason I chose Aston was because for one, rank-wise for business, it is a top 10 university within the UK, but also because I wanted to potentially go somewhere where I could pursue music, as for almost my entire high school experience I was very influential regarding music and found loads of passion towards it as I grew up. So that was an important factor for me.

I was fortunate enough to get accepted into all five of the unis I applied to -those being Hull University (which was my second choice), Portsmouth, Greenwich, and Derby, however, these universities did not resonate with me as much as Aston did, and I just found that Aston had many other benefits and rewards.

Lastly, Aston also has placement years which is something I had decided I wanted to do. They are partners with a group of companies that allow students to find the right placements for them, like the Novus Scheme, a program that has been developed for students to gain relevant industrial experience that has potential graduate employment opportunities as well, which made Aston so much more of an attractive choice.

Scholarships & Finances

I honestly was not very aware of the scholarships available before applying until I got accepted and they emailed to congratulate me on being awarded the silver scholarship. The silver scholarship gave me 2,000 pounds off my first year and was awarded to me due to my IB results - I got a total of 31 points. I was only one point away from getting a gold scholarship which would have given me 5,000 pounds the first year instead. Without the grant, tuition fees were 18,500 pounds, however, it has gone up to 21,500 pounds as of now, and for the placement year, it is around 2,500 pounds outside of the tuition fee for that year.

Living here can be quite expensive, it does depend on the lifestyle you choose. If you decide to Uber-eats everything or go out unnecessarily then of course it will be more expensive compared to others. That was the case for me in the beginning. Initially I didn’t really cook and do those life maintenance tasks, and I was more fortunate as before I left for Uni, I was given spending money from my parents, which I utilized by buying myself some items that I needed within my accommodation. Now, as I settle in more and pick up my routine, I have started to learn how to do everything, like cooking and how to properly budget, but in the beginning of university life, it is inevitable that costs will be a bit higher and will not only come out from food and transportation.

I do have friends who can budget around 200/300 pounds a month and still be fine, but again, it is how you approach it and how fortunate you are, considering your situation. If you choose to cook, take a train everywhere, eat and do your laundry at home for free, then finances will be lower compared to, say an international student who doesn’t have family here.

My Planned Placement Year

I am doing a BSc Honours Logistics with supply chain management that will take 4 years to complete as I plan on doing a placement year, which I will need to start looking for around my second year.

The reasoning behind this extra year is that logistics with experience has a much higher value after I graduate, especially when branching into different career paths as there is so much that could happen, and so logistics just happens to be one of those majors where you can get further with that extra year. With that, I am also the type of learner who does best when I am actively involved, and I thought it would give me time to experience and decide which field I want to go into whether it be land, sea, or air, and make sure of the type of commitments and work I am getting myself into.

Life on Campus

I am currently in on-campus accommodation as part of the Unite Students as Aston has a partnership with them, and so applying and staying here was a smoother process. First years are given the choice of two accommodations out of five/six, either James Watt or William Murdoch. They are the same building, just segmented down the middle and given separate names, so it’s not that big of a difference. I chose William Murdoch after I did some research and spoke to other students as I found out it was sort of the quieter option, whereas James Watt is more known for their social life.

I have been here for the past four months and honestly have not been the most studious individual as of yet. Regarding exams and assignments, I do make more effort, but as of right now, I’m taking it a day at a time, getting used to the Uni life as it is a change. Things like figuring out the main building -which has felt like a maze at times, with the different floors and south and north wings. It has been quite an adjustment, especially on my less lucky days.

The teachers here are very experienced within the field/subject they are teaching, and most of them have worked in that field for almost decades before, with all very interesting and diverse backgrounds. So, at Aston, we are fortunate to have specialists who know exactly what they are teaching, which makes the lectures more fascinating and allows them to explain the concepts in a much more understandable way. Especially if you have certain questions, they are able to answer very easily and make sure you understand.

Adapting to the European Lifestyle

The British lifestyle, the European lifestyle is a complete shift from what Brunei was like. The biggest thing that I was not ready for, and should have been ready for, was the weather. I wasn’t expecting it to get as cold as it is now, being around 4 degrees Celsius, which is far from what I am used to being in a rainforest, with temperatures only as low as 23 degrees. For me, it has been the worst thing apart from academics, mostly because I had expected it to get the coldest in December and January, but it’s now February, and the weather seems to be getting worse, which does make going to classes and moving around more difficult and uncomfortable.

Another thing that I recognized was a bit of a change, was that most things you do yourself here. For example, filling up gas and having to manually fill yourself whereas in Brunei, it is sort of a service, there was also the complete change of demographic and the ethnicities present, which felt like quite a shift as well. Now, being in Europe, I had to get used to seeing more Europeans than I was used to, compared to being home to the majority of Asians, along with those different ways of living and interactions in public.

My Advice

As I spoke about before, consider the weather, and research the actual country you are planning on studying in, whether that be before applying or after acceptance to prepare yourself, even better if you can speak to someone who is currently living there to truly get the feels of what you are about to experience. Secondly, find out about things like extracurriculars and societies you can do within your living space of university, and the city around because a lot of people only focus on the course, and finishing the degree, but it is a long process of getting those results so make sure you can create a student life and enjoy living in that country instead of only being there for the sole purpose of school.

Accommodation is something you should consider beforehand and during university as well. Make sure you find the right fit for you, I know people who have trial runs, stay on campus for a term to get the feels, and then move out because they prefer shared houses or single apartments. In regards to your accommodation, pack some of your home room items. Bring things from home to have in your room, as in a way, it is nice to replicate certain areas to create a sense of normality and comfort in the face of uncertainty and change around you, especially during your first year.

Things like that help calm you down, and after a long cold and confusing day of finding your way around campus, you are then able to get back to your room and feel more in control and relaxed.