Student Life - Induction

Several groups organised induction talks/lunch for new students on different days, including the International student body and my department. Walking to the induction venues provided an opportunity to see some parts of the campus, which looked really lovely with the lakes, ducks, and trees but scary at the same time. The shortcuts to some places were narrow footpaths with bushes on the left and right sides. One path even had the bushes and trees on either side form into a canopy-like covering. I'm not sure why it reminded me of the 'Garden of Eden' in the Bible. I wondered whether the school or city council didn't take the 'green' campus or city thing too far. How will these paths be at night? Even though Google said that the city was one of the safest in the country, I made a mental note to avoid those paths at night. 

The International students induction started with some presentations about the campus, its facilities and how to navigate the city. Similar to the warnings I found on the school's website about scams, one of the presenters took it a step further by sharing details of some actual scams that occurred in the previous year. The presenter shared that a student received a call from scammers, who told the student that he was under investigation in his home country, and instructed him not to leave his accommodation until the investigation was over, otherwise, he would be deported. They also instructed him not to tell anyone, including his parents, and often had video calls with him to ensure he was in his accommodation. Eventually, the scammers convinced the student to transfer his school fees to them. I think it was after a few weeks when the school realised he hadn't been attending lectures that they looked for him and discovered what had happened. In sum, the presenter warned us to be careful and reach out as soon as possible if something seemed off. Deep down within me, I wanted to ask the presenter questions about the scammed student or talk to the student myself, if possible. I couldn't understand why the student would believe a story about him being under investigation. What could he have possibly done to think he could be under investigation? Is it a common thing in his country for people to suddenly become under investigation? How come he was so afraid of these people, who were not physically around, just phone calls, and he didn't think to take the risk to ask his parents if they heard anything about an investigation? 

After the presentations, some current international students were invited to share their experiences with us, before we were ushered into another area for lunch: sandwiches, with opportunity to mingle with others. A lot of the international students I met were master's students on scholarships, mostly commonwealth and chevening. Talking to them made me feel sad that I wasn't on any scholarship, and it dawned on me how much risk I had taken by accepting to study outside my home country. I tried to encourage myself by thinking that I'd get funding when I reapply for them going into the second year.

The Department's induction I was invited for was designed for new PhD students only. There were five of us joining the department as new PhD students for that session. We were informed that the first year of the PhD was dedicated to taking four modules specifically designed for PhD students, which will be split across two semesters. In addition, we were to chose one master's level module for each semester. The module leaders for the PhD courses presented an outline of topics that will be covered. Progression to the 2nd year was dependent on successfully passing the coursework in the first year and submitting a revised research proposal. They discussed other administrative issues before we proceeded to take a group photograph outside, then returned inside for lunch: sandwiches. Lunch provided opportunity for us new PhD students to get to know each other. Some of them expressed fears about the coursework, and whether they'd cope with how rigorous it was presented to be. As for me, I wasn't too bothered about it, maybe because I had taken a lot of exams in my life. Besides, as an older person, life experiences has taught me how to compartmentalise and manage tasks, so I was quite confident that I would succeed. Whether I'd get high scores is a different issue, but surely I'd pass. What was going through my mind at that point was why they always provided sandwiches for lunch. Don't they think food like rice or chips deserve to be eaten for lunch?