Meet Faith, a recent student on the MSc Logistics and Supply Chain Management course at the School of Business and Management
Tell us a bit more about yourself?
My name is Faith, I come from Malawi – which is in Southern Africa. I chose Royal Holloway because it is one of the universities that is iconic, and is situated in London which is central and very easy to get to.
To talk about myself, I work for the Reserve Bank of Malawi. I was sponsored by my employer to come here, so for me it’s a big thing. I don’t take it for granted that my employer sponsored my education, it’s not easy, but I really thank God for this opportunity.
Which course did you study?
I studied Logistics and Supply Chain Management which is broad. But it's part of my work, because I worked as a procurement person first of all, but I transitioned to do contract management currently. Going back home I’ll continue doing that, so it’s pretty good I chose to learn this course, as I’ve learned a lot from it.
What was your employer’s opinion of Royal Holloway?
Royal Holloway is one of the good universities and is very highly liked. When I applied and was awarded the scholarship my employer didn’t hesitate to support and approve my scholarship, so I’m very happy to be part of this place, part of Royal Holloway.
What was the admissions process like?
My experience with admissions was very good. At first, I was thinking it would be difficult for me to apply for this course. Coming from Africa and having the background of African education, I thought it would be very difficult for me to come to an international school like this. But when I started the process, the personnel at Royal Holloway really helped a lot - they were every time, checking whether I’d done the right thing, had I seen the emails. So, I was in contact with an international representative all the time, and they were very professional and helpful until the last day I got here, we were communicating all the time. So, I would say if you want to come to Royal Holloway as an international student, there is a better chance you will be helped as well. The international office works really well, so I’m grateful I was able to get everywhere on time.
Tell us a bit more about the course itself?
To start with, the master’s programme is accredited by CILT, which is one of the good boards. The courses ranged from operations management to international supply chains, and we also studied transport networks and digital supply chain. This really helped throughout the course, and it gave us as a class, as a cohort, it gave us a variety of understanding of different aspects of how international supply chain happens.
And we were very lucky because our class got to see a live situation, whereby we visited one of the companies who are doing supply chain – the company is called Arla - who are supplying milk and different products. So, we were able to see the transition, what we did in class to the physical process and really see how it’s done. So we came out of the classroom set up and were able to be on the ground, get the experience and compare, and this was good because we learnt a lot. We were able to learn from start to finish, the production process to the disposal. So, this was really good, and a good way of understanding everything, not just on paper but to see it with our own eyes. It really gave the class a good understanding of supply chain management, so we were very happy with that process.
What was the experience of your course like?
My colleagues became my family and my class was very diverse – people from, for example me from Malawi, from the US, from the UK, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Vietnam. So it was very diverse and I had to learn culture form different people. Learning does not end. I had to learn different aspects of life from them, how do they understand supply chain from their country, what are they doing about it in their respective countries or set up, so it really helped to hear the stories from different diverse countries like that. I’m really happy that I connected with these people and it’s a connection that has started, it does not end here, it will continue and we’re going to learn from each other, share experiences with each other as we go along, so it was really good.
What was it like being at Royal Holloway?
I stayed in Egham, which is a nice location, but my studies took place in Central London. Commuting was very easy for me, going and coming back, because Central London is a hub and the campus is very central there, and Egham is also close to the airport which made it very easy to travel and come back to university.
Royal Holloway is one of the best universities in the world for its good view and scenery – people come and visit and they even hire it out to make international films, so I was privileged to stay in Egham. But it was nice to see another campus in Central London, and that is also a nice place. I got to experience both life here in Egham and in Central London, so for me it was the best choice that I made and I was very happy to stay here.
What are your future plans? What’s next?
My plan now, when I go back home, I have to resume my work. As I’ve said, I’m a coordinator in contracts management, so I have to go back to my country and see how I can improve some of the processes, be more creative and see how we can do better. So it’s not about just coming here and I benefit alone, because my company has to benefit from what I’ve learnt here. So my aim is just to see what processes can be enhanced and also see how we can help each other and see how we can build a good supply chain network and that’s what’s important to me.
Final words?
So I would recommend students all over the world to come to Royal Holloway, whether here in Egham or in Central London, they will not regret it. It has been a good experience, I’ll miss this place.
