Vriti Midha

Vriti, an international student from India, moved to Leeds to study her Masters seeking to enhance her knowledge of communication and media in a different cultural context.

Out of everywhere I looked, Leeds was the one place that genuinely felt like it could become home rather than just somewhere I was studying.

Returning to education

Before moving to Leeds, Vriti worked in India as a content writer and social media handler for a law publication company. She liked the work but felt like she was operating inside a system that someone else had already built, with very little room to change anything. Vriti said, “I used to pitch to my manager, suggesting different angles, platforms and ways of talking to our audience”.

Most of those pitches went nowhere, and the frustration stuck with her. “It made me realise how much I was drawn to the actual mechanics of communication: why one message lands with an audience, and another doesn’t, and how much of that comes down to understanding people rather than just producing content.”

Vriti explained that she was keen to study outside of India to see how communication and media work in a different cultural context to the one she grew up in. “That’s what brought me to study a Masters in Media and Communications, and it’s still what excites me about it.”

A proper student city

Vriti always knew she wanted to study at a Russell Group University. Comparing Leeds to other cities helped her decide. “Leeds felt different. It’s a proper student city, with a strong sense of community and people who were going through the same thing I was.”

“Moving abroad on your own comes with a particular kind of loneliness that’s hard to explain until you’re in it. I could tell Leeds was somewhere I’d have people around me who understood that. Out of everywhere I looked, it was the one place that genuinely felt like it could become home rather than just somewhere I was studying.”

A scholarship took the pressure off 

Based on her academic results in India, Vriti was awarded the Masters International Excellence Scholarship, which covered £6,000 of her tuition fees.

“That made a real difference and took a lot of pressure off. Beyond that, my parents had set aside a specific amount for me to study abroad. It had been a dream of mine for a long time, and they backed it.”

Adjusting to the UK

“It’s been a great experience overall, but I won’t pretend it was an easy adjustment.”

“The education system here is different from what I knew in India. I’d never written a dissertation before coming here, and things like independent research and referencing weren’t part of how I’d studied previously, so that alone took some getting used to.”

“Small things stood out to me. Back home, we’d always address professors as ‘sir’ or ‘ma’am’ out of respect, and nobody would use their first name. Here, everyone just calls their professors by their first name, which felt strange at first and took me a while to get comfortable with. It’s a small example, but it captures what the whole experience has been like: a genuine culture shock in places, mixed with really good, formative academic experiences.”

Real, hands-on experience

Early into her Masters, Vriti secured a role at the University as an Educational Outreach Fellow. She said, “It’s been one of the best things about my time at Leeds. Through that role, I’ve delivered workshops in schools which gave me real, hands-on experience I wasn’t expecting to get this early.”

“I think a lot of international students struggle to get any relevant work experience while they’re still trying to find their footing in a new country and a new job market, so having that door open so quickly made a real difference to me. It’s not just been good for my CV. It’s helped me understand where I stand professionally, what I’m capable of, and what I still want to work on.”

Look for scholarships as soon as you can

“Start looking into your options as early as you possibly can. Between loans, grants, part-time work and scholarships, there is more support than you realise, but many have earlier deadlines than you’d expect.”

“My honest regret is that I started my own research too late. I probably could have secured a second scholarship, but by the time I looked into it properly, the application window had already closed.”

“Don’t wait until you’ve made your final decision to study abroad before you start researching funding. Start in parallel, because the good opportunities close faster than you’d think.”