Moving to Manchester and the beginning of the semester…
Isna: “My Manchester semester officially started on October 21st. It was very difficult to decide whether to come to the UK even with entirely online teachings. But not having experienced the semester in Greece and, at the same time being an Erasmus+ student, gave me the courage to pack and come to Manchester to experience a new education environment.”
Although national Covid-19 restrictions imposed online teachings, Manchester-track MESPOM students keep showing resilience and strength. Following are some thoughts by Noreen from Pakistan and Isna from Indonesia, who, among other students, decided to move to Manchester to experience their semester at the fullest.
Covid-19 and life as a student in Manchester…
Noreen: “My classes are running online which means that I have to spend my entire day in my room with my computer and this has not only affected my time and task management skills but also, my physical activity. Moreover, I think being physically present in a classroom immensely helps a student to enhance communication skills and easily clarify every query regarding the topics under discussion which I find quite difficult during online classes. However, I try my best to enjoy my courses which are very interesting.”
Our units…
Noreen: “I’m currently taking three mandatory courses: ‘Measuring and Predicting 1’, ‘Measuring and Predicting 2’, ‘MSc. Tutorials’ and one elective: ‘Environmental Impact Assessment’. These courses are designed in such a way that they aim to help students enhance their analytical and research skills to design and implement environmental and especially pollution control projects. With my elective unit I have research seminars every week where environmental professionals share their research work and I get to learn diverse research areas in environmental science and ‘good research’ skills. I must say that our professors are extremely helpful, and they try their best to deliver effective online classes and research seminars as much as possible.”
Isna: “As elective unit I chose ‘Remote Sensing’ from the Department Geography. This course is giving me an understanding of remote sensing in general, remote sensing data analysis with the Google Earth Engine and how to apply it for environmental issue.”
Plans for the thesis semester…
Isna: “My thesis semester will be at CEU, but I want to choose the Vienna campus. I would like to experience another city as I will be able to work on my thesis remotely. My thesis will be very relevant to my last summer internship and my current favourite course: GIS and Remote Sensing.”
Noreen: “After I complete this semester, I will be conducting my thesis research and currently, I’m in the process of developing my project idea and methodology. I have chosen CEU to conduct my thesis with and I’m extremely excited to travel to gather my research data. I’ll be investigating on one of my favourite topics in environmental sciences which is related to how mountain communities enhance their resilience towards climate change by implementing adaptive strategies based on their traditional knowledge.”