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This thread has been 3 years in the making and because I got my official letter of award confirmation I finally feel free to speak up —So buckle up: My (dreadful) experience in the (supposedly) most international university of Europe, the Univ*rsity of W*stminster
In hindsight, I should have realised sooner what a challenge it was going to be to attend a university when it took me three months of daily emails to get a CAS, the single most important bit of paperwork for the Tier 4 visa, because they made me jump through a billion hoops
Because of this I ended up having to pay a premium to have my visa processed in time. I got to London 16 hours before I was supposed to be at the first orientation session. Jet lag was a b but I got up and showed up bright-eyed and happy because FINALLY, my dream was coming true
The dream became a nightmare when I was told because my BRP hadn't arrived I was required to leave the premises as they claimed it was *ILLEGAL* for me to be there. (I explained to them Home Office had issues printing the cards and showed them the letter I'd got from the gov)
It did little good and I missed the whole orientation week because the card didn't arrive until 10 days later. I managed to get a temporary pass as to not miss any of my first lectures, but the feeling of unwelcomeness was very much there from that first day of orientation week.
For months I received several emails demanding I went to the registry office to prove I had a valid visa. Of course, I went every single time, but why was all of that necessary? To have intl' students show up TWICE A MONTH to show their passport? What can change in the meantime?
This was yet another reminder that I was not like my peers, and that the university didn't want me to forget I was here temporarily. That I am only here because they ever so kindly took me in (in exchange of thousands and thousands of pounds a year, of course).
The microaggressions continued throughout my whole degree. I had to sit there as tutors butchered my name, as other students brought up Narcos as the only reference they could conjure of what my country is. I had to work seven times harder to get half as far as others
But I did it with a smile because it was my dream.
First year was a crude awakening but I thought I could deal. On second year I took all the precautions to make it better, decided I was going to "grow thicker skin" and make an effort to be involved and make UoW my home.
First year was a crude awakening but I thought I could deal. On second year I took all the precautions to make it better, decided I was going to "grow thicker skin" and make an effort to be involved and make UoW my home.
But I never actually felt like I was part of anything. Not only was I made feel unwelcome since the first day, but I also noticed how the "internationality" of West*inster came in one flavour only: students from the rest of Europe. People from Asia, the Americas, Africa?
If there was any, we were no better than walking money bags. Never was that clearer as the last semester.
Finishing a degree in these circumstances almost ended me. My mental health plummeted, I had panic attacks, nightmares —and I was left completely alone by the university.
Finishing a degree in these circumstances almost ended me. My mental health plummeted, I had panic attacks, nightmares —and I was left completely alone by the university.
I registered with the counselling service in October, had a few sessions before the pandemic, asked if we could have online sessions... and my counsellor ghosted on me. To this day I haven't been contacted by the welfare department, even though I was deemed an "at-risk" student
Let me say that again. I WAS "HIGH RISK" AND THE LAST TIME I HEARD FROM THEM WAS IN MARCH 10th. I am especially vulnerable because my support network is AN OCEAN AWAY, but who cares, right? as long as the payments are made on time, everything else is dismissable...
Which brings me to the thing that angered me the most.
When the government passed a law to change the conditions of the Tier 4 visa to make them more beneficial to graduates starting in 2021, the university didn't advocate for 2020 graduates. They didn't even address it.
When the government passed a law to change the conditions of the Tier 4 visa to make them more beneficial to graduates starting in 2021, the university didn't advocate for 2020 graduates. They didn't even address it.
As it is now, we have four months after completion to figure life out. From 2021, students will have TWO YEARS.
There's a ticking clock hanging over my head, and the minute I got that email last week, the university washed their hands off of me and on to the next generation of
There's a ticking clock hanging over my head, and the minute I got that email last week, the university washed their hands off of me and on to the next generation of
piggy banks.
I could go on talking about all the ways in which this institution failed me, like the ridiculously low amount of contact hours, how they allow a well-know bully to keep teaching and traumatising students, the overall lack of interest,
I could go on talking about all the ways in which this institution failed me, like the ridiculously low amount of contact hours, how they allow a well-know bully to keep teaching and traumatising students, the overall lack of interest,
hell, even the fact we didn't even get a pat in the back for making it through this mess.
I want to celebrate getting a first, but I don't feel like it because more and more it seems all I did was so pointless not even the institution that awards it sees it as a big deal.
I want to celebrate getting a first, but I don't feel like it because more and more it seems all I did was so pointless not even the institution that awards it sees it as a big deal.
I'm sorry this is all over the place, I'm just sad because I put my life on the line to come here and this experience was so not it. I'm writing this because all I hear are praises for that place, but I want to tell my story and hopefully help someone make better choices
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