Visual Podcast-Back to UK for further education

Mustafa: Pursuing further higher education seems a natural course in furthering one’s career. What were the particulars of your decision?

Tobias: Ultimately, I knew I didn’t want to only teach. I had already gained experience in managing an educational facility, therefore I decided to do a year-long Master in managing educational institutions. This would allow me to climb up the managerial ladder in the organization I worked for.

Mustafa: How did that year elapse in the UK?
Tobias: The Master degree was actually quite tough. It felt like a full-time job and some more. I was very busy during the day and there was a lot of work to do in the evening to prepare for the next day.
I lived in a cute rental house which belonged to a family friend in West Kettering. This was a quintessential English village. The house was an old 1930s prefabricated tiny little cottage with one bedroom, a sitting room and a kitchen. I could literally hear the waves crashing on the pebble beach nearby. In order to go to school, I drove through tiny hedged lanes to get into Southampton where I attended classes.

Mustafa: What were you living on?
Tobias: In those days the tuition fees where not backbreaking like nowadays. I had some savings but I also got another student loan.

Mustafa: Now you had sort of a newfound confidence after having had an eventful and international career. I bet you still wanted to travel after graduating.
Tobias: Yes. I was still hired by my organization and they had agreed on posting me elsewhere in the world once my study sabbatical had come to an end.

Mustafa: What were your thoughts on being back in the UK?
Tobias: Again, it was like a reverse culture shock. Nothing ever changed back home, but every time I came back my entire world and outlook had been transformed. There were also little things like the fact that work life in the UK started at 9 o’clock. This was not the case when I worked abroad. Things there tended to start at 7.