Moving to university can be difficult for anyone, let alone if your home is on the other side of the world. But one DMU graduate has spoken about how DSU helped him settle into university life and is also shaping his future.
Moving to university can be difficult for anyone, let alone if your home is on the other side of the world. But one DMU graduate has spoken about how DSU helped him settle into university life and is also shaping his future.
Sadeep Rai, from Nepal, graduated from a Masters in Accounting and Finance from DMU in 2014. We met up with him at Wednesday’s International Students’ Cafe, where he was saying goodbye to some old friends before moving back to his home country next week.
“It all started for me with simple things like the International Students’ Cafe,” he said. “When I moved here it was a new language and culture for me, and things like this as well as taking part in volunteering work with DSU really helped me build my confidence and experience plus upgrading my CV.”
As well as attending the cafe, which is a weekly session aimed at international students to help improve their conversational English and to meet other international students, Sadeep quickly took on a leading role in his student’s union.
He explained: “I became a course rep to start off with to help my classmates, and that involved raising any problems people had, and I was also working in the students’ union as a Frontrunner as democratic engagement officer.
“My job involved trying to engage students from different backgrounds and different cultures, which was great.”
Sadeep’s eagerness to get involved quickly helped him land a job at Loughborough Students’ Union, handling the finances for 52 successful sports clubs until earlier this year.
At the same time, a devastating earthquake hit Nepal and Sadeep was quick to help his country. With a guitar, he and two Nepalese friends raised £330 in two days on the Campus Centre steps and in the city for the earthquake appeal.
But now Sadeep is heading home to help even more. “What I did here was fundraising but now I want to see things for myself,” he said.
“I want to help rebuild schools with my own hands.”
Sadeep then hopes to go on to find work at a charitable organisation.
But what advice does he have for students? “Throw yourself into everything and make the most of it!
“Don’t hold back or be insecure because we are all in this together.”
DSU would like to take this opportunity to thank Sadeep for all of his work and to wish him the best for the future.
You can find out more about DSU's volunteering schemes on their webpage here. For more information about the next International Students' Cafe, click here.