Tomoki's experience
In this blog post, Tomoki, an IDS student from Japan, talks about why he chose Sussex and the diverse student community he encountered.
Tomoki in the University’s Business School building.
I chose the University of Sussex and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) because of its highly renowned reputation in Development Studies and the environment of Sussex. As a student who dreamt of working in the United Nations and other international organisations, pursuing a Masters degree at IDS and at Sussex sounded fascinating to me.
During my undergraduate programme, I visited Sussex in 2016 and talked with some students and professors, which made me confident that this would be a good environment to study my Masters.
I found the classes in IDS quite practical and useful for my future career. Some classes require us to write policy proposals and suggest recommendations for current policies, which could be put to use when I start working in the field of Development.
Equally importantly, the students in IDS and Sussex are diverse, with lots of nationalities and experience. Learning with these students through discussion and group work broadened my perspective. For example, I had a group project to review policies for tuberculosis in India and my groupmates gave me different views based on their previous work experience.
I am planning to work in the United Nations and other international organisations in the future. I am sure that my Masters in IDS will lead me to this future career with the academic knowledge and practical skills I learned in the programme!