On the 6th of March, 6 students from the QMUL International Foundation Year accompanied programme convenor Mark Holloway to the annual University Pathway Alliance Conference at the University of Birmingham.  The highlight of the day was the Pecha Kucha competition, with presentations by all UPA member institutions present.  QMUL were represented by Ali Alosaimi, who gave an excellent presentation and received praise from the judges for his wit, charisma, and engaging delivery.  The standards were very high, and Ali didn’t quite make the top three, but his supporters – by far the loudest in the room – were very proud of his contribution.

Ali wrote the following about the experience of attending the conference:

This year’s topic was “The Secret Life of an International Student”, and through presenting this topic, I feel that I showed people my actual life as an international student. Going to Birmingham and representing Queen Mary is definitely one of my highlights from the IFP. This opportunity helped my presentation skills as well as improved my English speaking skills. I had the chance to network with people studying and working at universities all across the country (which as an international student, will benefit you greatly). I got to see Birmingham University’s beautiful campus, as well as meet and chat with students studying there. I also saw what it was like to be an international student from the perspective of other students studying at other universities. My advice to students is that if an opportunity such as this comes your way, seize it because it will benefit you in many ways you won’t even know about.