Being ‘foreign’ in a foreign land

When I was a kid, I always felt like I needed to leave the nest. Where would a fledgling go? Growing up in a British-colonised country, I went with the obvious choice; many have talked about the better quality of life and education in the UK, but rarely were negative experiences ever mentioned (apart from the usual homesickness). There has never been much attention or conversation around the negative experiences of international students studying in the UK. But foreign students carry heavy baggage before we even step foot onto a foreign land.

By my first day, my checklist of the things I needed to achieve during my undergraduate degree was many times longer than a local student’s. I wished I could just study well and pass my exams to get a degree. So much long-term planning had to go into ensuring that I could secure a job in the UK after graduation by standing out from my local peers in the job market. Even if you are best fit for the company, visa restrictions require employers to prove that they could not hire anyone local, something that is very difficult for companies to prove. I sacrificed every summer holiday to do paid (and mostly unpaid) internships during my undergraduate degree.