Relocating my family for my postgraduate study – was it worth it?

The short answer is yes – but where is the fun in that? I am almost tempted to do the long version because most people who know me know that I do enjoy a good talk! However, as I am still in the middle of my dissertation research, I will make a compromise for the medium version. Right then…let’s get started!

It was a nice, sunny day in Ghana when I fell in love with Cranfield University. We were introduced by a mutual friend, Google, when I searched for ‘best business schools in Europe’. It was indeed love at first click. I had never heard of the name because most of my research for a Master’s programme was centred round the general rankings which unfortunately do not include Cranfield – because it is solely postgraduate. To be very honest, it was quite an easy decision for me after I had gone through the Strategic Marketing course page and the accommodation options. I knew straight away that I had found my match and did not look any further.

The application process was pretty simple with an option to check eligibility. My first contact in admissions was Lara and she was amazing – extremely friendly, helpful and very professional. Being a mother of three young children, the accommodation and primary school facilities were very important in our decision making. The housing facilities are excellent and my husband says he will really miss someone mowing his lawn at the first sight of grass! The school and amenities for kids are also very good and the University helps with primary school admissions too.

The most difficult part was having to relocate my children after they had just began to settle in, having already relocated once a couple of years before I was due to start my course. At one point, I wanted to settle for a course from a university close to where we lived because I felt selfish having to disrupt my family for my degree. However, my husband knew how serious my ‘schoolmance’ with Cranfield University was and was extremely supportive in making it happen. We took a family trip out to have a look round the University and the village. Seeing the school and the environment got the kids even more excited about what we had termed as our ‘one-year family adventure’.

My family loves it here and we are actually looking at sticking around for a bit longer than the one year we originally planned for. The kids have made new friends and they love the abundance of fields and bike riding routes. In the end, we had to look at the big picture as a family and not focus too much on the temporary discomforts that may arise as part of the sacrifices in the quest to better ourselves or help make better provisions for our families.

I know from experience that sometimes undertaking a venture like this with a young family seems like wanting to have your cake and eat it too. But take it from me – you can have the best of both worlds. Cranfield University has plenty of ‘extra cake slices’ for families with children, and that really does give that peace of mind during an intensive yet exciting period of self-development and progression.

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