I turned down a scholarship at another school to study at Cranfield – was it worth it?

I’ve been on quite a journey over the past year. Last June I took a big risk and left my job in Taiwan to come to the UK to study Logistics and Supply Chain Management at Cranfield University. Here’s my story…

I worked as an operational consultant for 7-Eleven in Taiwan, where I led eight convenience stores for three years. During my role I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to get involved in the world of eCommerce, which triggered my interest in the subject. This led to a difficult decision for me – should I keep going on the track I had been pursuing, or change my career path and explore my new passion? If I changed my career path to eBusiness, what kinds of new skills would I need to equip myself with? Would it be worth advancing my studies? A number of questions played on my mind.

I applied to four schools. One was a Digital Marketing programme in New York City. The others were either Marketing or Supply Chain Management courses in the UK. At the time I felt more comfortable with American culture since it has stronger influences in Taiwan, compared to British. So I was very disappointed when I received a letter declining my application from the American university. But, everything happens for a reason.

Acceptance letters and a scholarship offer from one of the UK schools soon cheered me up. I had a new choice to make: a general Marketing course at the school that offered me a scholarship, or the interesting and unique Logistics and Supply Chain course at Cranfield University, without a scholarship. Again, a handful of questions arose in my mind. Which course would be more helpful for my future career? Could I really turn down a scholarship? I did lots of research on the job I wanted after graduation and tried to match the required skills with the course that would give me the biggest advantage. The course at Cranfield covered many different fields and topics that matched exactly with the requirements of my future career plan. In addition, the alumnus network and lecturers both have strong connections with the real business world, which I knew would also give me the upper hand. So I chose Cranfield University.

When I arrived, however, I have to say I was shocked by the isolated location of the university at first. I had lived in big cities all my life and had never experienced countryside life. But as I said before; ‘everything happens for a reason’. In the end I did all my shopping online, taking full advantage of many next-day delivery services from advanced logistics systems, which left me more time to focus on my studies.

When I look back at my year at Cranfield, I’m very happy to have made the decision to study here. Thanks to the Logistics and Supply Chain department, I have had the chance to work with a global company based in Geneva, which I never would have thought would be possible. It has been great being involved in helping solve real-world business issues, and I had lots of precious and practical experience from the company project thesis. Additionally, the diverse environment has helped me to interact with people from various educational backgrounds like the School of Management and even Aerospace.

I will treasure the lessons I have learnt being here, both the life experiences and the academic ones.

Find out more about the location of Cranfield, and studying at the School of Management.