Starting from Scratch

This excellent blog was written by Chevening scholar Osmel Barreto who arrived in London just one month ago to study for an MSc in IT and Strategic Innovation. Osmel tells us about his experience of cultural change and having to learn how to do so many new things all at the same time. Thanks for sharing this Osmel!

Starting from Scratch

Yes, that is exactly how I felt when I arrived in the United Kingdom. The day I left Cuba, I seemed to leave behind my ability to know how to get around, how to behave, and what to expect. After so many years of learning to be an adult, the inexperience of my teenage years seemed to have returned to centre stage!

What it means to be a ‘fresher’

I never thought that after so long, I would almost need to be taken by the hand and led to the classroom on the campus for my first lecture, to the student halls of residence, to the right bus stop (and not the one where I got on a bus and spent nearly half an hour going round in circles until Kingston did not seem to be ‘upon Thames’ any more). I would never have imagined that the university library would be automated; you put your books on a metal plate and, as if by magic, the device knows exactly which books you want to take out, irrespective of the number or whether they are piled in an untidy stack. This, even for an ‘IT guy’ like me, was difficult to comprehend. And I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for the students behind me in the queue to understand why it took me 10 minutes to complete a process designed to take 30 seconds at the most.

I won’t lie to you – it’s not easy facing so many changes. It was the first time I had left my country, the first time I had been on a plane, the first time I had taken ‘the Tube’, and after a month the list of ‘first times’ seemed to go on and on. So many new things, whilst living at a pace at least 20 times faster than the one Cubans are accustomed to. Respecting other people’s time sometimes becomes a top priority, even to the point of standing on the right hand side of the escalators in the Tube to allow people who are in a hurry to keep moving. ‘Time management’ is always crucial, even when performing the simplest tasks.

Step by step

It felt as if life had presented me with the greatest of all challenges until suddenly things began to change without me even noticing. After a month, I now greet the same bus driver each morning (driving the right bus!), I know where to buy the black beans that I like so much, and I am even one of the people hurrying down the left hand side of the escalators in Waterloo station. I have admired the architecture in one of the most modern cities in the world that has buildings full of technology such as The Shard, but also protects its national heritage such as Buckingham Palace and Big Ben. I have been able to meet up with the other scholars from Cuba, and we are now an inseparable group, sharing experiences with each other and supporting each other in everything – even when what we need is to chat about how much we are missing our families.

Subconsciously, my former abilities are returning – some even improved – and I am gradually regaining the independence which I am used to. I am learning how to fit into a completely new world despite stumbling a few times along the way.

The key to success? Simple. I just need to remember how lucky I am to be able to study and live in a country that has such an exceptional culture and one of the most prestigious social and educational systems in the world. I just need to go to class every day where I have access to an incredible database of knowledge, delivered by internationally recognised professionals. I just need to look back and realise how many friends I have already made, and how many I will make in the future. I just need to understand what it is really means to be a Chevening Scholar and the endless opportunities that are open to me if I work hard and push myself every day.

It’s true that you have to start again from scratch, but if that is the price to pay for having such a unique opportunity, believe me guys, it’s worth it!