Hi, my name is Jyotiraditya Vaghela. I know it's hard to pronounce so normally everyone just calls me Jyotir. I am an international student from India who has come to study business management and marketing. Growing up I had already decided that I would like to be an entrepreneur and start my own business but I understand that I lack a few necessary skills to be a good leader. That's when I found the Laidlaw Scholarship. I applied to this scholarship hoping to improve my skills and get to make some friends within the group. 

I was lucky enough to get my first choice for my research project. In the coming few weeks, with the help of my supervisors, I will be exploring the career planning needs of postgraduate students from underrepresented groups in higher education. I was very interested in this topic as it will provide me with a direct interaction with postgraduate students and how they plan their future which could also help me understand on how I would like to proceed with my career plans. Like me this research is aiming to help multiple students throughout the United Kingdom to better plan their future. The first phase of the project is a survey (March-May 2023) across the consortium of seven Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), which will be followed up with focus groups (July-September 2023)

My first week for the research starts next week on the 24th where I will be reading up on data from survey and other texts to gain more knowledge regarding the subject so I can be better prepared for my part of the research which is to collect qualitative data through focus groups.

Residentials:- I have been to two residentials till now, My first residential was a fascinating. I got the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of myself as a leader and an individual. Through the Quintax report and the activities performed, I was able to understand and hopefully improve on some of my weaknesses. Secondly, I had an amazing experience interacting with my fellow scholars, getting to know about their research and their plans for the future. I also learned a lot about the scholarship from the second year scholars. The more I heard regarding their remarkable experiences, the more I gained confidence in my decision of joining this scholarship. Overall, I had a wonderful experience where I got to connect and make friends with a lot of scholars.

My second residential was at Selside, where I got to overcome my fears and was able to grow through the difficulties. As soon as we got there, we went on a bimble or a leisurely walk, although it was called a bimble, my leg was sore at the end of the day. Then on the second day, ghyll scrambling which was an adventure on its own, with scholars and midgets. After that we went for a proper hike till we reached the peak and on the last day we went for caving. We also had a lot of time to spend with our fellow scholars, we got to know a lot of fun facts about them in quizzes and it was a true experience of bonding through hardships.