Ayan’s Story – Discovering Umii

Ayan’s Story – Discovering Umii

Flying all the way to the UK was scary and challenging – I had never even left my province in India before. I was optimistic and excited to start a Master’s course and I decided to join the University of Lincoln to make a better future for myself. I have been introverted since childhood and didn’t have many friends around me as I used to study alone with my mom – this gave me good marks in exams but I missed the chance to develop my interpersonal skills around other kids my age. When I received my offer letter along with a Global Scholarship from Lincoln, it was an easy decision for me to move to the UK.

When I arrived in Lincoln, I had already received an email from the university telling me to download Umii to help me make friends. Being curious, I installed it and sent some friend requests. I made a friend circle pretty quickly, I met up with them on-campus and we went to the pub together after our lectures.

 

 

I am so glad that I have friends around me, my social network is well-spread and I see Lincoln as a second home now. My first Umii friend was a college girl from Leicester who is good at craft making and singing. I was surprised when I saw her creations and heard her sing, and the same when she read my poetry. We’re still very good friends and all of my Umii friends are so close to my heart. A special appreciation to the app developers from my side!

When I look back, not having many friends in India created a small world around me but I was just so used to this. Since moving to Lincoln and using Umii, my whole world has changed. I’ve become so friendly and open to others.. I’ve studied in groups, made many international friends, enjoyed night life for the first time and had so much fun all around Lincoln. Wirth my new found confidence, I became an International Students’ Ambassador and Student Life Digital content creator alongside my studies.. I am very thankful to Umii for being my friend search assistant!

As I’m sure you’ll agree, Ayan’s story is really fulfilling! He opted to study abroad, moving from India to Lincoln and with the assistance of the app UMII has gone on to make lots of friends within the student community.

In addition to Umii, the Global Experience Team, (GET),  based within the Lincoln International Business School go out of their way to ensure that all students from within the UK or from abroad are made to feel welcome and are supported.  The friendly team offer a number of ways for students to engage with one another :-

Face to Face Interactions

Whether it be weekly coffee catch ups, or fun and games there is always something on the calendar to engage with students and provide an opportunity to learn something new and meet people.   There are cultural events that run throughout the year and students are more than welcome to approach the team with suggestions of things they’d like delivering.   There is also the Global Certificate Scheme, where students who participate in aforementioned events and/or assist with their organisation also achieve different levels of award – a fantastic addition to a CV!

Virtual Information and Support

Want to reach out virtually?  There’s no shortage of advice and support available virtually! The Global Experience Team manage three Whatsapp Groups, (one per year of enrolment) with 275 students participating in each.  This allows for great connections, chats, peer to peer engagement and advice.  The team are currently working with the creators of UMII to develop and push out an App aimed at connecting users through interests and courses.

In addition, GET issue a weekly newsletter to students, emailed directly to university email accounts full of news and forthcoming events, as well as running a very active Instagram account and Twitter page.

Click here to find out more about Umii!

Umii App Link