I’m Zulkarnaen Eka Putra or well known as Ichul, currently studying for master’s degree in Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Management at The University of Nottingham. One of the Top 100 Universities in the world based on QS world ranking.
Pursuing a Master in Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Management offers a complete package of business knowledge because it combines theories and practices. The program allows student to collaborate with local business in Nottingham for 4 months and learn how to implement concept and theory in real business. In addition, the guest lectures from each course are influencers in specific industry.
I gained a lot of experience studying abroad including meeting with international students, learning the British culture, interacting with local and travelling around the UK which I enjoyed the most. There were a lot of beautiful cities such as Edinburgh, Oxford, and York with the uniqueness of medieval era building and breathtaking scenery of rural area. They also had various festival organized in different cities each year such as balloon festival in Edinburgh and New Year eve in London. In short, traveling in England was the most lovable experience I have had.
My dream is to be a social entrepreneur in the future. My vision is to bring digital platform to the small medium enterprises in Indonesia and integrate community to the business. To achieve that, I observed how small medium enterprises in the UK grow by integrating digital platform to their business. Studying in the UK assists me to identify huge opportunities in business. The University of Nottingham provides a lot of support to reach my dream such as business incubator, professional guest speaker, and collaboration with local business.
Studying in the UK is not as difficult as I had expected. I am doing Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Management along with 59 international students from India, China, USA, France, and other European and Africa countries. The program covers several business scopes such as marketing, finance, innovation, e-business, organizational growth, and real business projects. The learning methods are more interactive which enables student to share their opinion about some topics related to business. Students are divided into several groups to brainstorm idea for the assignment since the first meeting. Lecture materials and journals can be accessed through university portal and students must read it before entering the class. In addition, there is business incubator called Ingenuity Lab. This is the most favorite place for entrepreneurship students because the lab organizes some workshop and seminar regularly. Only entrepreneurial students are allowed into the lab for free, otherwise the other students must become members by paying annual membership fee. The lab also becomes a social space to meet students from different major offers free coffee and hot chocolate for students. In short, learning entrepreneurship in the UK resulted in many unforgettable experiences in my life.