My Experience As A Chevening Alumni

Ghizlane Zouaï is an experienced educator, committed to excellence in education through technology with a strong track record of delivery. She has extensive experience delivering ELT workshops across Algeria and abroad, as well as a significant work with job seekers and entrepreneurs. 

Ghizlane holds a B.A in English from Saad Dahleb University. She has recently graduated from Newcastle University with a Master in Education and Technology. She has also followed various training courses in management, web analytics, web-journalism, and in writing for the web.

She is on the cutting edge of art and everything that relates to. Ghizlane has photographic skills and had been invited to participate to two exhibitions. Additionally, she jointly worked with one of the iconic journalists at Radio Blida, Ilyes Belabes, and they collaboratively started Get The Lingo, the fist English show on air.

Chevening Scholarships is a fully funded one-year master’s degree in any subject at any UK university for outstanding graduates & professionals from all over the world.

Why did you choose Chevening Scholarship?

Not a hard decision to take! 

Making my mind up about the Chevening Scholarship was quite easy. I mean there are a myriad of opportunities for Algerian youth abroad but you should be selective and look for excellence. 

When I did a desk research about the Chevening Scholarship, few words echoed more than others did. Words such as prestigious and quality higher education. The combination did not only seduce me but I thought it would be a real boost in my career prospects.

So, if you're willing to gain a sound experience as a student in the UK, Chevening is THE best option for you.

What do you study in your master?

I've to say this at first! Many people asked why I've not chosen Oxford or Cambridge.

Let's say it this why, all UK universities are excellent. So avoid these stereotypes and, if selected, go to the university that best meets your needs and not just the name. 

In my case, I've been to Newcastle University where I've graduated with a Master in Education with Technology. I've also co-worked on developing the Digital Principles online course in collaboration with the Open University in Tanzania. 

Newcastle University has one of the leaders of cloud education; Professor Sugata Mitra, who lectures there and Dr James Stainflied who is specialized on ICT learning. 

Surprisedly enough, I've discovered that Martin Luther King studied also there.

WoOoW! The man who spoke out for freedom and equality of Afro Americans in the US was a knowledge seeker at Newcastle University. I do not know but I was very proud, as if I've studied at the same university as Ibn Khaldoun.

What is the added value of this program in your career and life?

Remember, I've said prestigious.

All the Chevening fellows are real active leaders in their countries, respectively. In our network, we count for this year 3 Prime Ministers in Asia and 2 Presidents in Latin America. Additionally, regular events will be organized where you will mix and mingle with well-known international leaders.

Volunteering there was again a life changing experience. I worked as a Library Assistant at the Kittiwake Trust Multilingual Library. The only one in Europe, as far as I know, and its patron is the famous David Crystal .

Guess what! I learned a lot about other cultures and had free access to books that come from around the world. 

Professionally, you can apply for a part-time job while in the UK. 

                     

What kind of challenges did you meet? 

Only one! Writing over one 4 thousand words was a challenging.

We'd to write essays and do projects as part of our evaluation. It was not easy for me because in Algeria we're not used to write long extensive dissertations.

You shouldn't worry, though. There are online courses that would show you how to do it, add to the university's free face-to-face courses for students to prepare them ahead of the exams. This service covers also other exam preparation. So everything is planned in advance to facilitate the transition. Allowing you to gain similar skills and be on the same stand as other international students. 

And tell you something, now I got used at writing long texts. I bet this blog is a proof of my new ability to organize my ideas and present them in a clear and comprehensive work.

What are your tips to 2020/2021 applicants?

My tips are the following :

Follow BLINDLY the Chevening application calendar: It's so realist and matches most of your other applications or tests such as the IELTS test and university unconditional offers.

Be concise and relevant:  when replying to the essays, try not to use long introductions because you've only 500 words. So try to follow the bellow example of one paragraph:

First sentence should contain one idea. Give an example then explain it further with illustrations.

Thus when you reply to the first question, for instance about leadership, you main have 3 main ideas written in 3 paragraphs.

You will have also questions about building network, your major and your objectives.

IELTS: don't wait till last minute to do the IELTS test. Try to do it in advance so you secure your score and then your place at your chosen university.

If you are shortlist for the interview: please review again your essays. This will help you to better reply. Again, your answers should be brief and to the point. I think you should use the STAR interview technique. It's helped me to be more confident and relevant.  Most importantly, an interview is set to just meet the person and see how s/he reacts and/ or reflects to things. So relax and be positive :)

The best tip I may give is to show how what you will learn will help you when back to our lovely country, Algeria. 

Last Word J

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to chat with the UK Embassy on their Facebook page as they are, as far as I know, quite active.

You can also email me here g.zouai2@gmail.com and I'll do my best to answer all your queries.

I wish you will have the same experience as I did and experience the higher education in the UK.All the best of luck ;)

The idea of the article was born here in Social Media Camp Algeria on April 13^th ,2019

Ghizlane is one of the most inspring women in Algeria and she is one of the changmakers who works actively with youth to implement projects and initiatives J

Very honored to have her today as Guest on Salma Share

Good Luck to Applicants 2020/2021

Apply to Chevening Scholarship before the deadline  November 5th, 2019

And follow Ghizlane’s valuable advice, Start NOW