Tea party with Vice-Chancellor shows gratitude to International students.
Date: 10 June 2013
With the summer vacation approaching, over 100 international students at London Metropolitan University came together for an end-of-year tea party with the Vice-Chancellor.
The ‘Tea with the V-C’ event was organised to thank students after what has been a challenging year, and to celebrate London Met’s success in winning its new International Sponsor Status.
As well as international students and their friends, notable guests included Nicola Dandridge, Chief Executive of Universities UK, and NUS International Officer, Daniel Stevens. Members of London Met’s Board of Governors also attended.
For Nigerian student Alkali Kalli, the event was a good way to recognise all that’s best about London Met, and he described how the University has provided the knowledge he needs to build a career in public health.
“I have enjoyed a very sound education at London Met,” said Alkali. “It has been a fantastic academic experience for me. I want to work as a public health practitioner, protecting people from the more common infections in Nigeria, and I am now looking forward to taking my skills back home to help people there.”
The sentiment was shared by BA Business Management student Dmitry Elizarov, who has even published magazine articles based on what he learnt at London Met.
“The best thing about studying here for me is the opportunities to focus on many different areas during the course,” said Dmitry, from Moscow. “It allowed me to go into the depths of finance and other issues that really interest me. I don’t think you find this kind of flexibility at other universities.”
As well as tucking in to some tasty summer treats, including traditional strawberry scones, the students were entertained by speeches from the Vice-Chancellor Professor Malcolm Gillies, Daniel Stevens from the NUS and Nicola Dandridge, herself a London Met alumna.
A prize draw, featuring iPad minis and tickets to London’s Shard building, brought an end to what was a successful occasion, and guests expressed their gratitude to the party’s organisers. Students took to Twitter to share their thoughts, with Ebraheem Hasher tweeting, ‘Afternoon tea with the Vice-Chancellor. A nice gesture.’
Yuki Hasegawa, from London Met’s International Office, organised the party. She said: “International students are an extremely important part of the University and contribute so much to diversifying our learning environment. We wanted to thank them for their dedication to the University and we wish them every success for the future.”
