#MotivationMonday ：Two years later--- Ariel reflects to her NTU journey
/「如果用一個形容詞總結整個在英國的經驗，你會說什麼？」
「Pleasant吧。」她回答。
2016年入學中山大學力資源管理全英語碩士 (GHRM MBA) 的王婕 (Ariel) 在班上就像獨角獸一樣，獨特、有氣質但同時又集想法與趣味於一身。在西子灣度過第一年的時光以後，Ariel前往法國里昂高等商學院(EMLYON Business School)交換，但旅程沒有到這裡就結束，在歐洲開始思考未來的她知道GHRM MBA與Nottingham Trent University合作推出雙聯學位，意識到這或許不只是學生生涯的轉捩點，也可能給自己看到未來的機會，於是決定提出申請，並順利地在2018年一月去到英國諾丁漢。
說到在英國求學，或許每個人對這樣的經驗有著不同的想像，Ariel在諾丁漢看到英國身為移民大國多元的一面，「不只是學生，連工作人員與教師都可能來自不同的國家與文化背景」，於是，在學習的過程中能夠理解國際化的觀點，在生活上更是浸淫在各式文化之中。
Nottingham Trent University所設計的課程中，幾乎都會碰到團體作業，但同時也透過個人的書面報告挑戰學生們對於團體報告的反思能力；每個課程都會從理論出發並且帶向實務經驗，用workshop的方式激盪學生與學生間、學生與老師間的想法，這樣的方式也帶到作業上，例如情境式討論與實作；「對我來說，International Expreiernce的作業是我以前想都沒想過的挑戰。」Ariel表示，當時學校安排到義大利移地教學，要以小組形式與當地公司開會，嘗試以顧問的角色在兩週之間提出解決辦法，就像遊走在理論與實務之間，更具挑戰性的是當時的公司指定專案需要金融背景，透過特定監管報告做市場建議，因為從來沒有接觸過金融業，更沒有想過要以顧問的角色親自做，「沒想到我走著爬著也活下來了。」Ariel笑說。
經過了兩年，回想起那段在英國的時間，縱然在過程中心境沒有太大的不同，但挑戰是一個接著一個來。「我認為在英國求學最大的挑戰是成為思考者 (to be a thinker)，我的專業背景是翻譯，也就是用不同的語言重複別人的話，是比較技術性的挑戰，但在英國，我必須像思想家一樣，從無到有解釋自己的看法與邏輯。」帶著這樣的經驗回到台灣，她一改過去浪漫主義的行事風格，用務實思考者的角度看待回台灣後的生活與挑戰，她也在2019年初春從GHRM MBA畢業。
當然，甫回到台灣與畢業後的現在相較起來是人生中進入不同階段的重大轉變，Ariel確立了自己的志向、配合志向做了接下來十年的人生規劃，她更覺得要夠努力才能追上自己的野心，多方面的補充各式技能 (Computer language等) ；她回顧求學過程後說：「認真想想，我現在的樣子、我的思想都跟去英國的時候不同，有種不知不覺更成熟的感覺。」她認為人從自身的角度與狀態出發看待事物、甚至看待自己固然正常，但跳脫固有的濾鏡，以別人的角度看自己，可以更實際且有效率的洞察事物，「走過論文的辛苦、求職的掙扎，就是如此的心態轉變幫了我。」她說。
「如果用一個形容詞總結整個在英國的經驗，你會說什麼？」
「用一個詞來形容太難了！但我會說這是個 Awakening personal development journey。」
最後，問到未來，她說：「Ask me again in ten years！」
“If you were to conclude your experience in the UK with one word, what would it be?”
“I'd say… pleasant.” She said.
Ariel Wang joined GHRM MBA in fall 2016. She is the unicorn in her class--- unique, graceful and the combination of thoughtfulness and lifelines. After spending her first year next to Siziwan, she left for EMLYON Business School in France for an exchange semester. However, her journey didn’t stop there, she started thinking about her future whilst staying in France and saw the opportunities lying behind GHRM MBA’s dual degree program with Nottingham Trent University and realized that this can be a turning point for her future. She then submitted her application and successfully arrived in Nottingham, United Kingdom in January 2018.
Speaking of studying in the UK, perhaps everyone can have different impressions. Ariel instantly saw the diversity in a migration state such as the UK. “It is not only the students, but the faculties can be from different countries.” Hence, she absorbed visions and opinions from an internationalized perspective and was immersed in diverse cultures in her daily life.
In the courses (modules) designed by Nottingham Trent University, one will most definitely be working in groups and at the same time, reflect to their group assignments by working individually on their physical reports. Starting from the theoretical backgrounds, the courses would be led to the practical aspects with workshops designed to stimulate critical thinking among students, and between students and course instructors. The school dedicated itself to bring students into actual business settings and to Ariel, the “International Experience” module was the ultimate challenge. “I didn’t think I would ever face such a challenge.” Ariel and her group were assigned with a consultancy case that required financial background knowledge to monitor markets; due to lack of experience in the finance industry, she never thought she would have to get her hands on the field as a consultant. “Never thought I could survive.” She smiled.
After two years, as Ariel reminded herself the experience in the UK, although her state of mind did not change significantly, challenges arrived one after another. “I would consider becoming a thinker the biggest challenge to study in the UK. My professional background is translation and interpretation, which is basically repeating others in different languages and is more of a technical challenge; but in the UK, I had to be like a thinker, explaining my own opinions and logics from scratch.” With this experience, she came back to Taiwan with a different way of thinking, transformed from a hopeless romantic to a practitioner in life. Ariel also graduated from GHRM MBA in spring 2019.
Needless to say, she entered an entirely new stage in life comparing her life when she just came back to Taiwan and after graduating. Ariel found her ambition and planned her career accordingly for the next ten years. She considers hard-work essential to comply with her ambition, she started consuming knowledges in various fields such as computer languages. She looked back on her student life and said: “Now that I think about it, how I am as a person and my thoughts are all different from when I first arrived in the UK. It in a way feels that I have matured.” She thinks that it is perfectly normal for people to think subjectively towards things and towards themselves. However, taking off the lens and examining ourselves from others’ perspective can help us observe more effectively and more efficiently. “Walking through hard times of my thesis and the struggles of job-search, it was this mindset that helped me.” Said Ariel.
“If you were to conclude your experience in the UK with one word, what would it be?”
“Describing it with one word is impossible! But I would say it was an awakening personal development journey!”
Finally, when asked about the future, she said:” Ask me again in ten years!”
