Hi. I am Debaarjun Dasgupta, an Indian postgraduate student at the University of Birmingham completing an MA in International Relations. I came from Kolkata, from St. Xavier's College (Autonomous), Kolkata, and I built a life in the UK without a roadmap. In the past year I have been selected for Chatham House's Common Futures Conversations programme and a member of the BISA PGN working group, worked as an Education Enhancement Research Associate at Birmingham's School of Psychology, founded the University's Graphic Design Society, written for Redbrick, consulted for the University on institutional innovation, and presented papers at Oxford University, Northumbria University, University of Warwick, and 10 other universities, all while maintaining a First Class score on my course. None of that happened because I had connections or came from money. It happened because I learned quickly how UK academia works, what institutions are looking for, how to write applications that get read, and how to position myself in environments where I had no obvious right to be. That is what I want to share. Whether you are figuring out UK postgraduate applications, trying to get into competitive programmes and fellowships, working on a personal statement that sounds like you rather than like a template, or just trying to understand what life as an Indian student in the UK actually looks like on the ground, there is a chance that I have been there recently enough to be genuinely useful. It is hard, to be fair, and it seems almost impossible to make sense of your life when you are dreaming of going to a different country for your higher studies. I am here to help. Drop in for a chat!