About

Starting a blog was one of my expectation since I was an undergraduate at the University of Moratuwa. I used to write in my personal diary occasionally since after my secondary education and I have a fondness for writing. The first step I have taken to start this blog was that I need to share my experience over 2 years to support for undergraduates/ fresh graduates who have the desire to pursue some opportunities for postgraduate studies as me. I certainly know that for me it was a long process with lots of efforts and great support from various people. However, it may not be the same situation for everyone and some students can lose their hope when things do not work in a positive way. Their unsuccessful attempts can lead to frustration and even for giving up their dreams of higher studies. Additionally, it was also not that same that everyone has a supportive community during this process of obtaining an opportunity. Since I was working at the university at that time, many lecturers, my friends, and my seniors were very helpful and their guidance and encouragement were always advantageous. But, it is true that some students can have many struggles due to the lack of knowledge, confusions about the process and less support from the experienced people. 

As in my experience, I always had doubts about what was the step I should take first and what was the appropriate order of steps I should follow. In fact, getting a higher study opportunity always depends critically on the time factor. If you miss your one of step at the correct time, then you may have to wait for the next intake or next year. Thus, it is definitely important to have the proper understanding on the process of pursuing postgraduate studies and if you do the things at the correct time, then the result is that you can finish your studies early.  

When it comes to the process of getting a higher study opportunity, we usually get the first idea from our seniors or lecturers during our bachelors. However, the actual process consists of several crucial steps which vary according to the country and university. Therefore, you should have a good understanding of the process in advance. In my case, I had to do lots of self-studies and I was not able to find a blog/ website with the complete process by some experienced persons. So it was challenging, but certainly possible. However, I thought to start this blog with my experiences then this may release some of the burdens of beginners. Thus, my ultimate objective is to share my experience during the past 2 years (January 2019- December 2020) which will guide students for achieving their dreams of higher studies. In fact, the process I mentioned is mainly covered for postgraduate research degrees with financial assistance (scholarships/ stipends).

There are total of 12 articles on the "Home" page which includes all the necessary steps to be taken during the process. For each step, you can read the respective article and there are such 11 steps. Before going to the articles regarding each step, please go through the featured post “Step by Step Approach to Higher Studies” in the Home page for a better understanding. “Story of My Dream” page includes the reason behind my preference and passion for higher studies. It states out how my dream has taken me so far and how it is linked with postgraduate studies. “Turning Point” page contains the reason behind my preference and passion for my research area - Food Processing and Food Engineering. It reveals how I selected the area for my major in bachelors as well as the research area for postgraduate studies.

Comments are always welcome and constructive criticism is always appreciable. If anyone is willing to add something into my post or correct something in my post with your own experiences, please let me know. If you have any sort of confusions/matters, please comment, I will add my answers to the posts if it is a new addition to my posts or otherwise I will give the answer as a comment. I may not be an expert, but I am always willing to help youngers who expect to achieve higher study opportunities as me. 

All the supportive attachments in my drive (links are given at the bottom of articles) can be used for your further reference. Please noted that I cannot share my personal documents (Ex: Transcript, test results certificates, etc.), and prepared documents (Ex:  first email, SOP, research proposal, etc.) even you request. It is because that you should make your own documents by yourself which should be unique to yourself. For that, I believe that my blog will provide you with a good guide.

I wish you all the success of achieving your dreams and goals of higher studies! 

I hope that my blog will be a supportive platform for you during that process.