What I Wished I Knew Before.....

I suspect this is something I will be adding to as time passes but for now its August 2010 and the new UMDers are in their respective countries counting down the weeks to arrival next month and the beginning of a memorable and exciting year. That you will enjoy yourself is almost a given, that you will maximise the learning experience is another thing. That will take investment of time and effort both inside and outside the lecture room and is entirely in your hands.

I stand corrected but I don't think any graduating class has ever had more than 10% graduating with distinctions. Last year we had exactly 10%. Now with a few weeks to go I think you should have what I call a flying start. I would recommend getting the brain in gear for the kind of thinking and the subject area that will demand your constant attention for the 12 months after arrival.

How would I have done that?

Well a little reading is for sure. Let me warn you, this course like any masters requires a humungous amount of reading so it seems almost wrong to suggest you even begin before getting here but it will only help. Despite the clear emphasis on Development in the programme title I had absolutely no exposure to reading on development issues prior to the course. I was trained as an architect and many if not most of the others are trained as planners but development was another issue. All concepts, all presentations, all papers, all lectures encircle the goal of development and although this is targeted at urban spaces, a strong understanding of development is at the core.

I would suggest heading to google books at http://books.google.com/ and plugging in the word development or development theory and find a couple good ones to read. I would recommend one I read after I had graduated but that I found had helped to cement so much into a cohesive whole. Of course, I found it more meaningful to read after the programme but am sure there would have been much value had it been before. That was Development and the Developing World by Uma S. Kambhampati. which answered question like .....What is development? The Difference between growth and development. Does industrialization lead to growth and development or does fast growth cause industrialization? etc.

Above all, go with where your interest lies, follow your bliss as they say and enjoy it. I absolutely loved the learning process at IHS and found that it can even become addictive as the more you learn its the more you realise how much you know and how little you really know. :0)