Hey everyone and Welcome to my not so Cypriot blog. My name is Lito and I am currently studying MSc Human Resource Management. I chose HR for one reason… I love to meet new people and aspire to help others. Originally coming from a small beautiful island called Cyprus, moving to the UK was a big change at the beginning. Nevertheless, four years gone and here I am! Having graduated last July with a BSc Business Management with HRM from Surrey Business School, I couldn’t bring myself to say goodbye just yet! Today I am proud to say that I consider Surrey as my second home and so happy choosing to stay for another year.

Being at Surrey isn’t all about studying! Of course we all want to enjoy our time here too but like  I said I love to meet new people. Surrey has so many societies and the Hellenic/Cypriot Society was the first I joined when I arrived. It made my time here feel like home and helped me adapt to life in another country. My passion for this led to become Vice President of the Society because I too wanted to help new students settle into life easily. As a society, we organise Greek Nights, gatherings and bbq’s every few weeks to bring everyone together. A highlight of being a VP is the Freshers Fair which is one of the biggest events we host with all of our societies involved. Over the years I met a lot of people from different cultures and this experience broadened my horizons. Most importantly I made friends for life (Love my girls Elina and Antonia, miss you xo)!!

This year I gladly became a student Ambassador which was one of my goals after my undergrad degree and this was a bit more challenging than expected since I had to pass an Assessment Centre. Since I am a people’s person and enjoy speaking about my experience as a student as well as lead campus tours for prospective students. I strongly encourage students to become Ambassadors or Student Helpers for Applicant or Open Days.

Sometimes people ask why did I stay here for my postgrad too? Why did I not go somewhere else? I think of the first time I ever visited Surrey Uni and remembered years ago why I chose this place. The lake, the nature, the trees and the beautiful campus made me feel like I was at home. It wasn’t like London, loud and noisy with so many people. Surrey was peaceful, safe and I knew it was the place for me from day one. That’s why I chose to stay.. it’s my home away from home!

Since coming to Surrey I am glad I made this choice! It’s a friendly atmosphere, the lecturers are engaging and there are various employment opportunities when you attain a degree from Surrey because everyone knows about the business school reputation, even in Cyprus. Surprisingly, back in September I found out that my undergrad degree is ranked 2nd in the UK for HRM which is very reassuring and made me happy to stay and continue my studies here.

This first blog post was to inform you a little bit about myself and I will talk more about my experiences in my next blogs. You can also find me on instagram as: its_litoxo.

Yours truly,

Lito Rose