By Janelle Benedict, MSc Digital Marketing student

I knew coming from a city-based university in the Midlands to a campus-based university in the South-East would be different; but I was pleasantly surprised to find it was different in all the best ways. You can go from shopping in a Korean food shop to getting a haircut all within a few metres. Although it may sound as if everything is situated in one place, the university, particularly the Whiteknights campus, is huge – it even has its own lake! The campus provides an open yet convenient sense of community that every masters student is looking for. After completing nearly half of my undergraduate degree in my bedroom due to the pandemic, I knew I wanted to experience my Masters in a new place. I had a few options before I made my decision of where to study, but it was Henley that really stood out to me.

One thing that really stuck out to me when reading the prospectus for my course was the emphasised importance that Henley place on career preparation and progression. As a masters student, I’ll be entering the world of work soon which doesn’t give me a lot of time to gain extra experience to impress future employers. Henley Careers understand that and have so much in place to help you with your future career. The careers team supports you with CV and interview help appointments; holding networking events and industry expert panels and even advertise part-time employment.

Another big factor for me was the focus on practicality. Although theory-based lectures are very useful, being able to put these theories into practice is the ultimate learning opportunity. We are often taught and assessed using practical case studies and we even have a marketing challenge trip where we work alongside a real business to help solve a problem. This forward-thinking approach makes my masters course not only enjoyable, but useful – something that makes Henley stand out above other universities and business schools.

You couldn’t talk about Henley without mentioning the diversity of the student and staff-body. The majority of my classmates and professors are from countries all around the world – we get stories from oil companies in India and examples from restaurants in Cyprus. It makes studying marketing so much more interesting, and our work and outlook is better for it.

It’s also important to mention how nice Reading is as a place to live. No matter how nice a university is, the place it is situated is very important. Although Reading is not a city, it is the largest town in the UK meaning there is still a cosy sense of community you get when living in a large town. Whether you want to trawl round The English Museum of Rural Life; grab some brunch and milkshakes with friends at Café Yolk (my personal favourite!); or figure your way out of one of many escape rooms, Reading has it all.

I have not studied at Henley long, but in the time I have been here, I have had nothing but fun and positive experiences. My course is challenging, but interesting and the town is a lovely place to live. The student life is typical, but exciting nonetheless and I cannot wait for the rest of the year studying at Henley Business School.