Oluwatoyin Priscilla Balogun, an MPharm student at RGU writes about securing the Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship, blended learning during COVID-19 and utilising RGU’s Support Services.

*The Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship was awarded to the recipient at a socially distanced ceremony adhering to the Scottish Government’s COVID-19 guidelines in place during that time.*

Choosing RGU

I had been living near the RGU Campus before becoming a student. As I watched students going in and out of campus for classes, I began dreaming about studying here. I often imagined myself sitting in a classroom, making friends, learning with my peers and asking questions to lecturers.

After giving it some thought, I decided that a degree at RGU would increase my confidence level. It was time to make my dream a reality. So I made an application!

Oluwatoyin Priscilla Balogun, an MPharm student at RGU

Securing the Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship

After receiving my offer letter for the four-year Master of Pharmacy degree, I received an email in April mentioning that applications for the Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship were open. The link to the application webpage was also included in the email. Immediately, I decided to apply and was determined to put in my best efforts to secure this scholarship.

The process was fairly simple – nothing complex. The information about the scholarship came at the right time for me because I was still in the process of saving up for my tuition fees. I had only one-third of the money ready at that time.

On 26th June 2020, I received an email that said “Dear Oluwatoyin, It is with great pleasure, that I am writing to inform you that you have been SUCCESSFUL in your application to receive the Vice -Chancellor’s Scholarship. Congratulations.”

I was delighted and proud and so grateful. It was such a relief for me. I could finally focus on beginning my studies at RGU rather than worrying about my tuition fees. It was also a great opportunity to meet the Vice-Chancellor in-person to receive my award.

Oluwatoyin Priscilla Balogun, an MPharm student at RGU

Blended learning during COVID-19

Blended learning is a combination of online teaching and safe on-campus lectures, if necessary. For my course, most of the classes were conducted online except for one or two on-campus laboratory activities and experiments.

Blended learning was a new experience for me and it taught me to become disciplined and organised. I enjoyed both live sessions and pre-recorded lectures. Both formats were available on CampusMoodle, so I could refer to them later.

Oluwatoyin Priscilla Balogun, an MPharm student at RGU

Live online classes were similar to on-campus classes as we had the provision to pop our questions in the chat-box and lecturers would promptly respond. We could notice that the staff were putting in a lot of effort to support us during this difficult time.

The drawback was that there was more than double the workload. In addition to that, there were distractions from mobile apps, social media, and Netflix. This was a big issue for me at one point. But I overcame these challenges with the help of motivational lectures from the Department for the Enhancement of Learning, Teaching and Access (DELTA).

University support

So far, RGU has been very supportive of students through the pandemic. Administrators, lecturers, library assistants and other staff have been so helpful.

The university has services such as Study Skills, IT Helpdesk, Counselling and more. All these were available to us through the pandemic and we could readily reach out to them if we needed any help. The RGU library also organised different drop-in sessions to answer our questions or walk us through difficult tasks. Their home delivery option was particularly useful for me. All this was of incredible help, to say the least.

Oluwatoyin Priscilla Balogun

About the Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship

This prestigious scholarship includes the full first year’s tuition fee. It is available for international students coming to study any undergraduate degree at RGU. For more information about scholarships at RGU, visit our Funding and Scholarships page.

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