Alumnus Update: Kirtivardhan Singh
The graduating classes of 2020 experienced an strange and unimaginable end of their academic courses.
Kirtivardhan Singh, a 2019 scholar, recounts his experiences graduating online and the year he spent at the London School of Economics.
On a glorious summer morning in London, I completed coursework for my MSc Economics degree at London School of Economics with an immense sense of pride and achievement but also a hint of nostalgia. However, things were not even close to conventional for the students of my batch. The pandemic forced our university and many others to suddenly shift to remote learning and online exams for the last few months of our program. Never had I imagined that I will finish my degree wearing my pyjamas, sitting in the comfort of my bed and clicking submit over an online exam portal.
However, the last year of my life has been nothing short of magical. In the last year I have transformed from an ambitious student with big goals to a capable individual who is skilled enough to make a contribution to society. Studying at LSE was my lifelong dream and the Inlaks scholarship helped me not just realize my dream but also make the most out of it in very challenging circumstances. I would like to thank the Inlaks Foundation for giving me this opportunity. In the past year, I have learned from some of the world’s leading economists and I have grown immensely not just in terms of learning economic theory but also understanding economics in practice. Whilst at LSE, I have come across leaps and bounds in terms of conceptual understanding of the subject.
However, the biggest gain that I have realized from studying at LSE is becoming a better researcher as the school exposed me to an immaculate level of sophistication when it comes to understanding and implementing economic concepts in impactful research questions. I felt a great transition from the start of the year when I was an absolute amateur with almost zero experience to the end of the year when I turned in my Master’s thesis. Post my degree, I am now working at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) as a Research Associate (RA). I am working on a variety of empirical as well as game-theoretic projects related to the economics of gender. As I move forwards, I plan to pursue a PhD in Economics aim to pursue a career in academia. My MSc degree at LSE is the foundation of my PhD dream and the base of all my future work.
Whilst at LSE, I have met some wonderful people and made many friends from different parts of the world. Staying at a student hall was a multicultural exposure, with the diversity of people evident from the food being cooked in the kitchens. I have also become a highly aware individual as I have gained knowledge of various issues globally and come across different perspectives that have opened up my thinking. I was also extremely lucky to have got a chance to pursue my passion for the sport of tennis at university. Having participated in the BUCS tennis league, I won two matches for LSE and those were some of the most enjoyable moments for me as a huge sports enthusiast. Unpredictable and challenging but still the best year of my life (yet) is how I choose to describe my time at LSE.
