Pandit Mete

Tell us about your degree - why did you choose it? 

After I completed my undergraduate degree in Agriculture, I'd built a strong understanding of the technical side of the sector. From my professional experience, I saw that agriculture is a business that demands effective management, strategic decision-making, and entrepreneurial thinking. 

When I explored postgraduate options, I was looking for a course that offered a complete view of business rather than a single function like marketing, sales, or operations. The MSc Management programme at Leeds covered every key area of business while giving me the flexibility to dive into subjects that fascinated me, such as Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management.  

What did you enjoy the most about your course? 

The course was highly interactive, with business simulations that mirrored real commercial challenges which helped me develop my skills. I also enjoyed working in multicultural teams with people from different countries, age groups, and professional backgrounds. Learning to collaborate, communicate, and adapt across those differences was just as beneficial as the modules themselves. 

What did you enjoy most about your life as a student at the University of Leeds? 

The student life at Leeds, it was a range of opportunities beyond academics. My MSc was intellectually demanding, but some of my most valuable experiences came from throwing myself into the wider community. 

I took part in the Sustainability Challenge, the Global Industry Project, and the Map the System learning programme. I also served as Faculty Officer for Business School postgraduate students and as a Network Lead within the Student Liberation Committee.  

How did you find adjusting to living and studying in the UK? 

Adjusting to life and study in the UK was surprisingly smooth, because Leeds quickly felt like a second home. One of the things I love most about the city is that it offers the best of both worlds you're never far from a lively city centre, yet beautiful countryside and green spaces are always within reach. 

The University supported international students brilliantly from day one. The airport pickup service was a small thing that made a huge difference, having someone there made settling in so much easier. My advice to new students is to make the most of everything on offer. There's so much happening that you couldn't possibly experience it all in a single year honestly, I wish I'd explored even more, even sooner.  

What professional skills and experience did you gain? 

The MSc Management taught me to think in frameworks, to take a messy, real-world problem and break it down into strategy, operations, data and stakeholders. I learned to build a business case, defend it with evidence, and communicate it to people who don't share my assumptions. 

Some of my most valuable learning happened outside the lecture theatre. As Faculty Officer for the Business School, I represented the academic interests of over 6,000 students, gathering insight from 5 school reps and 22 course reps and carrying it directly to senior University decision-makers. That role sharpened three things at once: how to build consensus quickly, how to speak with confidence in rooms full of senior people, and how to turn scattered feedback into a clear, actionable case for change. Leading the Liberation Committee Network alongside it taught me to build community from scratch, run campaigns, and advocate for people whose voices are easy to overlook. 

The support around me made a real difference. I received tailored training in advocacy, campaigning and leadership through Leeds University Union, and mentoring that helped me grow from someone with good instincts into someone who could deliver change that lasts. 

How did your time at Leeds prepare you for the future? 

Leeds prepared me less by handing me answers and more by putting me in situations where I had to find them. Balancing a demanding master's degree with student representation, campaign work and part-time university roles forced me to become genuinely good at prioritising, managing my time, and staying calm when several things needed me at once exactly the environment I want to work in as a consultant. 

It also stretched my sense of what I was capable of. Coming from a different country and a different sector, I could easily have stayed in my comfort zone. Instead, Leeds gave me the platform and the confidence to stand in front of senior leaders, challenge how things were done, and be taken seriously. I learned that my perspective as an international, working-class student wasn't something to downplay- it was an asset that helped me connect with people others struggled to reach. 

How has your career progressed since leaving the Business School? 

Since completing my MSc, I've built my career within the University of Leeds itself, which has let me apply what I studied in a professional setting. I started as a Student Information Service Advisor and progressed into the PGR Admissions team, where I now support applicants across two major faculties that handle around half of the University's postgraduate research admissions from initial enquiry through to registration, including scholarship processes. 

Being trusted to represent thousands of students as Faculty Officer, and seeing feedback I gathered influence University conversations, showed me that advocacy can create real change. Interviewing final-year students for the High Fliers survey (which feeds into The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers guide) was another proud moment.  

What are your ambitions for the future? 

My ambition is to become an agricultural researcher and help solve the wider problems facing agriculture food security, climate pressure, and the gap between the people who grow our food and the systems that are meant to support them.  

I want to deepen my expertise where agriculture meets data, strategy and human behaviour, and contribute to research that doesn't just sit in a journal but reaches the farm field.  I'd love to help bridge the world's best rigorous research and real-world implementation so that innovation reaches the smallholder farmers who need it most, in ways that are sustainable as well as productive. 

What was your biggest highlight of studying at Leeds? 

It wasn't a single event but a realisation that I understood that my voice actually mattered in rooms I never expected to be in. Coming to Leeds from a small city in Maharashtra, with an agriculture background and English as a second language, I quietly wondered whether I'd be able to keep up, let alone stand out.  

I remember the first meeting where I spoke up in front of senior staff, nervous and certain my accent gave me away, and I watched them genuinely listen and act on what I'd said. That was the moment my confidence shifted permanently. I stopped seeing my background as something to apologise for and started seeing it as the reason I could connect with students. 

Would you recommend Leeds University Business School? 

Yes! Leeds gave me more than a degree, it gave me confidence and a sense of what I'm capable of. For an international student like me, it became a place I could truly call home.