 Media studies is actually interdisciplinary, meaning that one gets to dabble in a variety of disciplines, whether it be politics and looking at the instrumental role the media has played in nation building, or narrative surrounding nationalism, or be it the study of religions and seeing how religious movements worldwide have appropriated digital technologies for their own means. So when it comes to the question of what is media studies, I would say it's an all-arounder degree. Media studies understand the role of the media and its relation with power and with society. They allow you to understand culture and power as they recognize that it's a fundamentally political process. My main area of interest actually lies within the Middle Eastern region. So far within my degree, I've been able to unpack the way muted voices within the Middle East, i.e. those marginal minorities within Middle Eastern societies, have been able to utilize digital technologies as a means of their own self-representation, thus being able to bring to the forefront, bring forward the discussion table issues that particularly pertain to them. So I decided to study SOAS for its non-western-centric approach and for its critical understanding of media, of culture and the main challenges we're facing. Why did I choose to study out SOAS? I guess in my case the question would be why did I continue studying out SOAS? I had completed my bachelor's degree in the study of religions last summer and I chose to stick around because of SOAS's diversity, both in and outside of my studies. SOAS has given me the tools to continue my studies in a doctoral level and to eventually come back to my country and to contribute with what I consider to be top-class education. Scholarship at SOAS goes beyond that of just the west. Scholarship at SOAS appreciates the voices of academics from the global south and then if we go outside of the classroom, SOAS's student body draws from every corner of the earth. So I've been enriched with different voices, different perspectives, different approaches to doing things. That's why I chose to study out SOAS.