Sawtry Village Academy

I attended Sawtry sixth form from 2017 till 2019 choosing; History, Business and Psychology as my A Level subjects. Having realised that Business is an amazing facilitating subject, I chose the route of proceeding onwards with my education at Nottingham Trent University to study Business Management and Marketing. I have thus far successfully passed my first year earning a 2.1 overall and am onto my second year of studies having also decided that I’d like to change my current ‘full time’ 3 year course to a 4 year ‘sandwich’ course which enables me to put my education into practice during my placement year.

I was originally going to study Veterinary Nursing at Edinburgh Napier University, but changed to study Applied Microbiology. I am now in my 2nd year of my 4-year course in Applied Microbiology and enjoying university life. I finished my first year with a 1st and a letter from the head of Applied Sciences congratulating me on the grades I had achieved. I have also become more confident through my learning and with the help of a great group of friends that I have made while being at university. I am continuing to work hard and excited to continue my studies and ultimately gain my BSc.

After seven years, I left Sawtry Village Academy in 2016 with four A-Levels in Maths, Chemistry, Physics, and Product Design. Thanks to the support from the Sixth-Form team I was able to secure an offer at Aston University and am currently in my second year working towards my degree in Chemical Engineering. I always wanted a career that would help me to make a positive change to the world and gaining my degree in Chemical Engineering is my first step towards achieving this goal.

Aston has been an amazing experience so far and I have been able to work in laboratories with high tech equipment and take part in design projects such as designing and prototyping a cooling system rig for a reactor. At university you are not only taught lots of theory but are also given amazing opportunities to see the real-life application. In our first year we were given a tour of the on-campus power plant and it gave me real insight about the industry and what I could eventually go on to do.

Next year I hope to be on an industrial placement which will allow me to gain hands on experience in range of possible industries from Pharmaceuticals to Sustainable Energy Sourcing and will be able to work with companies like Eon or BMW. Whilst being part of a male dominated area has been challenging I have enjoyed every second of it and look forward to the challenges ahead.