When I was in primary school I always struggled in English class, particularly in spelling. My father made me learn how to spell ten new words every week and I hated it so much I would cry down the phone when he was testing me. My mother decided to test me for dyslexia, I was having extra English tuition at the time, and my tutor said that I wasn’t dyslexic, but my brain worked in an unusual way that she hadn’t seen before, and it didn’t fit into any of the obvious learning difficulty labels. Fortunately, I seemed to understand maths and worked hard to memorise all my times tables.
In secondary school I took part in extra maths challenges and achieved bronze awards. Although I never came around to enjoying English classes, my passion for science blossomed. I loved the experiments and interesting facts you learnt about the world. Having good relationships with my teachers and classmates also helped with my schooling experience. I followed the educational path of my older sister and after taking my GCSE’s I was moving to the local college. I met with their head of maths to discuss entry requirements; I remember joking with my mother that I would need mostly C’s. Yet, due to my A-level choices of Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Physics, the grades required were all A’s and above.
At this point I had no idea what I wanted to be when I was older (only the subjects I enjoyed), but my mother had strong ideas. In the meeting she mentioned that her dream was for me to be an engineer. The head of the maths department laughed and said, “I’m sure she can do better than that!”. My mother was shocked, she exclaimed, “In America it’s the engineers that took us to the moon! They’re the highest profession you can be!”. This exchange has stayed with me; many people in the UK think of engineers as trade workers and mechanics (although it seems to be shifting gradually), but for the head of maths to not be encouraging 16-year olds to pursue engineering was outrageous.
Regardless, my GCSE results reflected my hard work, and my only B was in English Literature. I got into college and continued to enjoy the subjects I chose. Although there were only about 4 in 25 female students in my physics and further maths classes I never seemed to notice, everyone got on well. When applying for university I realised that engineering seemed like a perfect path for me, yet there was a myriad of directions within it. Looking at the grade boundaries for a top university in London, I noticed that materials engineering was lower than the rest and so decided to focus on this discipline (in addition to me liking the materials modules in physics). With my top two university choices selected it was time to take my exams. I had a few mitigation reasons relating to my health and family problems. Although I narrowly missed my first choice, I was accepted into my second choice, following many phone calls and tears on results day.
Despite my disappointment on the day, I think this was one of the best things to have happened to me. I found myself making brilliant friends for life and finishing with a Master of Engineering degree!
I think the morals of this story are: to keep picking what you enjoy; stay positive even when things don’t turn out how you planned, and make the most of every opportunity you are given!