Bethany took part in our Summer School programme, before participating in the Opportunity Bursary programme whilst at university. Having now graduated, she is now working in a communications role. We spoke to hear about her reflections of the programme – which was the first time she visited a city outside of Scotland, and heard about what she’s doing now.

Can you tell us a bit about your background and what led you to apply for the Sutton Trust programme?

“I’m from a town called Tillicoultry in Scotland which is a pretty small town surrounded by hills and more small towns. I’m the first in my family to attend university and, although my High School was very encouraging of people going to university, the process of applying and going to university was pretty daunting.”

What do you remember about your time on the Sutton Trust programme?

“I attended an English Literature Summer School at UCL and it was the first time I had travelled outside of Scotland and the first time I had spent so much time in a city! There are summer schools in a few of the Scottish universities but I remember them not having the right kind of course for me and I decided if I was going to attend I wanted to push myself. I think knowing that I was capable of going somewhere and meeting new people entirely on my own was the highlight, I surprised myself with how confident I felt after the experience.

I also received the Sutton Trust Opportunity Bursary in my final year of University. The bursary is to encourage the development of skills outside of your degree and for me this meant getting more time to focus on volunteering with my student union. I got the bursary to supplement the income I was getting from my job so I could reduce my hours and focus more the work I had been doing with running a society. The extra time I got to spend on growing the society and organising events really highlighted for me what I had been missing throughout my degree and actually impacted the jobs I started looking for after university!”

What skills did you gain taking part in the programme?

“The biggest thing for me was confidence! I never would have been comfortable putting myself out there at university without my time at Summer School. It pushed me outside of my comfort zone and gave me some reassurance that the work at university would be interesting and not outside of my skills.”

What are you doing now and what are your plans for the future?

“I graduated last year with joint Honours in Journalism, Media and Communications and English and Creative writing from the University of Strathclyde. I’m now working as a Communication and Marketing Assistant, which is slightly outside of what I thought I’d be doing when I went to university. However, my time volunteering and working on building the brand and social media following for societies really pushed me to explore the communications and marketing as potential career paths.

I’m hoping to continue building my skills in this area, with a focus on communications and PR, and continuing working in this field.”

What would you tell someone thinking of applying to a Sutton Trust programme?

“I’d definitely encourage anyone who’s thinking about applying to do it! There’s so much to gain from attending a Sutton trust programme including more opportunities once you’re an alumni. If I hadn’t attended the Summer School I wouldn’t have been able to apply to the bursary which greatly impacted my time at university.

Attending one of the programmes is a great way to see if a subject or career is right for you and you get the opportunity to make long-term connections with people who come from a range of backgrounds.”
Any final reflections on how the programme influenced you?

“For me attending the Sutton trust programme directly impacted the path I’m now taking. Studying English at the Summer School showed me that I found it interesting but might want to consider another subject as well and then the bursary helped me gain skills and experience which I feel had a positive impact on helping me secure employment after university.”

Want to inspire students with your story? Get in touch with us at [email protected] – we’d love to hear from you.

Browse our library of alumni stories and continue to be inspired!