Ed is a fourth-year biology student from Warwickshire.  

Integrated masters course 

I am enrolled in an integrated master’s course. This means I went straight into a postgraduate master’s year of study after my third year. This was a very smooth process and meant I did not have to reapply to Leeds or any other universities for a master’s course.  

I am aspiring to start a PhD within the next few years and hopefully continue in academia as a researcher or lecturer in biology or biomedical sciences. Clearly, I am far too attached to university life! 

Experience and learning as a Student Ambassador 

This year I have supported two Go Higher West Yorkshire (GHWY) events; one in January with Titus Salt School and an Attainment Raising event in April. Both these events were highly rewarding, but also challenging and tested my ability to get young people engaged with Higher Education (HE).  

I wanted to get involved in these events as they focused on showcasing the opportunities and experiences that university offers to students in earlier years than most other ambassador events. This led to some great conversations with students, and a very inquisitive and excited atmosphere when showing off our campus to year 8s, 9s and 10s.   

Alongside this, I have thoroughly enjoyed living in West Yorkshire for the past four years. GHWY provides a great way to give back to the community, by stimulating the ambitions and ideas of students across West Yorkshire. 

I learnt a lot from these events, particularly in how to get young people engaged with complex and thought-provoking activities. Many students were initially shy or disconnected from our planned activities, but I found that after encouragement and positive discussions with these students, they often had great ideas and delivered very strong presentations.  

Working with GHWY has also taught me that it is never too early to learn about university. It was amazing to see how many Key Stage 3 students were already buzzing about applying for universities after our sessions.   

These events have strengthened my confidence and ability to engage with young people and talk to large audiences, which will support me in my goal to become a university academic. It has also provided additionalexperience in time management and helping organise large-scale activities, which will both be important to succeeding as a future PhD student.