I attended the University of Nottingham summer school as an unconfident, clueless 16-year old in 2012. The experience changed the course of my life. After being given the opportunity to attend the summer school, I developed an understanding of where and why I should go to university.
I was the first person from my family to attend university. My parents were equally as clueless as I was, and most of what I knew about university was from television. All my teachers told me I should go, but I didn’t know why.
Widening participation is a now a cause I strongly believe in. At Nottingham, I worked on the Summer School for three years. When I graduated, I won an award for ‘outstanding contribution to widening participation’ which I was happier about than my first-class degree!
The Sutton trust is an incredible organisation and I wish for it to continue its work for years to come. Without the organisation and others, students from backgrounds like me would be left behind in an educational system that disadvantages the working-class.