I was about 12 years of age when I announced to my mum and dad that one day I was going to go to university…
They told me that we would have to wait and see what the future was to bring, but I insisted. Admittedly, the main reason that I wanted to go packing my bags already and head off to the world of being a student was because I had just started reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
What 12-year-old wouldn’t want to go off to an education where there were no parents to tell you when to go to bed or tell you that you couldn’t eat an ear wax flavoured jelly bean!
Now, looking back at this event in my life I can see that at 12 years of age (without even having realised) I had already decided my future.
Some people take months or even years to decide what they want to do at the university as they know it will take them into their future career, my 12-year-old self had decided right back when I read the first line of a series of books that changed my life completely.
Potter took my mind to a whole new world, out of my everyday life of homework and house chores to magic and new friends.
It made me realise that literature was something that just came to me naturally, I could read well and understood what was written between the lines.
So when it came to choosing what I wanted to do, there was no doubt about it. I wanted to be able to dive into a new world with every class. I choose to do English Literature.
The hard decision was where did I want to take this course.
- Did I want to stay close to my mum and dad or have more independence?
- Did I want to live in a city or a more rural setup?
- Did I want to take a risk and go for something with grades I would never reach or play it safe?
With every open day that I attended I still left the universities with these questions unanswered, but then I arrived in a city famous for its sauce and through a gate that was named ‘Malvern’.
Worcester was a city with plenty of beautiful history instilled in its buildings, an empowering cathedral, shops to keep you busy for a day and trains that take you straight into the heart of Birmingham. Two question answered – a city life was for me, with plenty of independence to keep me going through 3 years (maybe more).
With just one more question to be answered all it took was to talk to a student ambassador to find out that if I worked hard then I could feel comfortable getting in with great grades that I wouldn’t have to worry myself to death about. I was sold.
The friendliness of everyone on campus was just a bonus, I knew I was going to feel at home.
Worcester would be my Hogwarts…
Now looking back, I feel happy with my choice. I’ve made some friends for life, created memories that will last forever, taken in opportunities that I would never have experienced any other way and set up home in Worcester now for the foreseeable future.
It’s made me realise that sometimes some little words and encouragement from someone you don’t know, will not only take you 223 pages to get through, but take you on a whole new adventure of your own…
Worcester Student Life 