Bethan Harrison

• Year of graduation: 2021
• Current job title: Studying for PhD at UON

I chose to study at the University of Northampton after attempting a Sociology and Criminology course at another university. I decided to switch to Education Studies at UON due to the open opportunities provided by the course – at 18 years old, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do or who I wanted to be. Every other course I looked at had just one job role at the end, but this course gave me so many opportunities and allowed me to find my own path.

During my course, we were offered numerous different study trips to America, to history museums and prison units, to understand the different aspects and elements of cultures, transitions, and education. I really enjoyed the diversity of these trips and how useful they were to my assignments, and as a visual learner, they really allowed me to see my thoughts come to life.

Alongside my studies, I was the Course Advocate for Education Studies – I really enjoyed being an open minded individual and helping others on the course. I attempted to form a UON Education Society, but this was unfortunately impacted by Covid-19. My additional extra-curricular activities included fundraising for a local hospital children’s ward during the pandemic. These roles of helping others and having an impact allowed me to see myself in a different light.

I forged professional relationships with the course lecturers, who were incredible. This enabled me to see more into myself then I thought I could. When you leave school, it’s all about meetings with other people to decide to go either to work or to university. Looking back, I really wasn’t sure, but I followed the path all my friends did. Little did I know, it would be the best decision of my life to study at the University of Northampton.

The course itself taught me a lot in practice, and the lecturers taught me a lot about the educational world, but I taught myself too. Looking back, it gave me many skills to help me in my career and I’m now still a student at the University, working towards my PhD. With the full confidence of my past lecturers, I’ve finally found the path I want to go down.

My end goal is to become a university lecturer, hopefully one day at UON. I’ve already completed my master’s and am now one year into my PhD. In the future, I’d like to be able to help my previous lecturers and teach at universities, which I already have plans for, thanks to the Education Studies course lecturers.

The skill I gained during my degree that’s most useful to me now is the ability to be organised. With assignment deadlines from different modules, I’ve found this to be key. I developed technical skills, which are valuable to me now, with the different systems and services used by other professionals. My studies also gave me the motivation to obtain a first class degree, to write, and to be the best I can be.

The advice I’d give to undergraduates interested in this career path would be to take every opportunity you can, and never look back or say ‘what if’, as every opportunity leads you to more knowledge and new opportunities!

For me, the course was life changing, overwhelming, and rewarding – UON gave me faith in myself.