Episode 71: Class of 2022 - Rachel, BSc Geography and Physical Geography

For this episode we speak to Rachel about big decisions, imposter syndrome, and getting energy from other people

Multi Story Edinburgh brings you voices and experiences from the University of Edinburgh community.

In this season we talk to graduates from the Class of 2022. How are things going? What did they learn? What helped and are we back to normal yet? We also ask our guests to tell us where they go when they need to get away from it all and what do they do when things get a bit too much.

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All opinions expressed are those of the individual and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Edinburgh.

Multi Story Edinburgh has been created and produced by the Alumni Relations team at the University of Edinburgh. If you are interested in telling your story, please get in touch and let's talk.

Music from freemusicarchive.org: Since When by Mise Darling and Gentle Chase by Podington Bear

Artwork: Vector created by upklyak / Freepik 

Transcript

[Theme music] 

Voiceover 00:13 

Welcome to Multi Story Edinburgh, bringing you voices and experiences from the University of Edinburgh community. 

Rachel 00:24 

I'm Rachel. I studied Geology and Physical Geography. And I just graduated in May 2022. So only a few months ago now. So right now, I am in Manchester because I moved here for my graduate scheme. I work for the social mobility, charity upReach. So we have offices across England, we create opportunities for students that come from widening participation backgrounds, to help them get into employment. And at the moment, I think we help about 3000 students, and we're trying to increase that at the moment. And when I was at university, I was one of the students that upReach helped. My role is like Programme Coordinator. And what that means is, I specifically work with Leeds and Liverpool Uni. And I have meetings with them once a month and check in with their students. So I might look at their CV, look at their cover letters, run mock interviews, we go on to campus and run skills workshops. Even this week, I ran an event at the Manchester PwC office where we had loads of different employers come in, there was a variety of different sessions going on. So it didn't matter what sector the students wanted to go into. And that was really exciting, because I also ran one of my own sessions, and one of the like, trustees of upReach sat in on it, which was quite nerve wracking, but it went really well. Yeah, so that's my job at the moment. And I've been with upReach since the start of August. So I think it's coming up to about five months now, which is really good, and so far, really enjoying it.   

Rachel 02:01 

I remember, for the first few years at uni, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I haven't had a single internship, I haven't had any professional work experience before, despite having a lot of part time jobs since I was about 16. And so I started applying for these environmental consultancy roles. And then I signed up to upReach and on the phone with my Programme Coordinator. She said “Oh, so you've gone for consultancy. Why is that?” And I was saying, “you know, I'm quite sciencey, quite good at problem solving, really interested in the environment. But I don't know what I want to do”. She said, “Are there any other sectors you're interested in?” And she read out the list of sectors that upReach help with, and one of them was charity and social impact. And I was like, “oh, that could be something that I could do”. I get to chat to loads of people, which I just love talking like, I love chatting to people. So I've always loved working in like a cafe or restaurant, so just chat away to people. But I can also do something where at the end of the day, I feel good about myself. And I feel like I've made a difference. So I started thinking about charity jobs I applied for like Unlocked, which is a grad scheme working in prisons. I applied for some government role, so that I could work on policy. And then, upReach opened up their graduate roles. And I was like, well, so here's the thing, is I applied thinking I'm not taking this job, I want to go travelling next year, I wasn't-- I wasn't gonna take any job no matter what it was. And I rang them up and I said, “I'm turning down the role, because I want to go travelling, and I think this is important for me”. And they came back and they were like,” we'll support you going travelling. If you want to take like three or four weeks off in the summer, you can go travelling, we really want you, we'll help give you sort of an advance on your wages, which will help you deposit moving to Manchester. We want you, we've gone through this full application process. We do want you for this role”. And I couldn't really say no, because I think at the time, it was my dream first job. And I thought actually, I'd be stupid to turn this down.  

Rachel 04:06 

I think at the time, it was the biggest decision that I felt like I'd ever made. But looking back, it doesn't seem like it was that big of a decision. I think whenever something good happens in my life, I always downplay it. So actually, that was a really brave thing to move to somewhere that I had never lived before, to take a job that I hadn't planned on taking and to live with, what I thought was going to be strangers. I luckily moved in with some friends that had a spare room. Actually, that was quite a big thing for me. And I don't like change. I don't like not having a routine and that did unsettle everything. But now I look back, I’m like nah, it was nothing. It was not that big of a deal. But it actually was, it was probably one of the biggest decisions I would have had to have made at the time or probably in my life. And now I think it would be easier to make big decisions again going forward, because I know that I've done it before. I had to remind myself I moved to another country, technically, to go to university. In my head, I would like to maybe give London a try in a few years. And this is kind of a baby step that I needed to take to feel more confident to do that, I could never have moved to London from home, going to uni. But then I moved to Edinburgh, and then I moved another step to Manchester. And then maybe one day something will happen, where I get-- I want to move to London, or maybe I want to move to another city. But either way, if I keep regularly doing things like this and pushing myself, then I'll feel more confident when I make those decisions. And I won't doubt myself.  

Rachel 05:36 

So at school, so secondary school, primary school, Sixth Form, I've always been academically bright, I've always done really well in like GCSEs and my A levels, I've always been really good at independent study. And then I went to university, and I struggled. I really, really struggled. And it wasn't for working hard. I really, really did work hard, or at least I think-- I think I did, I went to the library, at maybe like eight or nine in the morning, I wouldn't get home until five, have my tea and then go back to library seven or eight in the evening. I put in the shifts. But I think the step up from A level to university was really, really big. And I don't think I expected that. And I think there is a bit of a lack of support from universities. I think I mean, most people find that, I think it's just because it's very different from being at school, and sort of you're not spoon fed anymore. And you're suddenly chucked in at the deep end. And I wasn't doing very well, like, I actually failed my first year and my second year. And I'm not ashamed to say that now. But at the time, I was like, I don't understand why because I put in so much hard work. Maybe I picked the wrong subject. Like I love volcanoes, I love the environment. I love how the earth works. I'm a bit of a geek for it. But actually, I ended up having to do a Maths module, which I hadn't been told before starting university, and I really struggled with that. Or I had to do some Chemistry modules. And I've not really done that at A level. So, I did really struggle with certain aspects, particularly independent work. And also when everyone around you, just such different subjects, and you see people and other people seem to be thriving, and you're not. And no one talks about when you're doing badly, like university is one of the hardest times of most people's lives. And I think people don't talk about it enough. It's okay, if you didn't necessarily enjoy it. Like I love the friends that I made. I loved my experience. I don't regret anything. But I found it very difficult. And I'm okay with that. And I also think that a lot of people feel that way and they don't say it. The thing is, things happen in life that can bring you down, but I'm quite good at looking at things positively or learning from them. So I failed my first and second year. But I still came out with a really good degree from Edinburgh University. I really like the person that I am, I am confident, I've got really good social skills, and I love the job that I'm in. I learned from different experiences. I made friends with the wrong type of people in the first few years at uni, but then I just learned from it actually, I should have trusted my gut with those people. They weren't necessarily the nicest or the kindness. So my final year at university, I found the right people for me, I surrounded myself with positive people, kind people, welcoming people. And I realised that's how I like to be treated, so I'm going to do that to other people. And I think at uni, I really struggled. So, the people that helped me and gave me that extra support, that would take the time to go through how they solve the problem with me, then when I'm able to do that I would then do that for other students. So even though I really struggled and it really knocked my confidence, I have learned so much from that experience, and I don't regret anything. 

Rachel 09:06 

I think one big thing that actually really made a difference and probably really built my confidence up was I joined the 93% club. Yeah, I joined on their society as like Outreach Officer. And I remember just being really nervous applying to that position and I had not joined any societies before. And then I kept going to meetings with my flatmate, because my flatmate was also on the committee. And I was really quiet at first. And then like, one night, I held a quiz night and I just really got into it. And I think also in February time last year, we did the #StateSchoolProud campaign and we helped bring back the widening participation grant for students that wanted funding to join up societies or sports, because I've not been part of any of the societies before. But actually, that really built my confidence and I don't think that I would have got the job now or felt the way that I do now without having that experience. That was something that I was really proud of. 

Rachel 10:01 

I think finding a group of people that maybe I wouldn't necessarily have been friends with before or our paths wouldn't have crossed. And-- and finding people that also felt that imposter syndrome, particularly at Edinburgh University, I think, something like in 2020-2021, that year of 64.5% of students were state educated, which is just not representative of the country. And I felt like I was out of place. And that gave me a community. And it gave me a group to chat about social mobility issues or widening participation issues. And I think that was something that really made my fourth year very special. 

[Theme music] 

Voiceover 10:46 

We also asked our guests to tell us where they go when they need to get away from it all. And what do they do when things get a bit too much? 

Rachel 10:57 

See, it-- it really does depend on what is going on. I think that I get my energy from other people or being around people. So I think when things get too much, I reach out to people and say: Does anyone want to do something tonight? Does anyone want to watch a film? Does anyone want to come round, and I'll cook for you? I like being surrounded by my friends and the people that make me feel happy. And sometimes when things get too much, I don't always want to talk about that. I just like a good distraction. Like, for example, I think I was having like a really tough day, recently, and then I just put into our friendship group chat in Manchester. Anyone want to come round, I'm cooking a curry. And the flat was full, everyone came round, I’ve really perfected my chicken tikka! And then I made a dal. And I made-- and had all naan breads and poppadoms, everyone came round. And you know what, I didn't need to focus on the negative that had gone on and that day, all I wanted to do was just have a laugh with my friends. Particularly cooking, or I quite like sometimes when my friends are like, I'll just bring a bottle of wine round and we'll just have a bit of a gossip and a catch up. And I think there's nothing wrong with having a cheeky gossip, and just offloading on what is maybe annoyed you in the day. Maybe something has just irritated you that doesn’t need to irritate you, but you just need to get it off your chest and just being surrounded by your friends, with yummy food and a glass of wine. 

[Theme music]  

Voiceover 12:28 

Join us again soon for more voices from your Edinburgh community.  

[Theme music] 

Transcribed by https://otter.ai