Hello there and welcome to my first blog post on Debby @ UCB!
For anyone who’s reading this post, I hope you will be enrolling as a student at UCB (yay), or at least considering UCB as a choice. I guess you might be feeling a mixture of excitement and nerves ahead of exam results, or perhaps you’re just enjoying the summer and exploring options? For me, it’s crazy thinking back to a little over a year ago. I had never considered going to uni as an option in my life and if you would have told me I’d be part of the UCBloggers team 18 months later, I’d never have believed you…
As far back as I can remember, I’ve wanted to travel, work with animals and share my passion for the world with others. I’ve always loved to learn, yet I only made the decision to apply for uni in the early summer of 2014.
School wasn’t something I enjoyed much and despite wanting a career in tourism and to travel, I wasn’t exactly sure how to go about it. Some of my friends had enrolled at college to study childcare, so that’s what I ended up doing a few months, before dropping out, as I knew it wasn’t for for me. Then, not knowing what to do next, I became a full-time receptionist for a few years. My dreams to travel and gain a job within the industry were always there, but I just never found the confidence to quit my job and go for it.
That is until I turned 21 and did a couple of months travelling in Australia (definitely add it to your bucket list – Australia is out of this world). Hands-down, it was the most amazing experience I’d ever had and ultimately made me realise how much I needed get out of my boring lifestyle and do something I actually wanted to do. I remember feeling like “If I don’t do something about this soon, my dreams will turn to dust”.
So I did something about it.
It was surprisingly easy to quit my receptionist role, I got a part-time job as a sales assistant and enrolled onto two college courses at Birmingham Metropolitan College – Travel Services and Aviation Operations. Almost instantly, I knew I’d made the right decision to go back to college. While on my courses, I was given an incredible opportunity to be a volunteer at Birmingham Airport, too. As May approached, I was surprised to feel I wasn’t ready to give up on studying and my career goals yet. I made an appointment with the careers advisor and, after considering my options, she encouraged me to apply for university, as well as supporting me throughout the application process.
As I’ve mentioned previously, my 1st choice was Adventure Tourism Management, which unfortunately was taken off to be redesigned, but after speaking to the wonderful staff at UCB, they provided me with lots of helpful info for International Tourism Business Management. I was a little doubtful about whether or not I would be accepted for any of my choices, since my college courses didn’t carry many UCAS points, but after checking my UCAS track every-single-day, I finally I got an acceptance from UCB! Feeling ecstatic, and excited about about my future, it brings me up to here; only a year later and eager for what’s next at UCB, as well as being a UCBlogger!
My advice for anyone coming to or considering uni, whether you are waiting for results or, like me, are eager to follow your passion, is do not doubt your own abilities. If you are eager to follow something you feel so strongly about and are not sure how to go about it, taking time to engage with other people can really help. Careers advisors, the admissions team, friends, family, your pets (OK, maybe not the last one, but hopefully you understand what I’m trying to say).
There is always someone there who can help and advise you if you are unsure, worried or just want questions answered. Going to university is a big deal – its scary, exciting, rewarding and a lot of hard work. Make the most of every opportunity and I promise, it will pay off! I will never regret any of my choices – choosing to study at UCB is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!
If you would like to know more about anything relating to uni life at UCB there is lots of information on the website. Alternatively if you want to contact UCB you can do so here. I will also do my very best to answer any questions if you want to email me or tweet any of the UCBloggers.
Debby xo