School's IN for summer
“Amazing, insightful, life changing and the best week of my life so far!”
Summer School at The University of Nottingham seems to have sparked and inspired the region’s youngsters into considering life beyond college and school and into higher education.
Hundreds of young people have taken advantage of the Nottingham Potential Summer School to get a taste of what it’s like to live and study at university and, judging by their responses, they’ve had loved every minute.
The School is a unique opportunity for high-achieving year 12 students from the Midlands to join us at The University of Nottingham for a week of living, learning and socialising like a University student – for free!
Nottingham Potential extends the University's outreach initiatives to support many more young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds in reaching their academic potential. It was made possible by a very generous £2.1m donation from the David Ross Foundation, established by our Law alumnus David Ross and the programme as a whole is supported by hundreds of our alumni and friends.
“This has totally confirmed what I want to do with my life”
Taking a break before lectures on a sunny morning on the Downs a group of very excited Year 12s described their experiences during the week.
“It’s been so much better than an open day because I’ve learned so much more,” said Rebecca Atkins from Staffordshire. “Getting a degree is obviously very important to me but I want to go to university to help me grow as a person properly and that’s one of the most important lessons in life.”
“I want to go to university because I need a degree to do what I want to do. But this week’s shown me that it’s about a whole lot more than that in terms of being part of a community and getting involved with activities outside studies, meeting new people and living independently,” said Zulikha Parvez from Nottingham.
“I came with the intention of studying psychology but the philosophy part of what we’ve done this week has been amazing. It’s been fantastic to meet real life philosophers and psychologists and to get an insight on their research, what they teach and how that applies to the real world.”
Connor Lane, from Filey, added: “I think I’ve grown as a person through the process because everyone’s been so easy to talk to and I’ve been much more confident in asking for help and meeting new people. Even if university doesn’t work out this will still have been a great experience for me personally.”
“This is my first time away from home and the first time I’ve ever stayed in halls,” said Audrey Agudetse, from Birmingham. “I’m really enjoying it. It’s fun exploring new ways of living and I’m excited to see what it’s going to be like at University full time.”
A university friend is just a click away
Students are supported after leaving the Summer Schools through a student mentor.
“We’ve met our mentors and they will keep in touch with us online and we’ll exchange messages, send them our personal statements and they’ll help us with tips, advice and messages to help,” Audrey continued. “When exams stress us out it’s going to be really nice to be in touch with someone who’s already been through all that.”
For Zulikha Parvez the mentors have been a huge part of making the week a success. “They’ve been really nice. Our form tutors at college are great in terms of their advice but sometimes they can be a bit ‘teachery’ and it’s great to have someone else there who can help with any question I’ve got, especially someone who was here at uni a couple of years ago.”
Nottingham Potential is more than just Summer Schools
Just this summer, 1,200 generous alumni kindly donated over £100,000 to Nottingham Potential Scholarships, giving 100 talented young people from disadvantaged backgrounds the chance to take their seat in our lecture theatres.
By supporting Nottingham Potential summer schools and our wider outreach activities, including our community education centres, the generosity of alumni is ensuring that talent and a desire to learn are what define a Nottingham student – now and always.
“To everyone who supports this programme I’d like to say thank you. You’ve given us an amazing insight and that’s changed our lives. I thought university might be a possibility but I love it here and now I know I definitely want to have a university experience.”
Zulikha Parvez
Posted on Thursday 3rd September 2015