In June last year, I graduated from University. Up until that point, the following step was always clear. Primary School, Secondary School, Sixth Form, University. There was always a clear next thing to progress to, with a laid out way to get there. 

Coming out the other end of education was strange to say the least. It felt like you’d spent your whole life walking to a destination through a clearly outlined path, granted each stage offered you new direction, but they all ultimately take you to the same place. 

And then, you hit the end, the world opens up. All of a sudden there are hundreds of routes, signs pointing in all directions and no paved path. The ‘real world’, I guess.

Lots of things happened after graduation. Being apart of a place like Loughborough Uni really ingrains into the identity of who you are; the people, the culture. To leave that on the doorstep after 4 years isn’t easy. 

So what was next? 

Firstly, I was fortunate enough to be taken under the wing of Jackson at Sentinel Photonics. I was given the opportunity to lead the creative marketing and brand after doing 6 months of part time work during my last year of uni. Working in defence-tech is not something I had considered as a creative and certainly came with a steep learning curve, but certainly followed my trend of going against the grain. Since being at Sentinel, my role has progressed beyond the brand and marketing efforts and I have been given the chance to manage our global partner network, which has been a valuable learning experience.  

Alongside working full time at Sentinel, I have spent my evenings and weekends turning one of my university projects into a small start up, where I am fortunate to lead a wonderfully talented group aiming to build a platform to benefit the lives of thousands of students. Last week, we were notified that we listed as a top 100 student-led UK startup by StudentVenture, UNiDAYS and Canopy. We were also recently awarded some funding from Loughborough, which has supported us in our growth efforts.