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About me
My name is Chris Richards and I am a student at the University of Exeter and work for Aimhigher as a student ambassador. I’m from Cardiff in South Wales and I went to a ‘bog-standard’ comprehensive school that catered for people of all abilities and very varied backgrounds.
How I got to uni
My route into higher education was actually very traditional, I did my GCSEs and then stayed in my school sixth form to do A levels. When I had sat my GCSEs I really didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I chose two science and two art A levels and did Biology, Chemistry, English Lit and Drama. It didn’t take me too long to figure out that I really wasn’t a scientist!
Choosing a course
When it came to choosing a degree course I really wasn’t sure. The one thing I was certain about was that I wanted to go to uni, my parents had always encouraged me to, and that I wanted to move away from my family home and experience life somewhere else in the UK and be independent. After a lot of thought, I decided that since I wasn’t sure what job I wanted to do, I would pick a degree in a subject I enjoyed and was good at….so I chose English.
I picked the University of Exeter by accident. I hadn’t even realised there was a uni in Exeter until a friend suggested attending an open day and at the prospect of a legitimate day off school, I agreed to go. I really liked the University, the campus is really green, the people seemed friendly and the course looked good. In other words, everything just clicked.
First in my family to go to uni
I’m the first in my family to go to university and now my younger brother is starting to think about going too. I suppose it is helpful for him to have someone who has been there before to give advice and tell it how it really is, but it was quite exciting to be the first to be choosing uni and doing open days and so on!
My future plans
Now, in the middle of my second year, and the middle of my degree, I’m faced with having to make some more decisions…what will I do when I graduate? I am already reasonably certain that I would like to spend some time doing something not directly career-related and am planning to teach English as a foreign language abroad; hopefully in Japan. I am seriously considering a career in teaching when I finally start work properly and will do my training either here in Exeter or back at home in Cardiff.
The best thing about higher education
Among the best things about university, in my opinion, are the opportunities to meet so many people and try out different activities that you would not have the chance to otherwise. There are people from around the world and from many different walks of life. One of my greatest fears, in common with many people going to uni, was not fitting in, but of course I did. There are so many people, you will find your place and be able to make friends.
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