My Experience At #FuturesUP Finance, Tech and Law
Patrick Ntiamoah, Sacred Heart Sixth Form
What an amazing and unique event! This was my first #FuturesUp event and it was an extremely exciting as well as insightful experience. Personally, it was particularly wonderful as it was my first event volunteering as an Uptree Ambassador. I really enjoyed my experience as an Uptree Ambassador it was exactly what I expected it to be like. I not only had a chance to participate but I also helped other students as well as myself to have the opportunity to build a network of professionals, who could give us key tips to become better rounded individuals as well as highly employable individuals in the future.
Nobody represented this as much as the guest speaker Regina Oladipo, Head of EU Exit Digital Delivery and Strategy. Hearing her story and pathway to where she is now really inspired me and made me appreciate everything I have now as well as increasing my motivation to achieve my goals. As a person who is interested in the Digital/technology sector — it would be a real pleasure to hear from her again and get to know more about the sector which she works in.
After the words of wisdom given to us by Regina, we moved onto an apprentice panel, this was another useful and highly productive part of the day, it gave us the opportunity to ask questions and gain an insight into life working in the chosen companies. This was particularly rewarding to me as it allowed me to gain a much greater insight into apprenticeships which is something which really interests me as I am considering partaking in a degree apprenticeship when I finish Sixth Form — I thoroughly enjoyed this segment and I found it quite valuable to me.
What happened next was my highlight of the day. FOOD. I’m joking but the food was extremely delicious, I extremely commend the hospitality which we received from EY — while we ate our food we were given the chance to network and engage with the professionals who were present. I really enjoyed this part because it allowed me to speak and gain key tips from the professionals e.g. advice on applying for degree apprenticeship programmes, proposed work experience, key tips on post 18 options and general career advice. The fabulous thing was that I managed to get some of their emails and connect with them on LinkedIn, which is what the Uptree is all about bridging the gap between modern professionals and upcoming students who want to move into that profession/sector. IT’S NOT WHAT YOU KNOW, ITS WHO YOU KNOW!
Lastly we partook in a Consultancy Challenge which involved the professionals giving each of the groups a problem to solve (many of which were real-life problems) and the group had to come up with a technology solution to solve the problem. This was a great experience as it allowed us to get an idea of the problems which large organisations face and how these problems may be solved using technology.
The day came to an end after this and it was such a great experience for everyone involved, it was extremely pleasing to see the other students leaving with smiles on their faces knowing that they had gotten the most out of this wonderful event even after a long and tiring school day. It was an honour to be a part of another successful and productive #FuturesUp event.
Thank You Uptree!
