Any kind of further study you undertook after leaving Bedales, and any qualifications that you gained.
I did a 4 year bachelor’s degree with integrated masters in Biochemistry at Oxford University, and am currently in the third year of a Graduate Entry Medicine (GEM) course at Southampton University.
What kind of work you are currently involved in, and how and why you came to be doing it.
When I left Bedales I really didn’t expect I would be studying full-time until I was 28, so it’s been quite interesting to reflect on my journey so far.
I had since my last year at Bedales wanted to work as a researcher, and in the last two years of my Biochemistry course I got involved in a few lab projects focussing on Myasthenia Gravis, IBMPFD/ALS and Parkinson’s Disease. Although I found the pathology fascinating and academically engaging, it took me some time to realise that I didn’t enjoy the secluded nature of lab work, and I found myself yearning for something more fulfilling.
Hence, with my eyes opened for this something, I stumbled across a neurology lecture at the hospital neighbouring a lab I was working at. I was drawn to this obscure world of clinical investigation and patient-based work, which seemed to blend my interest in disease pathology with my desire to work with people. The year after I graduated, amongst also exploring TeachFirst, clarinet studies, and outdoor instructing as potential career options, I did some volunteering and healthcare assistant work to gain experience in the healthcare sector before applying for the course I’m on now. I’m hoping I don’t have another revelation after these 4 years!
Whether being at Bedales has helped you in getting to where you are now, and what you enjoy about what you are doing.
I feel incredibly lucky to have gone to Bedales. I had the chance to learn and explore so much - particularly the music, which became something of an obsession. The science lessons helped inspire and direct my path after Bedales (particularly the A-level Biology lab project and thesis), but in many ways, I think it was music that sustained me through the Biochemistry course and which still forms a core part of my identity today.
In terms of what I enjoy about medicine, it’s the daily challenge and reward of how to better interact with patients, the sense of purpose that I don’t need to question, the continuous juggling of practical, social and academic skills, and the satisfaction of helping people. It’s been intense but fulfilling.
What Bedales Assessed Courses you took and how have they influenced your life since taking them.
Design, Theatre and Philosophy, Religion and Ethics.
Even though I didn’t pursue these subjects further, I loved them and thought the courses were fantastic. In trying to assess how they’ve influenced my life since, I began to think about how one measures any singular influence retrospectively when there are so many interacting influences in life, and hence how this can be done without failing to attribute influence when it was present, and vice versa. Ironically, for PRE, I think the answer was self-evident in these thoughts, as they reminded me of the kind of thought patterns encouraged for our free-rein PRE journals throughout the course, which are imbued in my everyday life now and are particularly relevant for medical ethics.
I’m also sure the skills I developed in Theatre studies are used daily in the hospital, particularly the improvisation!
As for Design, again what freedom we had to make almost anything we wanted for our project, with only our imagination holding us back. A long-term plan of mine is to build an off-grid dwelling, and I’m hoping the experience of doing the Design BAC project will prove useful.
Any other interesting activities or occupations that you have been involved in since leaving school.
A Year in Industry with Procter and Gamble in Newcastle
Workaways in France, Germany, Austria, Corsica and the UK
National Citizen Service mentoring
Lots of orchestras and choirs!