Alumni Members

I started at KES Academy in 2013 and finished my GCSEs in 2018, I then continued on at the Sixth Form until 2020. I was in Edinburgh/York throughout my time at KES and my favourite subjects were the sciences and French.

I’m currently studying at Newcastle University going into my final year of my integrated masters in Civil and Structural Engineering. 

How do you feel that your time at KES shaped you and the current path you’re on? Were there any particular highlights you can recall from your time at KES? 

Throughout my time at KES, I really enjoyed learning and being pushed, which has led to my academic drive that I have carried with me through university. It has taught me to be resilient, and to strive to do the best in all I do, which I am so grateful for. Being head boy in my final year of Sixth Form was a highlight of my time at KES, and it makes me proud to be a part of the KES legacy. Furthermore, it allowed me to work on skills such as management, and organisational skills, preparing me for my university life and beyond. 

One of my favourite memories was going on a PGL trip to visit Ardèche, we spent a few days doing activities in the forest such as the leap of faith, raft building, archery, and fun evening activities, before going on a 2 day descent down the Ardèche river on kayaks and open air camping. It was such a fun trip and I loved every second of it. 

Of the various awards and certificates I gained throughout my time at KES in mathematics, technology, archaeology, and others, my favourite achievement was being part of the winning rugby team for the county championship. We put in weeks of hard work, coming into school early on a friday morning to work on our fitness, and staying afterschool to work on our team work. To have it all pay off in the form of a trophy was such an amazing feeling and I’ll never forget the feeling. 

Above all, the friends that I made at KES are friends that I know I’ll have for life, and they are an important part of who I am and I will never be more grateful to be a student at KES for that reason. 

What was the most important learning point you took with you from your time at KES? 

Celebrate the little wins. Throughout my time at KES I learned to celebrate every achievement, no matter how small, in order to keep my momentum up. Allowing myself to be happy for small things that go right takes the heat off things that go wrong and allow me to keep working towards the bigger picture.  

I used to try and control everything, and it would stress me out when I couldn’t get everything right all the time. During my time at KES I realised that this is completely impossible to achieve, and life throws you curveballs that you can’t stop; you just have to work around them, and go with the flow.  

By taking these two core lessons with me, going with the flow and celebrating the little wins, I’m starting my independent adult life a much happier, less stressed person that I once was, and live every day to the fullest. 

Did you always know that you wanted to pursue Civil and Structural Engineering? In what ways were you supported at KES Academy to pursue this path? 

I have always appreciated the built environment and admired beautiful structures. I knew I wanted to work in a sector involving structures for most of my life, but I wasn’t sure exactly where I wanted to go with it or what subjects there were at university to get me where I wanted to go. KES Academy offered connections to events that helped me narrow down my options, as well as embellish my CV. A physics bootcamp at Cambridge University, a STEM day at UEA, and many other events helped me finalise my decision and apply for Civil and Structural Engineering. 

What have been some particular personal highlights for you since leaving KES Academy so far?  

I’ve absolutely loved immersing myself into university life, and being part of all the things that come along with it. A particular highlight has been being on the committee for the Civil Engineering and Geospatial Society (CEGSoc), helping plan events, such as socials and industrial networking events throughout the year. The Christmas Ball is always one of the best nights of the year, and it's so nice to get suited and booted and relax at the end of the year.  

Over the past year I’ve had the opportunity to travel to some amazing places, for various reasons, with uni, as well as to visit friends and family that are abroad. So far I’ve been to the Lake District, Paris, Cyprus, Hungary, and Uzbekistan, with Berlin coming up soon. 

During Easter 2024, I will travel to Peru for 5 weeks to help improve the infrastructure for the local inhabitants, through projects such as simple clean water systems, helping to build schools and creating marketplaces. I’m really excited to have the opportunity to do this as part of my degree, to help better people’s lives through infrastructure changes. 

What would your advice be to young adults looking to pursue a similar path to yours? 

My biggest piece of advice would be to network, and get involved with as much as you can while you’re at university. By being a part of CEGSoc, it has allowed me to create a big circle of friends who are going into the same, and similar fields as me, at various companies, and in various countries.  

As well as this, I would recommend taking the time to go to networking events, talks and seminars that are happening around you. The Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE) put these on regularly, and it really does help when it comes to interviews to be able to talk about the things you’ve learned at these. They appreciate the fact you’re genuinely interested in civil engineering, and oftentimes interviewers are at these events too, so you can network and get your foot in the door that way too. 

What are your hopes and aspirations for the future?  

Ultimately, I would love to travel the world, to help increase the standard of living for people not only in developing countries, but worldwide. I want to influence the way people live; to reduce the negative effect that humans are having on the climate. Looking to nature to help reduce energy consumption is something I find inspired, and I would love to work on large-scale projects that embody this philosophy and truly have a positive impact on communities and the climate.