feedback from students

7/29/2019 Feedback from students

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FEEDBACK FROM STUDENT DELEGATES

Sharing University and Career Success Seminar - 20th September 2013

How has the information you received from the seminar helped you prepare for university

and your future career aspirations?

The speakers were quite motivational and all of them stressed the importance ofhard work and taking your future into your own hands by doing well throughout

university. I think this seminar was more about reinforcing the idea that success is primarily in

my hands as young students.

It has in many cases strengthened my current beliefs and aspirations, while alsohelping me see more clearly how I will achieve them.

I have looked into some of the histories of the respective speakers and what Ilearned was inspiring more than anything. Meeting the speakers has also given me

an insight into the level of commitment and drive needed to succeed in one's field.

The additions I made to my network will also serve me well in my future career

aspirations. It made me really think of getting a good routine so that I won't fall into any bad

habits and also to keep pushing myself even if I feel like giving up

Taught me how to make use of my degree and to always not be scared to seekadvice and aim high

It has motivated me to continue studying strongly and how to structure my futureand not waste the precious time I have the University. I now know how to make

good use of that time.

The information allowed me to think ahead and focus in my future. Coming to theseminar I felt nervous about university and uncertain about my future life plans. The

speakers expertise and knowledge has helped me a lot.

It has inspired me to work very hard in my studies and to pursue all of my businessaims.

The information received from the seminar has given me extra motivation tosucceed at University and achieve a first class degree. It has made me also realize

that I also have to give back to my community one way or another in the future.

It's helped me know how to set my goals and how to achieve them. Also what not todo in order to get where I want to be.


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Networking - everyone is in the same position. Speaking about there options helps toinfluence ours.

What will you do differently as a result of the Sharing University and Career Success

seminar?

Try and network more actively with my peers Ensure that I'm continually pushing myself academically throughout my time at uni

while ensuring I invest as much time I can in the university community to expand

socially and mentally.

Networking is one thing I was not doing which the seminar has allowed me to seethe importance in. I will be putting in a lot more effort to meet people in my field of

interest as well as my peers who share my interests.

I will try to be a lot more proactive with my learning outside of the classroom andseminar rooms. There was a lot of stress on the importance of extracurricular

activities, reading widely and being generally switched on to real-world

developments.

I think that I'll be more willing to try new things and different societies. Asking for help more and looking for work experience in the field I wish to work in in

the future

I will now draw up an image of what I want in my future so I can remember iteveryday and not lose focus.

I will explore the opportunities available to me at university and start the year withan open mind. Try harder to interact with more students. I have made a Linkedin account to network more efficiently. I will try and be more confident in order to network a bit more. I learned that the

friends you make through networking can become your strongest allies.

Consider my options after university.Who was the most valuable guest speaker and why?

Sandie Okoro as she told us to achieve what we want despite opposition I think that Edwin was the speaker I felt I could relate to the most. The fact the he is

closer to our age than most of the other speakers meant that he had to a succeed in

an environment very similar to our own. This compounded with the creation of his

own business "Give Me Tap" showed me that even in a recession a good idea,

passion and perseverance is all you need to achieve something great.

All of the speakers provided me with information and wisdom that was specific tothem which in my opinion means their talks cannot be compared directly. However,


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in terms of networking outside of the event, Mr Mentore is the individual who I am

most likely to keep contact with as he is in the sector I am most interested in.

I found Selvin Brown to be the most valuable speaker because he talked a lot aboutwhat he did outside his place of work and how these things have contributed to his

success. Usually, I find that speakers at such events talk about the journey to thecareer they are in and the place they have arrived at the point of the speech. In

addition, Selvin's career is more in line with a career that I aspire to than the other

speakers.

I thought Jasmine Ennis was possibly the most valuable speaker as she had just leftuniversity and she had also worked abroad so it was good to listen to her experience.

Sandie touched me as she spoke about the need for confidence and I have struggledwith confidence before. I think the variation in speakers was amazing. The younger

speakers for example Edwin also made a huge impact on me as they were easy to

relate to.

The entrepreneur from 'Give Me Tap', I was inspired by his business idea andadmired the way he was able to pursue it along with his studies which is something I

would strongly consider.

I regarded Edwin Broni-Mensah as the most valuable speaker as his journey wasparticularly inspiring. His story of not achieving the standard he wanted in his AS

Levels to pushing himself to succeed in his final examinations reminded me that

what is important in any situation is how you react. When Edwin spoke of his social

enterprise 'GiveMeTap' I was intrigued by the whole concept and simplicity of it and

also now see him as an inspiration to succeed in my career and also help as many

people as I can.

Vernon Francois. I felt like I could relate to him a lot being an art student, I getlooked down upon like my choice is irrelevant and I'm deemed "stupid" in

comparison to others. But he showed me to take judgement and use it for the good

of me.

Sandie Okoro, she told us of the difficulties she overcame in life as opposed tocontinually bragging about the successes like another speaker did. Sandy motivated

me to continue fighting for what I want in life and never to let the negativity thatsurrounds me to get the better of me.

Vernon Francoise and Sandie Okoro. They both showed that you need to work hardto get where you want to be, but also how to overcome the challenges that have

been placed in front of you.

What was the most valuable quote/point you remember from the any of the speakers?

"Always aim for things that seem out of reach" - Sandie Okoro "There is no such thing as a black community."


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Selvin said "Dress for the job that you want, not for the job that you have". I tookthis not only as a valuable lesson to the importance of self-presentation, but also a

lesson into how one must perform above their role to be considered for a promotion

or to progress in their career in general.

Miss Jasmine Ennis' "Vision Board" is also something that I will be implementing. I think that the 'Go Commando' was the most valuable quote of the seminar. "You can be whatever it is that you want to be" Another point was to dream big and

to stretch my mental abilities to the maximum.

Sandie: 'you need to believe in yourself or no one will believe in you' VernonFrancois: 'the biggest risk lies within not taking one'

Common sense is not always common. 'GO COMMANDO' by Sandie Okoro. (Stretch your mentality) Go Commando. Be You. "You can be whatever it is that you want to be" Another point was to dream big and

to stretch my mental abilities to the maximum.

"women don't depend on men"As a whole, how useful was the seminar?

I found the seminar very useful as all the speakers had a lot of interesting andrelevant information about the best way to get ahead in the future

Having the opportunity to hear the stories behind the success of individuals is alwaysuseful in general. That being said I think that diversity of the speakers in terms of

industry and opinions is what made the seminar so effective.

Highly useful. I will definitely be looking for another seminar that is similar to thisone in the future.

The seminar was very useful. The subject matter was interesting and it was nice tohear about the speakers experiences in their careers.

The seminar was very useful as it enabled me to form friendships with people goingto my University. So now I am assured that I will be okay when I arrive at universityand I do not have to worry about making new friends.

Extremely! Meeting other warwick freshers and older girls was very helpful. Meetingthe speakers also helped as I would now class them as role models to me

It was very useful as I was able to meet people in a similar position to me and wasalso able to listen to accomplished individuals.

It was extremely useful, I was also able to network with fellow students which Ibelieve will be of benefit in the near future.


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Very useful, but I felt a bit isolated from students from other Uni's considering I wassitting with students only from my Uni. I wanted to socialize a bit more considering I

may not see them again but I am guaranteed to see those in my Uni

This seminar was very helpful. I hope there will be more in the future that I canattend.

Really useful.What future topics would you like addressed?

More people who are leaders in their field from less "professional" sectors likeVernon Francois

Consultancy, Banking, some more emphasis on how to achieve a good work/socialbalance

Possibly CVs and the general road to employment The effects of globalisation of industry as well as pan-European/pan-African politics. I would like to hear topics on Engineering Less conventional career paths -How to chose a lifetime career that is right for you. A subject/ uni specific section could be introduced A topic specifically on leadership. I would like a speaker with a more "artsy" root. Maybe..... greater information about a specific subject for the students that aredoing it - e.g maths, the give me tap guy and law.

What you would have changed about the seminar?

I'm not sure to what extent this could be added to the current seminar or whether itshould feature as its own separate event, but there should be a greater focus on

younger speakers. By having recently graduated students share their university

stories, along with their experiences breaking into careers from a range of industries

or starting their own businesses is likely to have a greater effect on the students thatattend. Speaking from experience, I find that the younger speakers are generally

more relatable and relevant to what I'm going through than the more established

industry veterans whose illustrious stories can sometimes do more to inspire awe

instead of action.

Possibly inviting students currently in graduate positions to explain what they did toenrich their application.

More allocated time for networking - perhaps split us into groups to network witheach other and subsequently with the speakers.


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I would like have tried to arranged like more time for the attendees of the seminarcould mingle some more.

Cannot think of anything slightly more emphasis on 'networking' I would try to get the young people more involved through a range of activities, Nothing. Seating arrangements I'm very shy and found that pushing me to network didn't help cause I just ended up

being stuck with my friends. So mixed university groups would have helped.

The time that the speakers had to speak. Less speakers and greater time would havebeen better.

100% of respondents said that they would recommend the seminar to their friends

Respondents to the survey are aged 18-19 and are about to start university in September

2013.

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