This year Hello Future are running trips to our partner universities for students to experience taster sessions and explore the campuses. This will give them an insight into what being a student is like and what to expect from higher education. They will be running with a school from each of our areas (Carlisle and Eden, West Cumbria and Furness) in attendance on each trip.
I was responsible for planning the trips to Lancaster University and the University of Cumbria, where students also have the opportunity to visit Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery. There have been many things to consider such as; booking buses, supporting the promotion of the trips, working with the partners to plan the days and managing the evaluation of the trips.
My Chemistry degree has given me excellent problem-solving skills which have come in very useful in the planning of the trips, especially for the University of Cumbria trip, where I’ve had to logistically work out the movement of 2 groups between 2 locations: the University of Cumbria and Tullie House Museum. This has proven quite challenging, and I’ve had to keep thinking up solutions to many issues regarding lunch and transport. It’s taken great communication and organisation to plan both trips, skills I developed both in my degree and through my internship.
The most challenging parts of the planning for the Lancaster trip were the time constraints. It was the first trip we were organising and the last one to get planned, with delays surrounding the planning of the day and in recruitment. For the University of Cumbria trip, there was quite a challenge to find a bus company to suit the timings of the day, but luckily I had enough time to organise it and after emailing loads of different companies it was eventually sorted.
I’m really excited to go on the trips to see all my hard work pay off and to meet everyone. I’m especially looking forward to the University of Cumbria trip as the workshops being offered sound great and so does the trip to Tullie House to explore careers in the arts.
Look out for part 2 of our trip blog next week to see how they went!