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Tuesday 11 September 2012

How I got into the University of Greenwich

Throughout my life these are some of the jobs I wanted to do:
  • Face painter - I was only 5!
  • Air hostess – I’d just flown for the first time at the age of 7
  • Dolphin trainer- I’d just been to Zoomarine in Portugal 
  • Cinematographer - I love watching the extras on DVD’s
  • Piano tutor –I thought could make a career out of a hobby
  • Orchestrator – I’d just seen We Will Rock You and wanted to work in the pit
  • Archaeologist – I’d just watched The Mummy
  • Primary teacher – Grasping at straws for things to do when UCAS time rolled around
  • Paramedic

A very mixed bag of jobs however I still left school at 18 with no idea what I wanted to do.
I really wanted to be a Paramedic but I couldn’t drive (a key skill for a paramedic) and I also really disliked being in the presence of all bodily fluids except blood (not a good trait in a paramedic) so that idea was put on the back burner for a while.

I had a holiday job as a lifeguard that I returned to after finishing school and I managed to turn it into a mini career which roles including head-lifeguard, marketing assistant, swimming teacher and receptionist. I thought I was set and that I’d just progress in the leisure industry and that I didn’t need further my education. That was until I helped pack up my little sister and ship her off to university.

I was very jealous of her new life, that she was making all sorts of new friends and having all these amazing experiences so I decided that I wanted to do it to. I had my UCAS form all completed ready to apply for a leisure management degree when one day there was an incident in the swimming pool and an ambulance was called. I was so impressed by the ambulance crew’s attitudes and abilities that it re-ignited my desire to be a paramedic.

I went home and re-wrote my whole application. I could now drive (I’m a member of the passed 2nd time club), and as for the body fluid issue, I decided to cross that bridge when I came to it!

My main problem was that I didn’t have any science A-levels so I got rejections from Portsmouth, UWE, Oxford Brookes and St Georges. Initially I was placed on the waiting list for the FdSc Paramedic Science at Averyhill which I was pleased about because out of all the universities I visited, Greenwich was the one that impressed me the most. I decided to wait and see what happened and as September came and went with no offer I went about my life as normal.

Little did I know that I was still on the waiting list and in October I received a phone call that would change my life!  Out of the blue I was called and offered a place on the Paramedic Science degree that was due to start in January 2011. I could barely speak when I was offered the place and at first I thought it was a practical joke. However, after 2 failed and one passed C1 (7.5tonne lorry) driving test, a fitness test, a criminal records bureau check and an occupational health assessment, I arrived at the University of Greenwich on January 4th ready to start my journey . . .