It’s the first week back after the Christmas break, and our students are already off to a strong start. On Tuesday 7 January, the seventh annual Build My Future event took place – a two-day festival of ideas and career inspiration from some of the region’s best businesses and institutions. The event, which is hosted by the Northern Schools Trust (NST), invites students from the Studio, the Life Sciences UTC and North Liverpool Academy, amongst others, to get a taste of university, the world of work, and the various pathways available to them once they graduate from us.
We had a fantastic first day; our students made their way to the University of Liverpool where they were taken on a tour of the state-of-the-art facilities and the university’s brand-new teaching hub. We met with representatives from Astra Zeneca, Unilever, Medical Mavericks and more, who were on hand to advise students on the best routes into the industry.
Our keynote addresses on the first day came from Alison McGovern MP – the Wirral South MP spoke to our students about learning from failure how resilience can help them in their future careers. This was followed by a talk from the Anfield Wrap’s Neil Atkinson who explained how changing technologies has allowed him to become a highly successful entrepreneur who loves his job.
Following this our students took part in a motivation session, which was delivered by Junior from the Fix Up team – an organisation that helps young people to understand the importance of focus and motivation. Students were encouraged to think about goal setting and how it can help them to achieve great things, even if it isn’t the original intended outcome.
We also took part in an employability skills session which was delivered by, our host for the day, the University of Liverpool. Our students learnt about Nudge Theory – a concept in behavioural science which proposes positive reinforcement and indirect suggestions as ways to influence behaviour and decision making in groups. Students also learnt the importance of getting a head start with their careers, and that the journey to success needs to start now.
Day one of Build my Future was incredibly inspiring and our students gained lots of ideas for their future pathways. Day two saw us Preston-bound en route to visit our friends at UCLAN, and an opportunity to give the students a taste of university outside of the city of Liverpool.
This day was all about campus tours and showing students some of the things they can learn if they choose university as a path for themselves. During the day, the students took part in activities which reflect the pathways that we follow at the NLA; we learnt about robotics, life drawing, medical interview preparation and much more.
“The students were amazing across the two days of Build my Future,” says NST’s Lyndsay Macaulay.
“They were so committed and passionate about their futures, it was really great to see. We’re in our seventh year of the festival now and we’re so grateful to universities and employers for their continued support and commitment to helping young people to achieve their dreams.
“Build my Future is an incredibly important event – not only for our young people – but for our local area; it helps to ensure that opportunities are available to the right match of talent and skills.”