Before starting at Cardiff Met I would not consider myself particularly academic, and the thought of writing essays filled me with dread. However, I graduated with a first class honours degree gaining one of the highest marks in my cohort during a global pandemic, made friends for life and loved living in a different city – safe to say I had a good time!
I chose to study Sport Coaching after attending an applicant day and it was the variety in the modules that interested me as well as how friendly everyone was (I can’t describe it – I just had a good feeling!) What drew me to Sport Coaching was the amount of practical learning there was on offer and how it was linked to the relevant theory. Sport coaching was something that really interested me and I enjoyed the theory side and even writing the essays more than I thought I would.
I learnt to adapt to different situations but a standout one would be online learning and making the most of it. This was helped by smaller groups meaning we could get involved similarly to the lectures we experienced in person. Due to the depth of discussions that occurred over the 3 years with lecturers and peers I found a way to articulate myself effectively and apply the theory. Being able to back up my view points whilst listening to others, I became critical in my thoughts as well as others. I feel this is something I did not realise I would learn or think I needed to learn but I use it now in my teaching practice.
I was part of the hockey club playing for BUCS and Cardiff & Met hockey club. Having the astro on site when I was in first year made getting to training easy! When I became part of the 1st team performance squad the strength and conditioning twice a week in NIAC was hard work but worth it. I had not been part of something like it before and I even enjoyed the early mornings – occasionally! In my third year I was appointed club captain of the BUCS hockey club meaning I was required to oversee the day to day runnings of the club including socials and training/matches. This was quite a responsibility but one I was happy to take on as I wanted to ensure everyone who was part of the club enjoyed their time as much as I did. Joining the hockey club at uni was one of the best things I did as it gave me a great support system and individuals even helped me complete my dissertation which I will always be grateful of.
My advice to anyone at Cardiff Met or considering joining would be to open yourself up to every opportunity. For me this was coaching at the hockey club which I thoroughly enjoyed and I later discovered became invaluable to my course as it helped complete my work experience hours. It taught me much more than coaching but how to interact with parents and how to create a team from children that had never met before.
I am in the middle of completing a primary teaching apprenticeship PGCE with QTS via a schools direct route alongside being an assistant houseparent in the girls boarding house.
All that I learnt at Cardiff Met has given me confidence in my ability to take on the roles I have today. I cannot speak highly enough about my time at Cardiff Met and the people I met along the way.
