Bye-bye, Barbora!

After nearly 18 months with us, we sadly bid farewell to Barbora, Officer with the London Uni Connect team at AccessHE. Tanyel sat down with Barbora to reflect on her time with us and talk about what’s in store for the future.

Who are you?

I’m Barbora and I’m 23 years old. I studied English language and literature at Kings College in London, spent a few months as a teaching assistant at different secondary schools and eventually began working at London Higher as an Uni Connect intern in February 2018.

What did you want to gain from your role with Uni Connect?

I wanted to continue working with students but also grasp a sense of what it is like working in an office environment as I have never had an office-based role before. I also wanted to gain a better understanding of different types of outreach work and continue to work on something meaningful.

What did you work on during your time with us?

At the beginning of my role I helped run the mentoring programme which I really enjoyed as it allowed me to directly talk and interact with students. This year I worked on a number of projects such as organising HEI visits to St Mary’s University and City University. I have also helped out with one of the largest collaborative events, the London Uni Connect Careers Fair that took place in November 2018, where I mainly helped with sourcing the venue.

What was your personal highlight in your time here?

My personal highlight has to be when I was given the opportunity to progress from my role as an intern to becoming an Uni Connect officer. This gave me a great chance to grow within my role, work more independently and attain new skills and knowledge. I have also immensely enjoyed working with my colleagues on the Uni Connect team as well as everyone else across London Higher who I have had the pleasure to meet and work alongside.

What’s next for you?

I am planning to move back home to Slovakia for the summer and enjoy my time with my family after spending the last 5 years in London. I want to continue to write in my spare time as that has always been my main creative outlet and maybe continue to do some teaching or volunteering. My main goal moving forward however is to continue my studies and apply for a masters. I will therefore spend the upcoming months working on applications and hoping for the best – haha!