{"id":16250,"date":"2022-07-05T20:42:37","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T19:42:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/?p=16250"},"modified":"2022-07-05T20:54:22","modified_gmt":"2022-07-05T19:54:22","slug":"clearing-offered-me-the-chance-to-think-again-and-find-a-new-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/2022\/07\/clearing-offered-me-the-chance-to-think-again-and-find-a-new-path\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Clearing Offered me the Chance to Think Again and Find a New Path’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alexandra Smith applied for a place studying BSc International Business<\/a> at <\/strong>Kent Business School through Clearing in 2019 after missing out on grades for her chosen universities close to her hometown of Derby. H<\/strong>ere she explains why she believes the process led her on the right path after a fantastic university experience both in and outside the lecture halls\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThose first fleeting moments of results day were some of the most nerve-wracking of my entire life. I had set my sights high, with straight As predicted in Maths, Chemistry and Physics and was confident that I could achieve them. But, as I opened the email, my heart just dropped like a rock.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have entered Clearing because you didn\u2019t get the grades to get into your chosen universities\u201d was all it said. My applications were made to universities within an hour radius of my house and they all required high grades.<\/p>\n

After reading the email for what felt like the 100th<\/sup> time, I called my chosen universities and was told I didn\u2019t get in. I went into blind panic.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Alexandra with her friends at the Graduation Ball<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018I don\u2019t think I am going to university,\u2019 I said to my mum, who was by my side helping me look through my choices. It felt like my whole world had been turned upside down because I had no idea just how badly I\u2019d done at that stage.<\/p>\n

An hour after that email landed, I found out my results. It was BBB, good solid grades that actually filled me with a bit of confidence to make some Clearing calls.<\/p>\n

At the last minute during applying for universities in 6th<\/sup> form, I had switched from astrophysics to business courses, after an experience of part time work at a gastropub where I\u2019d got involved in lots of areas of the business, from waitressing to event management and finance.<\/p>\n

Kent Business School was one of the first I made because I was really drawn into the University by what I saw online. I thought it looked friendly, supportive and the campus was green and beautiful.<\/p>\n

Steve, who answered my call, was full of enthusiasm. He explained that I should be proud of my grades and see this as a new path, a sense that was blossoming inside me. I loved the sound of the BSc International Business<\/a> course he described to me, as I love European culture and travel and wanted to study in a diverse environment. That call changed my life forever.<\/p>\n

I accepted the place then and there, just two hours after the shock of rejection I was feeling elation. Mum and I booked the Clearing open day for the following day and a room at Turing for two nights to get to know the city of Canterbury. At that point, I didn\u2019t even know where Kent was.<\/p>\n

Mum was like a tourist looking at the scenery and beautiful buildings when we arrived, she was taking photos of everything. I felt instantly \u2018home\u2019 and that same sense of support and wellbeing that I got from looking online. Kent felt inclusive and somewhere you could thrive. That feeling stayed with me, throughout my years of study.<\/p>\n

As we set back home for Derby after that weekend, we were both just beaming. It felt like fate, and I was so happy with the way things had turned out.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Alex holding her First Class dissertation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I started that September, living in Parkwood with some incredible housemates \u2013 we loved socialising on the lawns outside and having a laugh. The initial teachings began with the real capstones of business, which at first felt a little general, but as I moved through the course, I realised how integral they are to business education.<\/p>\n

Things really began to make sense to me by second year, the Emerging Markets module was fantastic, I had a lightbulb moment of feeling like I could really apply my expertise and began to think like an international businessperson.<\/p>\n

Socially, I couldn\u2019t have asked for more. I had made an excellent group of friends thanks to ice-breaker sessions held by Kent Union to settle us into university \u2013 fun things like being put into teams and going out on tasks that really worked well. I did foam parties and joined salsa dancing and lacrosse clubs. I even tried out fencing!<\/p>\n

My final year has been the most transformational for me. The modules that I have loved the most are European Business and Global Strategy and I feel deeply involved in the study and research required for my dissertation, which was on analysing technological innovations in agriculture. I found out recently that I got 72 in my dissertation, which was amazing.<\/p>\n

Now I have graduated, I am looking to go into junior consultancy specialising in the future of technology. I am looking at working in Europe, if at all possible.<\/p>\n

I genuinely think that going through Clearing is an opportunity for people to think again, find a new path and a route to a career path they might not consider. I wouldn\u2019t change my Kent experience for anything.”<\/p>\n

For more information on Clearing visit Clearing – University of Kent<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alexandra Smith applied for a place studying BSc International Business at Kent Business School through Clearing in 2019 after missing out on grades for her … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74553,"featured_media":16252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[124],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16250"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74553"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16250"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16266,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16250\/revisions\/16266"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}