My name’s Andrew, I’m a Computer Science (Cyber Security) student. My advice to you – if you see an email from the Careers team, read it, you never know where it could lead! I was just settling into university life when I received an email from the Careers team about the Freshfields Stephen Lawrence Scholarship Scheme. I was intrigued.
I met with Hannah and Melissa (the Careers and Employability Service’s Empower team), who told me more about the Scholarship. Hosted by the global law firm Freshfields, the Scholarship Scheme aims to address the disproportionate underrepresentation of Black men from less financially privileged backgrounds in large commercial law firm and ‘City careers’. The Scheme offers many benefits to recipients of an award, the key ones being mentorship and a 15-month professional development programme. The Scheme is very competitive and very challenging, but it opens up loads of opportunities to explore a career in the City, which is something I’d love to do. The Scheme is open to first-year students at participating universities and at the University of Kent this can be for both law and non-law first-years.
The Careers team assessed me to see if I was eligible; it turned out I was. I was delighted! They then asked me loads of questions about my academic strengths, my street-smart skills, what I’ve achieved so far, etc, so that they could consider whether I might be suitable to be nominated.
In the new year I went to an Insight Day at the Freshfields’ offices in London. I met lots of other university students, we did some group exercises and heard from previous Scholars about their experiences on the Scheme. It was a jam-packed day and our chance to assess whether the Scheme was for us. I came away feeling inspired by what I could achieve. It is a very demanding programme, but I’m quite driven; I think life is hard regardless, so you might as well challenge yourself and see where it takes you.
The Careers team then submitted the application we had been working on, and I had to send in a two-minute video about ‘My Story’. Two minutes isn’t that long – I had to speak very fast to cover everything!
Next was a two-day in-person assessment centre during the Easter holiday. It was a load of pressure, but I really enjoyed it. There were about 40-50 of us at the assessment centre I attended; it was very intense. After the assessment centre I had to complete some remote assessments too.
After that it was just waiting; I put it to the back of my mind and got on with my studies. I knew that if wasn’t successful in being awarded a place, I had learned from the process, and I would get feedback which would lead to some ‘Masterclasses’ and other opportunities.
In June, I got a call from a random number. Normally I don’t answer those calls, but something within me was saying, Andrew, you should answer it. It
was Annette Byron, co-founder of the Scheme, from Freshfields, telling me I’d been successful in being selected for the Scholarship Scheme. I was amazed and excited.
I meet regularly with the other Scholars in the 2024 cohort at Freshfields’ London office. We also have mentors to support us. When we signed up, we were told that the Scholarship commitment is like an extra module, and it is. To fit everything in, I use a framework to organise my time: one big task a day, three medium tasks, five smaller tasks. It’s better than procrastinating all day!
I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity and grateful for the support I had to get it. I’m determined to make the most of the experience.
Careers and Employability Service: Helping our students to achieve their ambitions is at the heart of what we do. Part of that is making sure they know about all the opportunities available to them, both within and outside the University. We’ll reach out about careers events, online workshops, work experience and scholarship opportunities.