For Hannah at 17, life is a bowl of popcorn.
But what choices should she make to make it a great one?
Hannah came to dream on because she had to make an important choice. She was about to apply to university. She knew that this would have important consequences for her future. She’d been thinking about it for a while, but she’d kept chopping and changing her view. One week she had her heart set on a business degree, the next it would be events management, or we’d hear her repeating what her parents wanted her to do. The next steps weren’t obvious for Hannah. There wasn’t one A-level subject which for her stood out from the others. She was also finding it hard to concentrate on her studies. Her lack of clarity around her end goal made it difficult for her to focus.
Hannah loves being creative. She’s always making things. She’s zany and full of laughter. We knew that just sitting across a table having a conversation wouldn’t work for her. We wanted to find a way that would play to her sense of fun. So we used mind-mapping techniques. We sat with a big bowl of popcorn and talked about all the things that Hannah loved in her life. At first we didn’t talk about academic subjects at all. We knew that we had to take a step back first. With bits of card and drawings and colour we created a whole picture of who Hannah was and what she loved in her life.
From what she loved we started to build a clear picture of what she wanted to do, still staying away from the topic of particular university courses. It became clear that she was fascinated by society and human interactions. She wanted something that was visual and where she wouldn’t have to sit in a laboratory or office all day.
Only at this stage did we start to look at university courses. We helped Hannah find something that would find something that played to her strengths and her passions. And together we found anthropology, the study of cultures and mankind. We worked with Hannah to research this, and encouraged her to do research and speak to people to make sure that this really was the course for her. We also advised Hannah with her personal statement for her applications. She was doing lots of things in her life which were relevant to anthropology but this wasn’t coming through in what she was writing so we worked with her on this.
Our work with Hannah hasn’t just been on her academic choices. It’s also been on her confidence. Hannah is seeking sponsorship for her studies and was keen to appear capable and confident in her interviews. We started with her physical wellbeing. She’s a competitive sportswoman and has had issued with injury to her knee which we worked with her on. She also had concerns with her skin and body image so one of our experts worked with her on that. This wasn’t just doing it for her. It was enabling her with the skills to do this herself in the future.
Finally we looked at her personal style. Hannah is really quirky with her look which we love. We didn’t want her to lose this so we worked with her to give her the skills to build a personal style that stays true to her while also creating the impression she wanted to make as she went to her interviews.
Hannah has now received offers from three universities to study anthropology.
We’re loving working with Hannah. And we’re as excited as she is by the opportunities in life that lie ahead.
dream on