My two years at College were easily some of the best of my life so far. After the weirdness of the Covid years – my year group were given teacher-assessed GCSE grades – my results weren’t what I’d hoped for. At first it looked like I wouldn’t get onto the College courses that I really wanted. Instead of giving up, I went and spoke to the teachers, explained how much the subjects meant to me and they let me in. That moment taught me early on that if you show genuine passion and willingness to work, people will often give you a shot.

Once I was in, I absolutely loved learning again. College felt completely different from secondary school: suddenly studying was something I chose to do rather than had to do. During the A level period, teachers would happily mark stacks of additional papers after lessons and sit with me to go through mistakes. That support made me properly confident for the first time.

Some highlights for me were being part of the College basketball team, which was brilliant; the thrill of home games when the sports hall was packed, with all my mates in the crowd cheering is something I’ll never forget. And I met some of my closest friends at College. On the less athletic days, there was nothing better than chilling on the benches outside the refectory under those big heaters with my friends.

College gave me an environment in which I could rebuild my confidence after a shaky start, it surrounded me with teachers who genuinely cared, and it showed me that hard work and asking for help does pay off. Those two years turned me from someone who felt a bit written off by my grades into someone who believed that I could aim high. That’s the mindset I took to the University of Portsmouth and now into my graduate job and I’m still ridiculously grateful for it.

During my final year at Portsmouth, I was applying to many graduate roles while writing my dissertation and like many others, I was frustrated when I did not hear back. But I really wanted to make my family proud and come out with a job, so I kept applying and stayed visible on LinkedIn to find opportunities. During uni, I’d worked multiple jobs while balancing my studies and all that hustle paid off and I secured a graduate job offer as a Software Engineer for the September after graduation. So, I’ve now moved to a new city away from home – Bristol – to chase an opportunity that I just didn’t want to miss out on.

I’m still very much at the “feet under the desk, soaking everything in” stage – every week feels like drinking from a fire hose (in the best way). The projects are fascinating, the team is brilliant, and I’m already getting to work with tools and problems that I only read about during my final-year project. It’s great to be involved with such interesting products that have a real-world application.

Software engineering is only one door into tech. The industry is packed with a huge variety of well-paid roles that don’t require you to be a coding wizard from day one: Business Analyst, Product Manager, Data Analyst, Cybersecurity Analyst, Cloud Engineer, DevOps, Technical Program Manager, Solutions Architect, IT Project Manager… and the list keeps growing. So explore your options before you lock yourself into “I must be a developer” as you might discover something that suits you even better.

Looking back just a few months after graduation, I’m proud of how relentlessly I pushed forward, and I’m genuinely excited to be at the very start of this career.

For anyone about to start College I’d say your grades at 16 do not define you, full stop. I spent far too long feeling like my teacher-assessed GCSEs had already decided my future. They hadn’t. The people who end up succeeding are the ones who keep learning after the exams finish, not the ones with the best grades on results day. Starting a bit behind just means you develop grit earlier than everyone else. That grit is a superpower. And it’s okay to ask for help – teachers love it when you care enough to bring them extra questions. The students who quietly struggle alone are the ones who miss out.

Ferrell Newton
Reigate College: 2020-2022
Higher Education: Computer Science, University of Portsmouth
Currently: Software Engineer, ADP