Walking home from work last night the music I was listening to was interrupted by my phone ringing. I almost rejected the ‘No Caller ID’ call, and any other week I would have done, but yesterday I answered. A voice at the other end of the line said “Hello, is that Clare Ray?” “… Yes?!” I replied. As I was preparing to say “To save you time, I haven’t recently been involved in a car accident or been mis-sold PPI.”, the voice said “I’m calling from the University of Birmingham.” This was a surprise. I had only left my desk in the College of Medical and Dental Sciences 15 minutes earlier. Was this security? Had I dropped my ID card or left my office door open? The voice continued and it soon transpired that I was being called not as a member of staff but as an alumni of the University, by a current student. “Do you have a little time to talk this evening?” I thought for a moment, “Yes I do.”
And I’m glad I did, because the student (with the excellent communication skills and professionalism we can expect from our students) started to tell me about the University’s 10000 Lives campaign which aims to support young carers and students from groups underrepresented in higher education to pursue a University of Birmingham education and to support them once they are studying with us by providing internships bursaries and mentoring.
A university education is transformative. I have seen how it has shaped me and those close to me, and provided me with opportunities I could have only dreamt about as a school pupil. However, I was lucky. I knew about University and I had all the support that I needed. Our schools activities in MDS aim to raise aspirations and support students who may not know about the benefits of a university education or how to navigate through the system, to reach their potentials. The University’s Pathways to Birmingham programmes support students to access our degree programmes and the schemes funded by the 10000 Lives campaign will provide additional support to these students to ensure they have equal opportunity to succeed in their futures.
If you’re a University of Birmingham alumni or you are keen to support all young people to reach their potential there is a telephone bank of our wonderful students waiting to talk to you. The buzz of excitement that I heard down the telephone as their first donation of the evening was chalked up on the board was certainly the highlight of my week. These students believe in supporting one another because they see the importance and impact that their education is having on them and their futures.
