Before coming to University Centre Sparsholt, i had worked as a waitress for a long time, in a marketing company and on dairy farm. I ended up leaving my marketing to pursue my passion and my love for cows and other farm animals. I feel happy being around animals and choosing this course was the best option for me because i was able to really expand on that and understand them on a deeper level, which has made my love for them grow even more.
I had always wanted to come to Sparsholt when i had just come out of college but it wasn’t a right fit at the time and then when i felt ready i looked into the Agriculture Degree course and came to an open day and met Dr Claire Cresswell. I spoke to her about my passion for animals and agriculture and she encouraged me to apply. The open day and the student ambassadors i spoke to gave me a real insight into student life and how rewarding a degree can be.
I chose to come to UCS over other choices because of the more relaxed feel and smaller class sizes. This has meant i have more contact with my teachers and i could be with a group of like-minded people who empower me as they’re here for the same reason.
My lecturers are absolutely fantastic, i couldn’t love them more. They have all done their time in industry so they really get it and are teaching from a place of practical experience, and you feel that through the learning as you learn it as you would do it which is just invaluable. My tutors and lecturers all know me as a person and it’s the most beneficial thing as they can help me, exactly how i need it.
My Agriculture degree covers lots of different modules such as ecology, livestock production, fundamentals in agriculture and crop sciences. We go on load of days out which is great fun and hands on learning. We’re also doing lots of lab work at the moment for socials and agricultural science which is so important to agriculture and what makes agriculture in the UK so special.
The facilities we have here are so broad for agriculture, we have a pig unit, a full dairy, a beef heard, lambs, rams, sheep, lots of different animals which means we can be really hands on. I’ve never worked with pigs before but coming to university has given me the opportunity to come and learn that and how to work with animals i would never usually get the chance to work with. We have a full working milking parlour which students can access, calf rearing unit which students can access to study for biological or anatomical work, pig unit, handling systems for sheep and beef which makes sure students are safe. Sheering faculties, a range of agricultural machinery we can drive or learn to drive and lots of stuff to get involved in. The science labs are also top range, in agriculture we have some of the newest technologies to help us learn things like soil analysis
It’s so important for young people to be in this industry as there is not enough of us, we need to learn all of these different things because in farming everything has a knock on effect and it’s so important to empower young women in particular to be in farming as it’s always been seen as a man’s job and that perspective is completely changing and we’re the future of food, we’re key to how the UK runs and also we’re great fun! We all love what we do, we work hard and we’re going to change the world.
After i graduate, i see myself going to a different countries, New Zealand or America to learn different systems then after that come back to the UK and change the industry, i would love to be on Countryfile one day. I want to come back, work in industry and work on animal welfare within farming and look at how young stock should be cared for and regulated. I think being a UCS graduate will help me in the future because in our course we are taught about every single aspect of agriculture and there are so many career options after you leave as its designed so specifically for employment.
My advice to anyone who is thinking of applying to UCS is to absolutely do it, there is so much, from your course to being on campus, i live on campus and it was the best decision I’ve ever made, I’ve made friends I’ll never lose touch with and living together is great fun. There are loads of facilities like the gym, game nights and clubs and societies. You also get a chance to set up your own society, I’ve set up the ballroom dancing society and I’ve had loads of students wanting to come. It’s great as it has a real sense of community from lots of different courses that can ultimately help you in your degree. Living on site is great fun, you meet loads of different people, and you make friendships that last.
Find out more about Agriculture courses at University Centre Sparsholt.