Bethany’s story

Bethany was in her 4th and final year of a degree apprenticeship in software engineering at Nottingham Trent University when she did a three-day Grit programme.

I was seriously thinking about giving it all up and leaving university. I was even discussing it with my lecturers. I really wasn’t sure it was for me anymore. As an apprentice I was working in a tech company but now I wasn’t even sure I wanted to go into the tech industry.

I felt disconnected from university. I couldn’t engage with all the other stuff going on at uni. I was working in industry for four days a week and then studying on Fridays. On the course we only came onto campus for two weeks, three times a year to do the whole term’s lectures in a two week block.

And on my course I was the only female. It was difficult to connect with the male students, to talk about the stresses of balancing university life with working life and home commitments. So I was really struggling to create a support network. It was so intense and isolating. I had lost my confidence.  I felt like I was the problem.

Even if I did finish my degree, what was life going to look like? I was telling myself that I only had one shot and if I didn’t get it right it would be a disaster. If I made the wrong decision it will be monumental. I would have to switch up my whole life again. It was overwhelming. I was paralysed.

For me, Grit was a last ditch attempt to figure it out. If Grit didn’t help then I’d just leave.

The workshop changed everything. Listening to other students talk about their life experiences, their university experience, I saw that what I was feeling was not irrational. It had nothing to do with me not being good enough. I saw that all any of us are doing is trying to muddle through. I felt validated.

Grit enabled me see that it’s ok not to be sure, ok to have doubts. It made my situation digestible, enabled me to see it in manageable chunks. It enabled me to focus on being committed to the next step, whatever that might be, and to see where it leads. As I left the workshop I realised that I’d made the decision to finish uni and give it a go in the tech industry.

So I finished my degree and now I’ve got a permanent job in the company. And I’ve been able to hit the ground running. Before I would struggle to speak out, ask questions, say what was on my mind. I thought I wasn’t good enough to be there.

Now I’m much more confident. I share my ideas, I challenge people, I stand up for myself. Tech is all about innovation, about new ideas and new thinking and I’m able to make a contribution. I’m able to make an impact on the business.

I’d been completely stuck. Grit lifted me up and set me on very positive forward looking path. It was amazing, life-changing. I’d recommend it to anyone.