Queen Mary Students invited to the Festive Lunch at the PwC's Embankment Place office, and one student reflects on their decision to attend the programme.
BSc Accountancy (Flying Start) students had their final professional training session, which was the last of six training sessions this semester. John Lambert (Programme Partner) and Hema Sekhon (Programme Manager), invited our students for a festive lunch at the PwC's Embankment Place office last week. This was a great wrap-up of the first four months of their journey here at Queen Mary.
Our student's story that he shared resonates with the support that the university seeks and an authentic partnership promoting relationships, belonging, kindness, compassion and inspiration.
"This week, I had the privilege of visiting PwC Embankment to attend an informative talk on building confidence in an agile world, ahead of my upcoming placements at the London office.The key message that I took away was about resilience, which has personally resonated with me over the past year.Falling out of love with medicine, I declined the remaining offers I had, from medical schools to take a gap year. Since healthcare was all I knew, this was a leap in the dark as I didn't know which field to pursue. My hardworking friends continued at prestigious universities and firms, whilst I was working three jobs at a time. Despite being optimistic, I was on my own.I will never forget the feeling of having zero offers during my gap year as if my A-level grades had no purpose. I'd walk to work in the cold despite being mentally drained. After all, where did my future lie at 18 years of age? All doors felt closed despite trying to tear them down as hard as I could.This is when I realised that I was exactly where I was meant to be and that I would have to reach out and ask for help to better myself. I secretly started saving more to support my parents with their down payment for a house and put myself down as the sole contact for my solicitors and agents.After hours of research on UCAS, I applied to Queen Mary through clearing since my friends had told me about the ISOC and the support structure for students. I was then invited to apply for BSc Accountancy Flying Start with PwC, for which I completed psychometric tests, recorded interviews and an assessment centre within days of each other.At 12pm on 19th August 2022, I was called with an offer to join the first cohort of Flying Start, 30 minutes after completing my assessment centre. At 3 pm, the estate agent called for us to collect the keys to the house of our dreams. Crazy, right? After months of what felt like zero progress, everything happened in one day! I finally had a university to feel like I belonged, and I cannot describe the love and respect towards my parents for migrating to the UK with us and working hard for a place that we could call home.If you're still reading this, it doesn't matter how old you are- everyone experiences big and small setbacks; that's one of the lessons that life gives us.It's how you deal with them that changes your situation.Despite only starting university a few months ago, I can safely say that I am exactly where I am meant to be, surrounded by not coursemates and colleagues, but by close friends who I feel like I have known my entire life. You know who you are, and I appreciate each and every single one of you.I'd like to round off by thanking Hema Sekhon and Ishani Chandrasekara for hosting this event. I cannot begin to imagine how hard you work behind the scenes for us, so thank you for giving us a wonderful time with lots of laughter and reflection!"
Still unsure about what career path you'd like to take? The BSc Accountancy (Flying Start) provides a structured approach to a career in the Big 4 and a career in accounting. Applications close via UCAS on the 25th of January 2023 for UK (Home) applicants.
Find out more about BSc Accountancy (Flying Start)