For 17-year-olds across the country, school closures brought a unique set of challenges. Not only did they miss 4-months of teaching to prepare them for their final exams, they were also planning for life changing decisions about their next steps, without the usual support from school.
In the words of Muskan, “trying to keep up with self-driven learning alongside thinking about what’s next was complete confusion and chaos until engaging with my career coach at Future Frontiers”
Muskan was in Year 12 - studying for A Levels in Sociology, Psychology and History - when she participated in the Future Frontiers coaching programme in April 2020. She tells us us that on starting the programme, she was unsure and apprehensive.
“Before the sessions I was hesitant. I honestly don’t like meeting new people – I’m always very anxious about how it will go”.
"Trying to keep up with self-driven learning alongside thinking about what’s next was complete confusion and chaos until engaging with my career coach at Future Frontiers."
But catching up with her following four sessions with her coach - Stephanie, a manager in Commercial Operations at CenturyLink - you wouldn’t know it. She speaks with confidence about her preferred career path, and the enthusiasm in her voice is palpable.
“Before the Future Frontiers programme, school hadn’t helped me to think about myself and what I could possibly do.”
“For others at school who were interested in the scientific route, like medicine, there had been talks. But I wasn’t sure where to go with the subjects that I was doing. There were expectations from my family too, and I just didn’t know how to find my own footing.”
“Stephanie was really encouraging and made me feel comfortable, I looked forward to every session.”
“The activities helped me to open up and really try and pinpoint what it was that I was interested in. It felt really personal: like it was all about me and my preferences, not what someone else thought I should do. And I feel a lot more confident now.”
“I never understood what you could really do with the subjects I’d chosen at A Level. So I think I wasn’t really focused because I was hesitant about where I could go next.”
“But now, I know there are many different pathways I can take. It means that I now have new energy to work hard and get the grades, to get the future I want”.
"I now have new energy to work hard and get the grades, to get the future I want."
Her coach, Stephanie, tells us that their discussions culminated in a light bulb moment.
“In our final session, she went from looking at roles such as teaching assistant... but then made almost a complete U-turn. To saying, oh right, actually, if I get the grades, I could go into educational psychology. I could go to uni!”
Stephanie and Muskan spent the rest of the session looking at university courses.
“There was a real excitement about it, because we found these three courses at three different universities in London and they were exactly what she wanted to do.”
“From our first session I was impressed with Muskan’s commitment and passion. She is only at the beginning of her journey, but what an exciting journey it will be!”
Get in touch to find out more about partnering with us to coach young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.