My name is Eleanor Ham. I have just graduated with a 1st Class degree in Mathematics from the University of Exeter. I have a passion for helping young people and I would love to work educating and teaching them. My interest in helping young people developed when I worked for the National Citizen Service, NCS, where I led a team of 12, aged between 15 and 17. During the programme, I ran education activities for my team, teaching life skills; confidence; and empowering them to bring about social change. I had to be creative in presenting ideas to keep the young people engaged and interested. In order to help them most effectively I had to adapt each step of the programme to suit each individual’s needs whether that be as a result of ADHD, dyslexia or a mental health condition.
NCS is a programme for all young people irrespective of background. It allows them to meet others from all walks of life and gives everyone equal opportunities. The programme helps any young people, not just those who are academically gifted, by allowing them to explore an area of interest that suits them. Any programme like NCS that gives confidence and support to young people is one that is incredibly important to shape our future society. Young people are the basis of the future and by creating more rounded and open individuals we can create a better fairer society.
Safeguarding and confidentiality was an important part of my NCS role as some of the young people suffered severe mental health conditions, which needed to be handled with care. Prior to NCS, I worked as a lifeguard for which safeguarding is also extremely important. For both roles, I completed formal safeguarding training.
One experience of safeguarding came during NCS where one young person required significant extra care, due to her mental health conditions, and could not be left alone for extended periods of time. She suffered from multiple panic attacks a day and together we developed a system for calming and controlling them. Making a difference both to her life and to that of the rest of my team gave me a huge sense of achievement and is why I have applied for this role.
I thrive on being busy. Throughout sixth form and my first two years of university, I balanced a part-time job and sports societies alongside my studies. For example, during sixth form, I trained as a lifeguard and then worked regularly while studying for 4 A-Levels and maintaining sporting commitments at both swimming and water-polo clubs. At university, I continued working as a lifeguard, studying and have been on the committee for the university Windriders (water sports) society where I designed, ordered and sold club clothing as well as organising (and then unfortunately cancelling) a holiday for 30 people this summer.
I feel that my work experience, coupled with my degree in mathematics, makes me a very strong candidate for this role. I have had experience handling data throughout my degree and have a passion for numbers – I am logical, analytical and numerical. As I have finished the final year of my degree I have been giving a lot of thought to my future career path. I am very keen to work with young people and a role, such as this, that combines my degree and engaging with young people would be a fantastic opportunity for me at this stage.
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