Journey to University
Date 5 October 2022
The writer highlights her journey of how she studied in Africa from a young age, and the routes she took to be able to study her dream course.
My journey to university has not been easy, having completed my primary and high school studies in Kenya, Africa. When l came back to the UK l thought it would be easy for me to go university because l was born here, but that was not the case. I had my high school grades from my previous school in Africa and l asked a couple of universities if they would take me. Most of them declined due to the entry requirements, or in some cases, they required scholarships and straight A’s in your grades, which was not the case for me.
Basically, for me to go university l had to go to college to be able to attain a UK certificate. To top it off, l had to re-take my English and Maths as they were requirements by the university. In 2019 l was doing three courses at the same time – Art Design, Maths, and an English course – it was hard for me to balance all three, but l managed because my goal was to go university to study my dream course. I know it’s weird studying Art Design when l was aiming for Journalism, but the truth is at the time all Journalism classes in colleges were full, or l had missed the intake. I decided to do Art Design because it was for a short duration as l needed just the certificate to go to university, but it also helped me gain experience in creativity and planning.
When l joined university l had to start with the foundation in Journalism as l couldn’t use my Art Design certificate because it wasn’t related to journalism. Personally, l didn’t mind because I knew I was on the journey to reach my dream course. I am proud to say l reached my goal and am currently going into my second year in Multimedia Journalism at the University of Northampton. The University is supportive and patient with their students and has taught me a lot.
The journey wasn’t easy, but for anyone in a similar situation to me, I’d say don’t give up as there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.
Theresa Katuse Mutunga is an aspiring news presenter currently studying Multimedia Journalism at the University of Northampton. She loves reading novels and doing YouTube videos during her free time.