Luke’s Story
Luke Verrall
BSc Environmental Conservation
Leeds University
Ex-Grove School and Bexhill College student
Age: 19
Luke is the first person in his family to go to university. He got involved in the Aimhigher programme while he was still at school and found it really helpful to meet local students who had gone to university. He also learned how to mind map in the revision seminars, a technique he still uses in his university studies.
Luke chose to study Environmental Conservation at Leeds University as he wants “to make a difference to the world in a way that will improve it for future generations and wildlife”. His degree course covers a wide range of subjects and he gets to spend a lot of his time out in the field, rather than just in lectures. This includes going to the Lake District to take river samples, where he inadvertently lost his shoes!
When he graduates, Luke has a wide range of options for careers. He could work for environmental consultants, NGO’s (Greenpeace, FOE), the environment agency, water authorities and many others in UK. He’d also “like to work abroad to protect wildlife and conserve the rainforest!”
Luke did miss his home in the first semester but soon adapted to university life away from Sussex and feels that studying away from home has given him the opportunity to develop as an individual as well as getting involved in the social side of university – he belongs to lots of Student Societies, including the theatre society and conservation volunteers. He has just been made co-President of the Environment Society and is also involved in the student and staff committee for the School of Environment.
Luke says “You are taken away from familiar surroundings, friends and family, but it enables you to develop as an individual – every student is in the same situation.”
