Urban Synergy were at Conisborough College to deliver another Role Model Seminar on Thursday 5th July.
The panel on the evening were;
- Stephen Akinsanya - Barrister, Great James Street Chambers
- Colin Donaldson - Airline pilot, British Airways
- Dr. Donald Palmer - Associate Professor of Immunology, Royal Veterinary College
- Dawn Goring MBE - Executive Asst & Office Manager, Prime Minister’s Press Office
- Daniel Taylor - Founder & CEO MDC Group (Interior design - designing and building bespoke interiors for public and private sectors.)
Stephen Akinsanya told the audience that ‘it is important to have self-belief. Be ready to work hard, nothing comes easy. Keep striving to improve yourself, you are never too late to learn.’ Colin Donaldson advised ‘start with what you enjoy, the work doesn’t seem so hard if you enjoy it. Be in a position to take advantage of luck when it comes.’
Dr Donald Palmer said ‘choose your passion. Don’t be afraid to do things that may not be considered the norm. Support one another.’
Dawn Goring MBE talked about the personal qualities needed for her role at No.10 and said ‘be respectful, be calm under duress and work as a team.’ Daniel Taylor said ‘it is important to have the desire to succeed. Everybody you know will have friends who you will work with. Keep in contact with people and don’t put anything on the internet that you don’t want anyone to see.’
Our World War II Veteran, Neil Flannigan, said ‘there is no child here who wants to be last.’
The role models also talked about their jobs and how they came to be in their roles, then joined the rest of the role models for the speed mentoring session. Some of the top tips that were given the students during the evening were;
- Do your research about the company that you are interviewing with.
- It is important to be good at your job, you can’t be good at your job if you don’t enjoy it.
- Always be prepared
Be around like minded people, concentrate on what you need to do, be around people you can do your homework with.
Some of the feedback from the students on the evening is captured below;
Bill aged 13 yrs: ‘I need to focus now if I want to be where I want to be later in life. I will have a different approach to my learning.’
Alana aged 13 yrs: ‘The thing I enjoyed the most about this role model seminar is that people from different types of work came in and gave advice for students to achieve their goals.’
Alexander aged 13 yrs: ‘I will put much more effort in and keep trying and not let anything put me down or give up.’
Rebecca aged 13 yrs: ‘I will work hard and take my education very seriously.’
Deborah aged 13 yrs: ‘I learned that I can achieve anything and don’t give up because you think that it is hard, because you are going to have obstacles that you are going to have to face.
Tuly-Mae aged 14yrs: ‘I learned to follow my dreams. I have to be in it to win it. Work hard and do what I am passionate about. I will work hard and put in the extra work/effort.’
