Tiverton High School was visited by a University student last week. Jed a current first year Strength and Conditioning student at Hartpury College completed a day of work experience with the PE department which included giving an inspirational talk to our current year 10 students. They had the opportunity to ask Jed a variety of questions about how to progress to University, his rugby career and University life.
Jed started off by telling the students about life before University. He has played rugby since the age of 4 and progressed through playing for a club, school, Devon, Chiefs and South West England. His schooling took place at Ivybridge where he loved PE but struggled with some subjects such as English and Maths. He knew that his long term goal was to play professional rugby but this wouldn’t be a career he could do all his life. Realising this he knew that he had to work hard to get as many qualifications as possible go to college and then University to gain a qualification he could fall back on. He has thought about teaching, personal training and strength and conditioning coaching within a professional club.
He stressed the importance of ensuring that students work hard and achieve so that lots of pathways are available to them. During his Level 3 course he needed to choose a University. Some recommended Exeter University but he said that it would be too close to home, he visited Cardiff University but felt it wasn’t quite for him and finally found the right place at Hartpury. The course has the opportunity to complete a placement year and he is hoping to do this at Gloucester Rugby Club which is nearby. He stressed the importance of doing research about different courses and Universities encouraging students to look at websites to find out about their facilities, watch the videos the Universities produce as well as going along to taster days and open events to get a feel for the place and the students.
Students wanted to know more about his week and what it involves. Jed has early morning rugby training Monday, Tuesday and Friday and plays games on Wednesday. The rest of his day is filled with lectures until about 4pm after which he often goes to the gym and works on his assignments and revision for tests. He stressed that a lot of work is done outside of the timetabled lecture time but is enjoying living by himself, cooking and managing his own time.
One student asked ‘what gives you the motivation to keep going?’ Jed replied ‘it’s competitive at Uni but knowing what your end goal is and how to build up to it helps. That and working hard!’
A Sports Studies student wanted to know what the qualities of an effective coach were ‘they need to be inspiring, motivating, resilient and give lots of praise and feedback’ replied Jed.
Mr Morrell was keen to find out more about other courses at Hartpury and Jed spoke about the University being a well renown centre for Equestrianism as well as Women’s Rugby and that the University had lots of different courses to suit all different sports pathways.
‘What else can students do to ensure that they stand out at interview or on their application?’ Jed mentioned that volunteering at local clubs or getting involved with junior teams can help show your commitment as well as taking up opportunities to complete qualifications such as DofE.
Students were keen to find out about living on your own for the first time. Missing home was discussed but soon creating a routine of your own helped and that going back home at weekends and holidays was actually hard because it was someone else’s routine not your own. Jed enjoys cooking for himself concentrating on his nutrition but not having to eat ‘weird vegetables that mum puts in everything’ was great! He enjoys living on site at Hartpury as it has a community feel and it is easier for training. Some students live off site about 10-15 minutes away and so need a car to get in everyday.
He left the students with some advice ‘Prepare for what is coming, it is stressful but if you work hard you can move to something bigger and better’.