Can you share a bit of your background and how you came to The Mary Erskine School?
I grew up on a small farm in West Lothian. Whilst growing up on a farm is idyllic in ways, it was also difficult to reach anything without driving and so meeting friends was difficult. My catchment area school was oversubscribed, with few extracurricular clubs, and offered limited courses at a high level. Getting the opportunity to attend the Mary Erskine School, I suddenly found myself in a school of thousands of pupils where everyone received individual support and attention. While adjusting was overwhelming at first, I soon found my feet and began to thrive in an environment with access to so much and opportunities. From Primary 1 all the way through to Sixth Form, I was lucky to make a close group of friends, who are still a large part of my life and helped ensure that I had a strong support network as I embarked upon my adult life.
What was your experience like, did you have any favourite subjects or teachers?
Throughout my school career I always had small classes, especially towards the end of secondary school, which allowed for lots of individual support and guidance from teaching staff. By 6th year I had focused on Maths, Biology and Art to study at Advanced Higher & A Level, and took music lessons right the way through school.
I loved my classes because everyone was encouraged to participate and become confident in contributing to discussions. If my classes had been larger, it would have been easier for me to blend into the background. I learned that it’s okay to be wrong and, more often than not, the most important question you can ask is “why?”.
What opportunities did you have at School that you might not have had access to otherwise and what difference did they make?
When I started school, staying away from home was difficult for me. I certainly never considered going on a school exchange. This changed when one of my friends from the school curling club was involved in the Australian Exchange in S3 and encouraged me to apply for the following year. Having the opportunity to live in Australia for 2 months exposed me to people from cultures, with different lifestyles and to social issues which I had little exposure to growing up in rural Scotland. The exchange fundamentally changed my perspective on what opportunities are available and truly how global the world is.
I also went on a trip to Switzerland to visit The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), whose research is defining the cutting edge of particle physics. While I can’t claim to completely understand the research we witnessed, it was magical to discover that the world of science still has so much that is unknown.
Along with trips, I also took full advantage of the wide range of clubs that were available as I found it was also one of the ways that I could build strong friendships – I did everything from cross-stitch and curling, to Highland dancing and creative writing! Curling, in particular, helped me become a strong team player, which collectively helped our team to win the Edinburgh Schools trophy several years in a row.
On reflection back, what impact did your education have for what you have gone on to do?
After leaving school I took a gap year, after which I took a leap of faith and decided to enrol in Minerva University. Through my degree, I studied in San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Seoul, Hyderabad, London and Berlin, and latterley I have worked in the Bay Area, Mexico City, Istanbul and Madagascar on projects on climate change, biology and sustainability. I could never have imagined such a trajectory before participating in MES’s Australian Exchange.
In my career, I had the opportunity to attend COP26, the UN’s Climate Conference, as an official representative at Blue Zone negotiations. I had been working with a leading NGO in Argentina on agricultural climate policy, and was particularly focused on the UN’s Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture. It was the first COP conference I had attended but, equipped with many skills from my education, I was able to feel confident participating in important negotiations.
Simultaneous to my work in the climate field, I am co-founding two software companies based in Silicon Valley and learning how to support myself through that as an entrepreneur. Central to this is surrounding yourself with trusted mentors and advisors who can be fully honest with you – something that I learned the value of while in school.
How did your education shape you?
Definitely the greatest thing I learned is that education does not simply happen in the classroom. Extra-curricular clubs, outdoor education and social activities provided through the school helped me to develop valuable life skills that cannot simply be taught in a curriculum. School helped me develop into a confident and conscientious person, who is willing to try new things without the fear of failing.
Thank you so much to everyone that has given – I would not change it for anything and I am very grateful for the opportunity that I was gifted.
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