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Laura the perfect college ambassador
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| ENJOYING LIFE: Laura Bond, 19, takes a study break in the beautiful grounds at Harper Adams |
BLACKAWTON teenager Laura Bond knows she's got a future as a farm entrepreneur - and now she's encouraging other Devon teenagers to take a trip towards agricultural success.
Laura grew up helping out on the family sheep farm, and gained plenty of experience as the business diversified to sell its own meat at farmers' markets under the Farmer Phil Bond brand. Then a two-day visit to a specialist college confirmed the direction she was heading in.
A former pupil of St John the Baptist RC Primary School, Dartmouth, and King Edward VI Community College, Totnes, Laura has just completed her first year at Harper Adams University College, Shropshire, studying agri-food marketing with business studies.
She knew she wanted to remain a part of the farming community, but wasn't quite sure of the right career path until she attended HEC - Higher Education Choices - a university taster event at Harper Adams, in July 2006.
"My cousin comes to Harper, so I knew it was a great place to do farming-related courses, and there was a poster up at school about HEC. So I rallied up three other girls and we all came together on the free bus from Devon. That in itself was great fun, and it turned out I'd met one of the Harper Adams students staffing the coach before, so there was one less stranger.
"Not that knowing people mattered. Everyone was really friendly and fun and we all got involved. HEC itself was so much more fun than I imagined. There were lectures and study-based activities, which I did learn a lot from, but it was the whole experience that made me want to come here.
"I thought, if I'm having this much fun without alcohol - as the student union bar sells only soft drinks at HEC - what's it going to be like when I am a fully-fledged student?"!
Her mind made up, Laura returned to Devon and applied to Harper Adams while completing her A-levels. Just over a year after taking part in the HEC experience, she began life as a student.
Now, as a student ambassador, Laura will be promoting all that the college has to offer by supporting visiting 16-18 year olds at this summer's HEC event on July 7 and 8.
And she's got plenty to shout about. "My course is way better than I thought it was going to be," Laura saID. "There's a lot of practical knowledge as well as the textbook element, and it's all really useful. I can go back and apply it on the farm. I've been giving my dad tips already - not that he appreciates them all!" And soon he might have another expert to listen to, as younger daughter Briony, 16, will be taking part in HEC 2008.
HEC offers 16-18 year olds a real university experience. They stay in halls on campus, get advice on courses for rural, animal, engineering, business, and land-based careers, take some lectures and seminars, have a party and discover a whole new world of opportunities.
For more information visit www.harper-adams.ac.uk or call HEC co-ordinator Sally Bishop on 01952 815265.
Students from the South West can book to take a free bus to HEC on Sunday, July 6. It will pick up from Camborne, Truro, Bodmin, Plymouth, Newton Abbot, Exeter and Taunton. The coach will return students to the south west on the Tuesday night.
Harper Adams University College is the UK's largest provider of land-based higher education. Last year the Times Higher Education Supplement placed Harper Adams top of 148 UK Universities for the employability of its graduates, and it was named Sunday Times University College of the Year.
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