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Why I chose Surrey 

Like many people, I was very unsure of what I wanted to do with my life after finishing my A-levels. I had gravitated towards science throughout my education as I found it interesting and engaging.  

Having friends that knew exactly what profession they wanted to go into was frustrating at times. However, one offered some helpful advice: ‘Do a degree that looks great on paper, raises eyebrows when you tell people and that allows you to specialise in what interests you as you go.’ I quickly found that a degree in biomedical science ticked all the boxes for me and I began visiting universities that offered it. The University of Surrey was top of my list as I loved the campus and got great vibes from the open days. 

My studies 

I started the BSc Biomedical Science course in 2012 and graduated with first-class honours in 2016. I did a placement year at UCL’s Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology. 

The degree was fascinating and the lecturers are world-class in their field and awesome people. I even attended a farewell lecture from my biochemistry professor recently for his retirement and he recognised me instantly after seven years!  

Studying biomedical science at Surrey was, in a word, fantastic. I would highly recommend it to anyone considering it. Furthermore, I would strongly advise doing a placement year to anyone; it’s invaluable for employability and life experience. 

Life after Surrey 

After graduating I started teaching in biology for a while but found that it was only about 30% teaching and 70% paperwork, meetings and emails, so decided it wasn’t the career for me. 

After my degree, I was pretty burnt out. I took up gardening as a hobby and really loved it. I wanted to see if I could capitalise on this and wound up working as a garden centre manager for a few years. Unfortunately, the store closed and all the employees were made redundant. Thankfully, this led me back to science and I began working as a laboratory technician at Eurofins water testing facility in Camberley. 

Then Covid-19 hit and I found myself out of a job once again because of lockdown. It can feel like life has a funny sense of humour sometimes. I got a call from the recruiter that helped me get my previous Eurofins job; however, this time the job was at another Eurofins site on the Surrey Research Park for Covid-19 blood testing. I both lost and gained employment because of Covid! 

I started my job at Eurofins Clinical Diagnostics as a medical laboratory assistant. Within 10 months I was promoted to an associate practitioner role. Now, I have recently completed two years at Eurofins and I’m working on my IBMS registration portfolio. I feel like I am where I am meant to be and doing what I am supposed to do. 

Find out more about our BSc Biomedical Science.