Our annual post about our fantastic finalists and their plans for life after graduation has become something of a blog tradition (see 2021 here, for example, or 2020 here) and this year is no different. As this year’s finalists prepare for their graduation ceremonies next week, it’s great to be able to share their thoughts and plans for what lies ahead so here goes…
Morgan, who’ll be graduating in International Politics with Languages, is spending her summer volunteering in Calais and working in the refugee camp there (keep an eye on the blog for Morgan’s own post about that). At the end of the Summer, she’ll be off to Belfast to start an MA in Conflict Transformation and Social Justice at Queen’s University. And Pauline, who is also graduating with a BA Hons in International Politics with Languages is spending her Summer working as an intern in the European Parliament, working for an independent MEP. From October, she will be doing a trilingual Master in Applied European governance and policymaking, based in Nice, Kent and Berlin. Sophie, who has just completed her BA Hons in French and Spanish, is also continuing with her studies and is starting a BA in Theology and Christian Leadership at Missio Dei college which has affiliation with the University of Chester. Sophie will also be working with her church in Stirling to manage their social media and communications. As she says, this is a bit different from her degree work but she will have the opportunity to use her French and Spanish on missions trips and will also get the opportunity to learn Hebrew and Greek.
Finn will be graduating in French and Marketing next week and has a part-time field sales role with Fuel10k, an up-and-coming breakfast/cereal brand who also do their fair share of charity and environmental work that has led them to become the first cereal B-Corp brand. Finn’s cycling career is also going well and we’re delighted to be able to report that he has been selected to represent Scotland at the Commonwealth Games this August in Birmingham. He’s also got some big races coming up on the continent, as well as throughout the UK, so we’ll all be keeping our fingers firmly crossed. Then there’s Brendan, who’s graduating in French and Spanish, and who we’re really pleased to say will be returning to Stirling in the Autumn for this to work on our Master’s programme in TESOL. Like Brendan, Ceinwen is also planning future postgraduate studies as she looks forward to a research Master’s, building on her BA Hons in French, and both Muirne and Vasiliki, who will be graduating in Business Studies and French, are also planning postgraduate studies. Muirne will be starting a Master’s in International Business in September and Vasiliki intends to undertake a Master’s in Business based in Madrid, as well as being interested in an internship or a future career that would involve translation further down the line. And Sofia, whose degree was in French and Spanish, is planning a Master’s in South Asian Area Studies at SOAS where she hopes to research the transmission of intergenerational trauma in Asian women in the UK.
As for Maria, who has also just completed her BA Hons in Business Studies and French, at the moment she is working for her family’s business and she hopes to secure a job in Human Resources by the end of September. Maria is currently looking for positions both using French and English and hopes to secure one where she will still be able to practise her French on a daily basis. As part of her degree, Maria spent a semester at our partner institution ESSEC Business School in Cergy-Pontoise and her tip for future languages graduates is to make the most of Study Abroad in job applications because it gives you a real advantage as a candidate. And then we have Jackie, who’ll be graduating with her BA Hons in English Studies and French, and who is currently back home in Chicago with a very busy schedule, working full-time at a hair salon, part-time as a gymnastics coach, and working on writing her seventh book in her spare time. Jackie has been independently publishing books since she was 18, and her goal is to one day become a full-time author. She would love to be able to write full-time and travel around Scotland, France, and more of Europe once she has the savings to do so. Her current plan is to work and save money for a year or two, and then hopefully spend some time in France to really get fluent. As if all that wasn’t enough, Jackie is also currently taking an online TEFL course so would love to build on that in France as well.
Valentina has just completed her BA Hons in International Management with European Languages and Society and is already in employment, working in the finance department of our local translation and interpreting agency Global Voices. Her role is as a credit controller for the Italian and French markets so plenty of scope to continuing using her language skills in a friendly environment where they’re looking to expand their multilingual workforce. And David, who will be graduating with a BA Hons in French and History, is currently in Minnesota working as a Division Director in a summer camp until the end of August. After that, he plans to return to Stirling either to work in the heritage sector or to undertake our own Master’s in Heritage. And Courtney, who is graduating with a BA Hons in French, is continuing her current career path with a job in a pharmacy. She’ll be starting her dispensary course soon which means she can become a dispenser and will be eventually undertaking a course to become a dispensary technician.
Caitlin, who will be graduating with a BA Hons in French, has an offer for a place on the PGDE in Primary Teaching at the University of Strathclyde, a career that has always been her goal and her dream, so she’s really looking forward to starting on her teaching career. Like Caitlin, Eilidh is also heading for a career in teaching, as she reaches the end of her BA Hons in French and Spanish with Professional Education (Secondary) and is particularly pleased to have learned that her probation year will be spent teaching in her own former high school. Shannon, who has just obtained her BA Hons in French and Spanish at Stirling, is moving on to study for a PGDE in Early years and KS1 education at Liverpool John Moores University. She has always wanted to teach primary and her time teaching in Spain through the British Council helped her decide which age she’d like to teach. Shannon hopes to let her language work influence some lesson plans in the future. And our other Caitlin, who is graduating in French and Spanish with Professional Education (Secondary) will also be beginning her probationary year in August and is very much looking forward to getting the opportunity to inspire young people to learn languages. And Lara, who has just completed her BA Hons In French and Spanish, is also off to teach but, in her case, it’ll be through the British Council English Language Assistantship scheme. Next year, she’ll be working as an ELA in the Community of Madrid to experience full immersion in Spanish language and culture and to explore the opportunity of a future career in teaching Languages. Lara is planning on reapplying next year to do the same in a French-speaking country.
And Joanna, who’ll be graduating in French and Spanish, is planning to apply for a post working with PwC and intends to begin a Master’s in either Business or Translation later next year. First and foremost, though, Joanna’s getting married in two weeks’ time and, on behalf of everyone in French at Stirling, we wish her and her partner a very happy future together!
We’ll keep adding to this post as and when updates come in from more of this year’s finalists but, as ever, this is definitely one of the most fun posts to put together and we’re really grateful to all the finalists who have been in touch so far. On behalf of everyone in French at Stirling, we wish you a fantastic graduation and all the very best for the future, and we hope you’ll keep in touch with us over the months and years ahead.
French at Stirling 