Carrie Power never considered university during her school years. Nobody in her family had attended university and that lack of exposure led to her leaving school without understanding all of her options.

At age 19, Carrie joined the British Army, initially training as a Vehicle Mechanic and later serving as a Combat Medic Technician in the Army Reserves, before working as a Transport Scheduler for the Army. It offered no progression routes and Carrie started questioning her career path.

She decided to take a chance and apply to university, winning a place at Swansea University to study Modern Languages. During her time at university she also found a place on the University’s swimming team, recently wining a bronze medal at the British Masters Championships.

Carrie is now preparing to train as a German and French teacher at Oxford University and is looking forward to sharing her new understanding of higher education and its potential with the next generation.

Photo of Carrie. Black text on orange background: "Being at university is the happiest I’ve been in my entire life. I feel content that I’m on the right path in life now, and that makes any struggle I’ve had to go through worth it."