On Thursday a group of our Year 8 and 9 pupils were lucky enough to attend a talk at Etone from Sarah Barrington to discuss potential careers in STEM. Sarah is a local resident who has had a very successful career and was able to share her inspirational story without pupils as we strive to drive their aspirations and share with them the possibilities. Throughout GCSE’s and A Levels Sarah was determined and shared how the hours of hard work and dedication to studying paid off as she achieve top results which enabled her to look at some of the most prestigious universities in the country. Finally settling on first choice Cambridge University, Sarah attended her course studying for a Bachelor of Arts in Engineering before moving onto a Masters in Engineering with a specialism in manufacturing.
Following this Sarah discussed her experiences working for McLaren Racing and being part of the team that was integral to improving the results of their racers, using engineering and coding to make marginal gains. Whilst one of the many highlights of the session the impressive story did not end there. Sarah shared her current status as a PhD student focusing on the developing world of Artificial Intelligence along with the work she is doing with the highly prestigious Berkeley University in California. Working in such a fast paced industry the pupils were amazed to hear about projects from driverless technology to uncovering methods used by criminals to create deep fakes.
After the presentation pupils had the chance to explore their own questions and consider the reasons they might like to get into a career in STEM. It was particularly great to see how our Year 9 and 10 girls responded to Sarah as a positive female role model in STEM, something which is a real focus at the moment. Finally all that was left was to say a big thank you and present Sarah with a small token of appreciation from our pupils.
The event itself really underpinned why our Etone Values, Employability Skills and hard work are such and important aspect at Etone College as Sarah shared the same ideals of the Etone Learner with our pupils. A big thank you to Sarah and good luck with the rest of the PhD – Wherever you find your start in life, it can take you anywhere!
