What are you doing now?
When I graduated I had friends in the year above who had joined a local geophysical survey company called EMU Limited, and on their recommendation I followed. The first six months were fairly slow, but when I left four years later I was a fully-fledged Project Manager, with experience working around the world including Australia and the Netherlands, with months experience offshore as well.
Why did I leave? To emigrate to Seattle, USA to marry Marie. Now, a couple of years later I’m the Survey Manager with a company called Williamson, working on drilling projects, and offshore as well. Come May 2016 I should be 500 miles offshore on a secret-squirrel survey. Seattle is amazing, and although immigration isn’t a cakewalk I couldn’t be happier.
In my spare time we head out hiking, sailing, skiing, canoeing and cycling. The environment is completely different here (unless England’s reintroduced bears and wolves since I left).
What route did you take up to this point?
When I left DHSB in 2006, I was going to the University of Southampton to read Geology, with very little idea of the wider world, work or who I really was. I left a great bunch of people, and memories of them are the ones I treasure the most, and found university great – with one maxim, if there’s no one to make you work hard, you have to make yourself.
In the four years there doing an MGeol I had a blast, and best remember the opportunities for fieldwork in Bulgaria (six weeks in a remote village), France, Wales and all around England. I always liked being outdoors. At Southampton my life changed entirely, though I didn’t know it at the time, when I met my future wife, who was doing an exchange from the University of Washington, USA. Again, people are key – so try to be a decent human being, it helps!
Any advice for Year 7 students?
Work hard and realise you should be having fun and that you may never get to study with such a decent bunch again. Take advantage of every club and activity you can, you don’t get far in life sitting in a corner.
And for Sixth Form students?
Beware, I wasn’t nearly as smart as I thought I was but with the right attitude the world can be yours. If it’s hard, it’s probably meant to be.
Messages to staff
Not sure which of the staff are still there, but my regards to Ms Nye, Mr Sandercock, Mr Martin, Mr Espinosa, Ms Ward, Mr Widdecombe, oh and Ms Davidson who looked after us in Sixth Form.