Enniskillen Royal Grammar School

9 hours ago

Daniel Gilmore

Year I left: 2020

Subjects: Geography, Biology and English Literature

As part of the first full GCSE cohort of the school, I left ERGS on a random day in March 2020. Our formal was cancelled and we all expected to be back after a couple of weeks — but we all know what happened next.

I knew the COVID-19 pandemic was going to ruin the typical “freshers” experience, so I deferred my place at Newcastle University to work in my local SPAR for a year. I was sad seeing all my friends leave, but I built up money and work experience that helped open doors for me in the future.

I’d recommend Newcastle to any student. I made some amazing memories and left with a First Class BSc in Environmental Science with Placement, along with an award for the best dissertation in my year.

My placement year was spent as an Assistant Geo-Environmental Consultant at Tetra Tech in Belfast. I worked on some really big projects, including the GeoEnergyNI demonstrator project - the first large-scale geothermal investigation of Northern Ireland.

I am currently studying a Master’s Degree in Forestry for Green Sustainable Development at Linnaeus University in Sweden. There are no tuition fees in Sweden for EU citizens or those with an Irish passport, so I think this is a pathway that should be promoted more often. I really love it over here and everything is taught in English, so don’t worry if your Swedish isn’t up to scratch!

Thank you to Mr Beddard for shouting at me to fix my deforestation homework. It turns out I’m quite good at talking about trees after all! ... See MoreSee Less