Ultimately Eliana

By Eliana M

Who am I?

Hello guys! My name is Eliana and I am a second year BSc (Hons) Medical Science student at Anglia Ruskin University.

Journey into Uni

My journey into university was very much non-traditional. I migrated from Portugal to England at 16 years old and found myself with no GCSEs - this impeded me from entering a sixth form to study towards university as all of my peers did. For the next year, I attended college in a small town called Rotherham, where I achieved my GCSEs in English and Maths. This allowed me to attend another college sixth form in the same town, where I obtained more GCSEs (Triple Science + History) so that I could finally study A-levels.

At age 18, I was at last studying A-level Biology, Chemistry and Psychology, with the goal of applying for Medicine at university. Unfortunately, during those two years of preparation, I severely struggled with my mental health (I am diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder), alongside losing my father to his battle against cancer. At the time, I had no idea how much everything had affected me and slowly lost my self-confidence. This resulted in me giving up on applying for Medicine during Year 12 and deciding to ‘go with the flow’ with my academics, as well as with life in general.

I applied for ARU as my second choice, however, it became my first-choice university after I received an unconditional offer to study Medical Science! After having visited the city of Chelmsford, I fell in love with it which influenced my decision.

Fast-forward three years, I am a lot better mentally and feel that I am slowly growing my confidence. This has led me to revisit my dream of becoming a doctor and to face my fear of failure. As I am now in my second year, I will be applying to study Medicine after my degree.

Is the sky the limit? Not mine!

What led me to the decision to apply for Medicine was getting more involved once I entered university. I was able to meet the right people at the right time, gaining the best advice I could have ever received as a student: "Future you will be very grateful for what you chose to do today”. This one piece of advice made me reflect on the fact that I only have one chance at life, and that if I am to live in it then I want to go all in, on my own terms. So now everything I do is thinking about whether my future self would be happy with it, and that is how I became even more proactive of a person. As a result, I am now the vice president of the Afro-Caribbean Society, as well as a Peer Wellbeing Mentor for my university.

These two roles have taught me a lot about the importance of student engagement. Being active and interacting with everyone helped me to finally believe that I can rebuild my confidence and that nothing is lost if I put effort into it. Meeting people from all backgrounds: international students, home students, and immigrants - like me – has broadened my perspective regarding how ambitious I can be. It can be hard to have confidence, as suffering from GAD can be a very debilitating experience. However, every time I meet someone new with a new story, I feel that I am being validated for wanting to reach for the stars, and that not even the sky is the limit!

My Ultimate Tip – ENGAGE!

I understand how overwhelming university can be. My best tip is to tackle one issue at a time. That is genuinely what makes me able to manage my GAD alongside my busy schedule. Another piece of advice I have is to embrace unpredictability; I am happy I have chosen to chase my dreams again, however, even if I don’t get into Medicine, I am proud of myself for trying. There will still be many more opportunities ahead for me because I chose to engage.