Once again this academic year our meet-up was virtual. We had a great turnout of students and a variety of exciting sessions that complemented the ones from our November meet-up.
The afternoon began with a bespoke session from London’s National Gallery, exploring themes around conflict. Using three different paintings the break-out groups discussed the connections between war, moral conflict and opposing perspectives.
It was interesting to zoom into the paintings.
Next on the schedule was an induction for the year 10s and year 12s to the Brilliant Club’s scholar’s programme, which they’ll be completing between March and June this year. This is a fantastic chance to write a sixth-form or university style research essay under the guidance of PhD student tutors.
Meanwhile, mentor Vee (BA English, Newnham College, University of Cambridge) ran a workshop on staying motivated for the year 11s an year 13s. They discussed the power of to-do and ta-da lists and other top tips on staying afloat during these uncertain times.
Vee’s motivation session was so useful and interesting.
The motivation session from Vee was really eye opening.
In the cohort mentoring session, students caught up with each other and shared their recent experiences of lockdown and school.
Our final part of the afternoon were a series of four sessions which the students chose between. Laurence Goodwin (Head of US Applications, Sevenoaks School) led students through the process of applying to US universities, providing valuable information and advice and Sian Bex (SLO at Queens College, University of Cambridge) delivered a session about student finance, which was gratefully received.
The finance session from Sian was really informative for when I go to university in September.
Aspiring medics had a brilliant drop-in session with Doctor Chan from Kent Medway Medical School, Charlotte Strange (Medical student at St Andrews and incoming KAN mentor), and Vruti Sanhavi (Post-graduate medical student at Keele university). This was really appreciated and the students asked brilliant questions.
My favourite part of the meet-up was talking to a medical expert and current medical students.
Finally, mentor Rebekah (BSc Sociology, UCL, and KAN alumni) gave an introduction to ideology in modern politics. Students figured out how to define “left” and “right” tackled questions such as: What on earth does it mean to be a “Conservative”? Why would anyone become a member of the Labour Party? What makes someone “far-right”? And why does Bernie Sanders consider himself a “democratic socialist”?
I really enjoyed the talk from Rebekah about politics as well as hearing about motivation with Vee.
Thank you to all our students, mentors, teachers and guest speakers for a fantastic meet-up event. We look forward to the next KAN event in March.
