First-class Portsmouth university graduate was given a 'second chance' by going through clearing
A WOMAN who graduated from a city university with a first-class degree has urged others to consider going through the clearing system if they miss out on their first choice.
Keen academic Beulah Waritimi was given a ‘second chance’ by the University of Portsmouth three years ago when she was able to enrol on the international relations with a language BA.
She had studied A-levels in biology, chemistry and Mandarin with the intention of going on to pursue biomedical science.
However, she found she was no longer as interested in that idea nearer the time – and didn’t quite get the grades needed.
The 21-year-old said: ‘I was on course to study biomedical science but I wasn’t quite sure about it and I’d already started thinking about international relations and at that point I really didn’t know what to do.
‘Then my results didn’t work out for biomedical science so I thought “go for it.”
‘I started calling up loads of universities. I had my family with me all going through the lists. Then I looked up international relations degrees online and found the University of Portsmouth. Not long before their clearing line closed I called them and spoke to a woman. She told me they had a place for me, it was an amazing feeling.’
After securing her degree this year Beulah, who moved from Nigeria to attend an English boarding school as a child, has been offered a place studying a fully-funded masters degree at Cambridge.
She added: ‘I’d never even been to Portsmouth before so I was nervous but the fact I was given a second chance was wonderful. When you don’t get the grades you need sometimes it feels like your world is crumbling, but Portsmouth gave me a chance.
‘Clearing feels like the end of the world, but to those going through it, you’re so much more than your grades. This is a single moment in your life. You will survive and thrive.’
‘I would tell people to go with their heart about what they want to study.
‘I want to go on to study a PhD and then I’d like to work in women’s and girl’s education back in Nigeria .’