Harper Life 2019 - Alumni Magazine

Victoria Stead, 2010 -2017 2011 HAC EFD Scholarship; 2014 HAC President’s Scholarship; 2016 HAC Award for Post Graduate Studies. When I started at Harper Adams little did I know just howmuch my life would change whilst I was there. I enrolled onto the Extended Foundation Degree in 2010, hoping that I would be able to continue onto the Countryside Management Foundation Degree course. I found that I really enjoyed being a student at Harper and at the end of that year my grades enabled me to enrol onto the Countryside and Environmental Management BSc (Hons) course. During my time at Harper Adams I applied for Harper Adams Club Scholarships. I can’t tell you how nervous I was during my first scholarship interview, I wondered why I was being interviewed alongside younger students who had experience and -I thought- would be better recipients for the scholarship. When I heard that I was successful I couldn’t believe it! It was such a boost knowing that someone could see something in me that I couldn’t see myself. I finished my degree in 2015 with a 2:1 and I was helped in no small way by the Harper Adams Club. I would urge everyone who is eligible to apply for a Harper Adams Club scholarship – the financial reward is great and certainly took away some of the financial worries that you have as a student but the personal rewards are even greater and shouldn’t be underestimated. I went on to study for my MSc in Integrated Pest Management at Harper Adams graduating in 2017. I then undertook teacher training and I am now a geography teacher teaching in a secondary school in urban Wallsall. My job is very different to what I thought I wanted to do when I enrolled at Harper Adams and I doubt that I would have been so successful without the help and support of the Harper Adams Club and my fellow students – many of whom I am still in contact with and meet regularly. I take every opportunity to tell my students of what they can gain from attending university and I hope to see some of my students attending Harper in the future! In true Harper Spirit since graduating frommy BSc I have joined the committee of the Harper Adams Club where I hope that I can give back a little of all that was given to me by being lucky enough to study at such a great university and by receiving scholarships from the Harper Adams Club. Sarah Haire (nee Long), 1999-2004. HA Club Scholar 2003 What significance did winning the scholarship have for you? At the time I did not realise the value of the scholarship if I am being honest. It was a great financial boost to keep studying especially after a four year degree, funds were limited! However the opportunity to do my MSc at Harper, facilitated by the scholarship set me in good stead or my career path. Competing in a male dominated world, I felt I needed to give myself an edge over fellow grads and I firmly believe the MSc did this. How has your career progressed since then? I initially gained employment with a company called ABM, who wrote and managed the standards for beef and lamb farm assurance. After five years as Development Manager, I joined Hilton Food Group as Agriculture Manager, looking after all agri related matters, as well as some technical auditing. I then joined Dawn Meats in 2010 as Agriculture Manager for the UK and Irish business and since the joint venture with Dunbia in the UK in 2017. I am currently the Group Agriculture Strategy Manager and alongside this chair the European Roundtable for Beef Sustainability. I have also completed a Nuffield Scholarship, looking at beef marketing around the world whilst I have met and married my husband, have a three year old daughter and have recently purchased 30 acres where we farm a few Hereford cattle, Wiltshire Horn sheep and three Berkshire pigs! Do you come across alumni contacts in your work? It’s slightly scary how many alumni are in all sectors of the meat industry and Harper is an immediate conversation starter. How do you think Harper graduates are perceived in the industry? They are well respected throughout and the placement period is something that gives graduates the edge in the employment stakes in my opinion and makes them sought after. What is your fondest memory or best story of your time at Harper? Now you’re testing my memory! I’m not sure I can pick one – I am just glad we didn’t have Facebook around when I was there, especially for the student union initiation antics! The best story is still being written – the friends I still have today and keep in touch with, both through personal and work life that go back to Harper days – they’re memories that are still being made. Scholars: where are they now?