Anya's Chester Made Story: Chester pushed me to grow in independence and confidence

What stands out most when I look back on my time studying Chinese and Spanish BA (Hons) at Chester is how much it pushed me to grow in independence and confidence.

Developing Self-motivation and Resilience

I was determined to make the most of my time at Chester, whether that was studying abroad, engaging with different learning formats, or getting involved in extracurricular activities. A big part of this was the international element of the course, in which I chose to complete a teaching placement in Albacete, Spain, and a year with Minzu University of China. I was able to develop self-motivation and resilience through living and working abroad, as well as by adapting to a fully online international learning environment.

Practical and Leadership Skills for the Workplace

One thing I valued was the variety of assessment styles across the four years. From presentations and podcasts to business reports and professional interpretation tasks, I can now fully appreciate the broad range of practical skills that were developed and that have been very useful in the workplace.

Alongside this, I was able to work on leadership skills through different roles and experiences. As a student representative, I would communicate on behalf of my coursemates, and as Swimming Captain I organised events and training sessions. I also regularly stepped up in group work situations, which helped me build momentum in taking initiative and working effectively with others.

Opportunities Beyond My Studies

Outside of my studies, I continued to look for opportunities to get involved in through volunteering and employability programmes. I volunteered as a teaching assistant at a local primary school, earning the Chester Volunteering Silver Award, and I've continued to build on this interest in community involvement and mentoring since graduating. Across all of these experiences, I was keen to make the most of the opportunities available and used them to build transferable skills for the future.

Post Graduation

I completed a summer internship at Bank of America, which later led to a graduate offer, and I have been working full time since July 2024 in Global Markets Operations as a Business Control Specialist within Risk.

It was a steep learning curve at the start, particularly coming from a non-traditional banking background. However, I’ve been able to use that to my advantage by leveraging all the skills I developed throughout university, such as communication (in English and in other languages!) and attention to detail, to learn quickly and build confidence in a new environment.

What I enjoy most about my role is how constantly evolving and fast-paced it is. There is always a process to enhance, or senior stakeholders to present ideas to, which means there is a strong focus on continuous improvement – and that's something I was used to with language learning.

Outside of my core role, I've also been actively involved in early careers and student initiatives. I regularly take part in recruitment events, including sitting on panels where I talk about transferable skills and encourage students to apply for opportunities even if they feel their degree isn't directly relevant. I also volunteer with the Bank; for example, I have designed and delivered workshops to local high school students about the importance of languages in business. Following this, we saw an increase in students choosing to continue studying languages at GCSE level, which was a really rewarding outcome!

My Advice for Students

Overall, my advice to current and future students would be to stay open to opportunities that might not seem like an obvious fit at first. I'm glad I took the plunge and applied to Bank of America, as it's allowed me to thrive in a new environment, face new challenges, and genuinely enjoy what I do.

The photo at the top of this blog is of my graduation day in November 2024, where I was awarded the University Prize for Chinese. I really enjoyed the day, and it was great to see all of my friends!