I spent my first summer in a full time gardening job, but soon realised that the more I could do, the more employable I would be upon graduating, so my second summer was spent doing the Shell Technology Enterprise Programme (STEP), which operates throughout the UK. This involved research on seed oils and biofuels.

Following the January exams in my third year, when most people went on holiday, I spent two weeks looking at various career paths and applying for internships. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do as a career but knew that internships would open up more doors.

Following a lengthy application and interview process, I ended up getting a 10 week summer internship with Barclays Capital, along with 120 other penultimate-year students. This was quite stressful, particularly for someone with almost no knowledge of the banking system. The internship plunged everyone in at the deep end but this is by far the best way to learn and to experience the work and buzz of the office. At the end, I was offered a full-time job starting the September after graduation. This took the pressure off my last year somewhat and allowed my golf to improve, but I still had to get my degree so I couldn't totally relax!