Student Stories
During the pandemic, I ran and personally funded four free-to-attend Make Your Mark Student Schools so that young people could experience professional coaching before they entered the workplace full-time. A few of the students who completed the programme went on to become Student Ambassadors.
These young people, tomorrow's leaders, helped organise and participated in the Schools in return for continued learning and development support.
Read on to discover more about them, what they learnt, and how they have gone on to apply their learning in their academic and every-day lives.
Case studies

Michelle Amoah - Strathclyde University
Make Your Mark Ambassador
Moving from Ghana at 17, Michelle found she didn’t have the right qualifications to study medicine in the UK. Undeterred, the Robertson Trust scholar found a second possible route in; studying biomedical science at Strathclyde University. Today, her curiosity about the human body stretches beyond medicine, to include a fascination with how we think, react and speak.
Case studies

Jeffrey Hongming - University of Central Lancashire
Make Your Mark Ambassador
Jeffrey Hóngmíng found the University of Central Lancashire a welcome turning point in his life. Yet despite having graduated with a first-class honours degree in Accountancy and secured a graduate placement with a leading banking group, Jeffrey’s confidence remained low. Then Make Your Mark Ambassador, Emily Mason, offered him a free-to-attend place on Winter School 2022 and life took another positive turn.
Case studies

Emily Mason - Heriot Watt University
Make Your Mark Ambassador
“Learning that will stay with you forever,” is how engineering graduate Emily Mason describes her experience of the Make Your Mark with Susan Room® summer school. Discover Emily’s story and why she thinks “this learning could be revolutionary for women in STEM”.
Case studies

Kirsty Mitchell - Heriot Watt University
Make Your Mark Ambassador
Kirsty was a self-proclaimed ‘bad public speaker’ before doing Make Your Mark with Susan Room®. Now, this fifth-year chemical engineering student feels she has the confidence to “do it properly” and “can’t wait to give her next presentation”.
Case studies

Lauren Johnston - Heriot Watt University
Make Your Mark Ambassador
A Master’s graduate in Business Strategy, Leadership and Change from Heriot-Watt University, Lauren Johnston, jumped at the chance while studying to boost her confidence and learn practical tools to help her overcome anxiety. Now emboldened and empowered, Lauren’s determined to help others experience Make Your Mark for students so they too can find and unlock their potential.
Case studies

Lewis Traill - Edinburgh University
Make Your Mark Ambassador
Lewis Traill knows he’ll graduate with great technical skills when he completes his studies in Mechanical Engineering, but he also knows he’ll need non-technical skills not currently taught at University. Here he shares why Susan’s professional coaching programme is perfect for helping students secure the essential soft skills they need to flourish in their professional and personal lives.
Case studies

Naomi Oamen - Dundee University
Make Your Mark Ambassador
Law student, Naomi Oamen, wanted to get better at articulating herself because that’s going to be key in her chosen profession - as a solicitor. Now she’s a Make Your Mark with Susan Room® student ambassador and is using her new skills to benefit others - particularly those from different backgrounds and race.
Case studies

Ross Faulds - Glasgow University
Make Your Mark Ambassador 2021/22
Aspiring solicitor Ross Faulds is celebrating, having recently aced an interview to secure a training contract with Scotland’s 4th largest independent law firm, Thorntons LLP. Ross, currently a student at Glasgow University, says his time on Make Your Mark helped him control his thoughts, calm himself and focus while participating in those highly pressured interviews that led to his traineeship.
Case studies

Catherine Hogan - Queen Mary University
Make Your Mark Ambassador 2021/22
Catherine Hogan always knew her confidence was quite low. What she didn’t fully appreciate until her coaching experience was just how much she was holding herself back. Now this Degree Apprenticeship student in ‘business management and social change’ not only knows the career she wants but is confidently taking bold and brave strides to secure it.
Case studies

Ally Hogg - University of Stirling
Make Your Mark Ambassador 2021/22
Ally Hogg, a final year accountancy and finance student at the University of Stirling, left Susan’s programme “in shock”. Ally describes that shock as three-fold. Firstly, how greatly coaching has impacted him. Secondly, that he’s only just learning skills fundamental to professional success. And thirdly, that too many young people will never get access to coaching and the learning it affords. He’s now on a mission to change that…
Case studies

Emily Dow - St Andrews University
Make Your Mark Ambassador 2021/22
Emily Dow knew from her very first Make Your Mark session that she wanted to become a programme ambassador. The Financial Economics MA student at the University of St Andrews could immediately see the impact this learning would have on her and wanted to “shout about it from the roof tops”.
Case studies

Katey Cheung - Surrey University
Make Your Mark Ambassador 2021/22
Aspiring Educational Psychologist Katey Cheung will need to speak confidently and professionally when she begins her career. She’ll be talking with children, parents and teachers, so she greatly enjoyed learning about speaking habits and how unhelpful fillers (like ‘like’) can undermine credibility.
Case studies

Beth Thom - Heriot Watt University
Make Your Mark Ambassador 2020/21
International Business Management student at Heriot Watt University, Beth Thom, has attended many presentations but she’d never experienced anything like the Make Your Mark with Susan Room® summer school. Beth shares how she’s become a better version of herself and why all students should have access to this learning.
Case studies

Salman-ur Rehman - Heriot Watt University
Make Your Mark Ambassador 2020/21
A lack of speaking confidence was letting Salman-ur Rehman down in interviews. But with interviews the gateway between his university studies to his desired career as an innovative engineer, Salman was determined to master the art of the interview...
Case studies

Zeynep Aydin - Brown University
Make Your Mark Ambassador 2020/21
When Zeynep Aydin left Turkey to attend Brown University, it was her first time in a native English-speaking environment. Zeynep wanted to better express herself when speaking English, so jumped at the opportunity to explore vocal confidence and speech habits, primarily with a group of native English speakers.
Case studies

Edward Sheasby - St Andrews University
Make Your Mark Ambassador 2020/21
The University of St Andrew’s is known the world-over for its academic excellence. But forth year student Edward Sheasby believes the core skills he learned from Susan are non-existent on the university scene. Discover why Edward describes Susan’s offer as “critical to employability” and “incomparable”.
Case studies

Emma Boyle - Heriot Watt University
Make Your Mark Ambassador 2020/21
Emma Boyle admits to always having been self-critical and having low confidence. Discover how a Make Your Mark with Susan Room® student school helped this ‘International Business Management with Marketing’ student, transform her confidence and her exam results.