25
News from Elise Nolan (1998-2010)
(continued)
I always loved Mathematics and Sciences at
school and, having had an Engineer in the
family, Civil Engineering naturally became the
subject that I wanted to study further.
Studying at Brunel University seems highly
fitting for an Engineer; Isambard Kingdom
remains one of the great and most notable
Engineers of all time; I was particularly
pleased to be accepted onto a course that
put Sustainability at the centre of the taught
programme. I thoroughly enjoyed my four
year Undergraduate Masters in London,
getting to soak up city life while still being
able to head back to a relatively small
campus that quickly became a second home.
I made some fantastic friends at University
and it’s hardly surprising that, as I studied
Engineering, most of them were boys. Now
I know what you’re going to say Mr King –
boys are no good! – but they were a great
bunch and in many ways was a good
change after my all-girls secondary school
education. After four tough years I graduated
in July 2014, having gained a Masters of
Engineering degree with First Class Honours
(MEng (Hons)). On top of this, I had received
three job offers for Graduate Development
Programmes with engineering companies
before I’d even started my final exams! The
summer following my graduation presented a
lot of change: I moved away from home and
relocated to Leicestershire, I moved in with
my partner having met at University, and
started work in Birmingham.
I was thrilled to receive an offer from my
current employer, Atkins. In the Engineering
industry, they are a big player; an Inter-
national business covering every sector from
Water & Environment to Energy. I have found
myself working within the Transportation
division. Since joining I have worked on a
small section of a multi-billion pound road
improvement scheme based in the Middle
East, and recently moved on to work within
the team involved in the A14 improvement
scheme. I am particularly looking forward to
my involvement on the latter, since the A14
is so close to where I grew up and I know it
will make such a difference to the local area.
The fantastic thing about my job is that I
am constantly learning
and developing skills;
my work ranges from
technical to manage-
ment and commercial,
which makes it quite
interesting on a day-to-
day basis.
Whilst
much
has
changed in the five
years I have no longer
been a student at
Peterborough
High
School, I will always be
a PHS girl at heart. I
am still close to a
number of my class-
mates
and
am
fortunate to have a
fantastic group of
friends from school.
Celebrating! – October 2014: Kathleen Lucas, Alexandra Julian, Alexandra Coulson,
Emily Creedon, Elise Nolan and Jessica Watt
