'Reach Cambridge was definitely one of the best decisions I have made' - Hadiya, 15

We were delighted to catch up with one of our first ever alumni from the Reach Cambridge SPRING Program, Hadiya. In this short blog, Hadiya tells us about her favourite memories from her time at Reach Cambridge and why she would recommend a Reach Cambridge experience to everyone!

My name is Hadiya, I’m 15 years old and I am from Pakistan, though I currently live in China. I travelled to England for the Reach Cambridge Spring Program this year, with a mindset that what I would be getting a taste of university life during my stay. Not only was this wish of mine fulfilled, but I also gained a lot more from the trip.   I consider myself a person with a great deal of international exposure and was convinced that I was ready to meet new people and leave them at the end of the trip with no doleful feelings. Little did I realise that the people I came to know over such a short period of time would become family! Those were definitely my favourite moments during the trip: the time spent with all the wonderful people I met at Reach Cambridge.

The whole Week 2 group before Formal Hall at Downing (Hadiya third from left in front row)

One of the unforgettable moments was the spree of football games during our free time. During that time, no matter what our skill level was (because it did vary from people who have never played before to people that were captains of their high school teams!), we all just embraced the moment and enjoyed the game. I particularly relished the fact that the sport was not just for the students, but for the supervisors too! This added fun to our games and made us feel closer to people that were helping us throughout the program. Though the games were competitive, we did get a lot of good laughs out of them! It brought us all together- as sports usually do- and made us a very close-knit family. All in all, joining Reach Cambridge was definitely one of the best decisions I have made, and I am glad I spent 2 weeks of my life there.

from @reachcambridge Instagram Story

Keep your eyes peeled for a special video featuring Hadiya and some of our other fabulous Spring 2017 students…