Where Are They Now?: 'I honestly could not have done it without my Reach Cambridge experience'

In the first of our ‘Where are Reach Cambridge alumni now’ series, we hear from Alvaro, now a Masters student at a top UK university!

Alvaro is a Masters in Astrophysics at the University of Birmingham

Alvaro’s Reach Cambridge Summers (Plural!)

Five years ago, I had my own Reach Cambridge experience as a Medicine and Life Sciences student. I was coming from Belgium and I had always wanted to visit Cambridge and the United Kingdom, because I had heard a lot about the universities there, but I never imagined I would find myself studying there. Over the two weeks that I was there I was able to get to know a beautiful city, live in the university colleges and attend classes like I would in university; but most importantly, I met an amazing group of people from all over the world, with whom I shared a lot of great experiences. I then returned the year after as a Physics [now Physics & Astronomy] student and it was there that I found out that I wanted to study Astrophysics at university.

Where is Alvaro Now?

I am now about to start my Masters in Astrophysics at the University of Birmingham, and I honestly could not have done it without my Reach Cambridge experience. Being given classes by people who are genuinely passionate about their subject really helped me realise that it was a subject worth pursuing for the next four years. The style of teaching really resonated with me, and as I knew that I did not want to stay home to pursue my university studies, the possibility of studying in the UK became a very tempting option. After doing some more research on universities in the UK, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to study there.

How Reach Cambridge Shaped Alvaro’s Future

During my time at Reach Cambridge, I also learned a lot about the university life, and what being independent and self-sufficient meant; being in charge of going class or getting lunch were the first steps to becoming the adult that I am today. In conclusion, Reach Cambridge was a life changing experience that got me to where I am today, not only academically, but also in the general sense of growing to be an adult and becoming independent. I would recommend it to anyone in my family and my entourage, as I have already done when I was a student as a Reach Cambridge ambassador.