The Academic Scholars Met with Eden Shackleton and Tim Peake
Queen Mary’s Academic Scholars alongside other girls in the Senior School have been busy this term with online speakers ranging from British Astronaut, Major Tim Peake, to Ripon City of Sanctuary’s humanitarian, Eden Shackleton:
Interview with Eden Shackleton
Queen Mary’s Academic Scholars met with 19 year old Eden Shackleton, the new secretary of Ripon City of Sanctuary, currently studying at the University of Cambridge.
Rather than a normal interview the girls were not given any information about Eden before the meeting, instead they were tasked to ask her questions to find out who she is and what she is currently doing.
Arabella, Year 9, said: “I found it super interesting, informative and fun! When we logged onto the virtual meeting, we had no idea who we were talking to and why, but by the end of the meeting (after we had all quizzed Eden and asked her as many questions that could have possibly been answered!) we knew so much about Eden, what she did, and what she was hoping to do in the future.
We started off by playing 20 Questions! We asked Eden about her job, what she had done in the past and what she was hoping to do in the future, but she could only answer with a simple yes or a no!
Eventually we found out that Eden is a student at the University of Cambridge and is studying Classics. She also works with charities including Ripon City of Sanctuary and she is interested in Ancient Rome and Greece. She had arranged to volunteer in Calais and Nepal which lockdown sadly prevented and she has been a successful dressage competitor.
Speaking to Eden was really helpful for me, as I would love to attend the University of Cambridge myself, so we asked questions about what it is like, how to prepare for university, what the interview process is like, the workload and many more things. Eden had never studied Classics before she started at Cambridge, so it really shows how you can do anything you want to do!
Thank you so much to Mrs Cameron for organising this event, it was really fun and I learned a great deal!”
Q and A with Tim Peake
A number of our Senior girls attended a Q and A with Astronaut, Tim Peake. Kallissa, Year 8, said:
“It was so interesting, we learnt a lot about his early life and life on a spaceship. Tim didn’t get very good test results at school, but he persevered and he went back at the age of 35 and got better scores so he could become an Astronaut and train at NASA. Tim is an inspirational man and he has accomplished so much in his life. We should all be inspired by Tim and aspire to be like him.”
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