Nile’s story

Nile took part in CoacHE, a partnership programme between the University of Sheffield and Grit, in the spring and early summer of 2023. CoacHE aimed to increase the number of white working-class boys from deprived areas of South Yorkshire applying to university.

You asked me to tell you what the key moments in the programme were for me. I’d say, ALL of it.

I had already been thinking about going to university but I didn’t understand what it’s actually like when you go. I wasn’t totally sure I’d get in. I needed a bit of a confidence boost. And, I can see now, that I hadn’t properly thought about what I needed to do to get to university. I wasn’t applying myself at school as well as I could. I was letting myself be distracted in lessons, not listening to the teacher. I was talking too much in class and was getting told off quite a bit.

The Grit workshop felt quite overwhelming at first. There were all these other kids from different schools and only two of us from my school, so it was pretty challenging. But we were really supported to feel part of the group. I made a lot of new friends.

One of the things we had to do was stand up in front of everyone and speak about ourselves. It was very nerve-wracking and I was shaking when I did it – these were people I’d only known since that morning! But I did it. I stood up and talked about me. It made me realise that, actually, there was nothing stopping me. All I needed to do was just get up and do it. I just have to believe in myself.

Since then I’ve had the confidence to speak up for myself. Now I ask the teachers for help in class. Now I ask for help from my family. They’ve always tried to be supportive and now I’m able to let them. And when we went on holiday this summer I was able to tell that air hostess about how I always wanted to be a pilot and ask if I could sit in the pilot’s seat. So they let me!

The Student Ambassadors[1] helped a lot. They told us what day-to-day life is like at university and why they had wanted to go. Along with the tour around campus and the mini-lectures, they gave me a good idea of what it’s really like at university. It made me feel much more positive.

The one big piece of advice they had was to focus on my schoolwork. They made me realise that I needed to work even harder if I was actually going to get to university. So now I make sure I don’t get distracted in class. I’m focused on my learning. And I’m finding the work easier than I did so I’m not having to ask for help so much. Now I’m getting better results, and I’m not getting told off at all.

My Grandad has always said that I should work if I want to go to university. Before I didn’t take much notice of him but now I see he is right. I didn’t know too much about university. None of us did. I’ll be the first one in my family if I go, and it will make them all really proud. That’s very important to me. And now I’m confident that I’m going to make it.

[1] Current University of Sheffield students supporting the programme and engaging with the young people participating