Success story of Natalia

My story began with trips with the Paradise company. abroad, including to England, to study English in summer camps. It was a great experience, especially improving my English speech recognition and speaking practice. During these trips, I got to know England and I really liked this country for its way of life.

Initially, I didn’t even think that I would ever have the opportunity to study abroad, but when it turned out that there was such an opportunity, I began to prepare for IELTS, for which I took a 3-week preparatory course in England. Having passed IELTS with an overall score of 7.0, I got a chance to enroll in a boarding school Queen Ethelbutga’s College(QE) near York, where I spent the next two years studying A-level and VTEC programs.

^{Graduation at Queen Ethelburga's College}

Adaptation to this school was difficult, the reason for this was several factors:

• a new education system, radically different from the Russian one;
• many strict rules, most of which seem excessive and sometimes completely illogical;
• lack of personal freedom and the inability to decide for yourself what and when to do and take responsibility for it.

At the same time, adaptation to the mentality and customs took place, although it did not take much time and in general turned out to be a rather pleasant process, since in general I really like the orders and traditions of England.

After finishing the A-level program, I planned to enter an English university. I decided on the choice of educational institution and course even before I entered QE, so this was not a problem. I decided to enroll in the Diagnostic Radiography program at the University of Exeter. (in Russian - radiology).

According to the rules for admission to universities in England, I could submit applications for the same specialty to 4 different universities, as well as another application for a different specialty to another university (applications are submitted through the website UCAS.COM). When it came to admission, it turned out that medical training in England had undergone certain changes. For me personally, this meant that of the 28 universities in the UK that offered a radiography degree, 26 could not accept me. Fortunately, the University of Exeter, which I was originally aimed at, did not make any changes, and my application was accepted there and soon invited for an interview.

I attended 2 interviews: at the universities of St George's London and Exeter. The first interview was non-standard, with situational questions that tested your ingenuity and intelligence, as well as your life principles. The interview at Exeter was more standard, traditionally academic, with questions like “why did you choose this particular specialty/our university?” I prepared for both interviews with the help of the Career Zone at my boarding school, whose staff were very friendly and caring, and also helped me many times with applying to universities, checking my resume and other organizational issues.

After the interview, I received a “conditional” sentence. an invitation to both universities, although Exeter remained the priority, as before. For the “unconditional” invitation, I only had to take the final exams for the grades that my university requested. During the rest of the school year, I studied for exams and also organized two days of “work experience” for students. at York General Hospital. I passed my final exams even better than required and entered the coveted University of Exeter, part of the Russell Group (an elite group of twenty-four prestigious universities in the UK).

Having issued a new visa, I arrived for freshers week ("newcomers week", or orientation week for new students) at my university in order to have time to get used to the city and settle into the dormitory that the university provided to me, as a freshman.< /p>

I immediately liked the new city and university. The city was permeated with a dynamic student atmosphere, in the city center there were many cafes and restaurants, cinemas and other places for leisure (theaters, museums, etc.). Various music and food festivals are also regularly held there, and not far from Exeter itself there are several tiny towns where students often go for walks or picnics.

Studying at the university for all 3 years was interesting, although noteasy, here the emphasis is mainly on self-education, that is, for every 5 hours of studying at the university you need to study at least 25 hours additionally. I had to learn a lot, sometimes in a very short time.

^{Graduation at the University of Exeter}

Practice in a hospital was also part of my course at the university. Already in my 2nd year, I decided on which hospital I would like to work in after graduating from university. Coincidentally, it was in this hospital that I did my internship. I let the administration know that I would like to work for them after graduating from university, and they took note of this, and when they once again had free vacancies in my specialty, they let me know.

I looked for a job in a hospital through the NHS Jobs website (NHS - National Health Service, National Health Service). Through this site I sent my resume to several different hospitals, including the one where I wanted to work in the future.

I quickly received invitations to interviews at 2 hospitals where I had previously completed an internship. At the first hospital, I got a job literally a couple of days after the interview. In the second hospital, where I wanted to work in the future, they refused me the first time, inviting me, however, for an interview 2 months after the first (unsuccessful for me) interview. The day after the second interview I got a job at Exeter Hospital, where I wanted to work. All that remained was to draw up the documents for concluding an employment contract, while at the same time preparing for final exams and finishing the dissertation.

Immediately after passing my dissertation, I went to work as an assistant radiologist. The fact is that in order to work full-time, I had to obtain a license as a radiologist, and this was possible only after the announcement of the final results of the exams and dissertation and confirmation that I had graduated from the university. Therefore, for the next month and a half I worked as an assistant to a radiologist, however, this was very useful, since during this time I joined the team and finally got used to the hospital.

In mid-July, I took 2 weeks off to attend graduation and get some rest. Having returned to work in early August, I began preparing documents to apply for a work visa, since my student visa, which allowed me to work at the moment, was expiring in October. With the help of the HR department at the hospital, I prepared all the necessary documents and at the beginning of September I already applied for a work visa. Having submitted all the necessary documents, I prepared to wait about 8 weeks before the results of the application were announced. However, I was lucky here too, and they let me know about the issuance of a work visa in just a week.

^{Photo in work uniform in the hospital where Natalya works}

As a result, in five years I went from a Six-form course (A-level and BTEC) at Queen Ethelbutga's College to a bachelor's degree in BSc Medical Imaging (Diagnostic Radiography) at one of the best universities in England – University of Exeter. I got the desired job in the hospital that I dreamed of. Now I will make plans for a career and continue my studies if necessary.

I like living in England and specifically in Exeter because of the mentality that is very close to me, the friendly and respectful attitude of local residents and colleagues towards me, as well as the more comfortable life here. I have never encountered a negative attitude towards me because of my nationality or the presence of an accent, and every time I hear such stories, it seems unlikely to me that such an attitude was caused precisely by the person's nationality and not by his behavior.

Even at the beginning of my journey, wonderful employees from the Paradise team They helped me with paperwork and resolving issues at school, for which I am very grateful and grateful to them. Gradually, I began to do everything myself; from the moment I studied at the university, I already solved all the issues without anyone’s help, no matter what they were connected with.

I do not regret my decision to start this path several years ago. There were a lot of difficulties, and how much nerves were spent – I can’t express it, but the goal was ultimately achieved.

The path to studying and getting a job abroad is not easy, but your determination, hard work, attention to detail, ability to be proactive in the right cases – all this will help you achieve your goal.

School Queen Ethelbutga’s College