Every year, the Regional Champions of Jack Petchey’s Speak Out Challenge get the chance to travel to Cambridge, for a visit to one of the oldest, highly prestigious colleges, Corpus Christi.
Our 2023 Regional Champions have already started to think about their next steps; even though they are in the process of studying for their GCSEs, they had so many questions about which university courses to apply to and what campus life is like.
The visit started with a tour by our trusted James Davies-Warner, Admissions and Outreach Coordinator at Corpus Christi, alongside two undergraduate students who took the group around the different facilities. As the students walked around, they couldn’t help but get excited at the prospect of one day being a university student, walking on Corpus grounds and being part of the community.
The students heard all about the undergraduate experiences over lunch in the beautiful, Harry Potter-esque dining hall. Afterwards, James provided further information about courses, application rounds, and other queries, and gave the students tips and advice for their current study plans.
It was wonderful to meet up with the 2018 Grand Champion of Jack Petchey’s Speak Out Challenge, Speakers Trust Alumna, Erin Stoner, currently in her 3rd year of Politics and International Relations. She had some incredible insight into university life and the perks of being a Corpus Christi student.
When asked about the Speak Out Challenge, Erin says “It taught me to be brave when speaking on panels or conferences, but also encourages me to introduce myself to new people or to network with greater confidence.”
Our visit concluded with a lecture on the power of language change, delivered by Fellow Dr. Jo Willmott, which brought inspiration to a few students looking to pursue a Humanitarian study path.
Our Regional Champions had a blast on this year’s visit to the Corpus Christi campus. They were so inquisitive, curious and inspired by the campus and the people they got the chance to interact with.
We would like to express our gratitude to James Davies-Warner, Dr. Jo Willmott and all the students that devoted time to sharing their experiences with our alumni.