I am Samantha Macdonald in the University of Dundee studying for an MA (Hons) in Education. I arrived here by, first of all checking all of my available options for the Higher grades I achieved in my penultimate year of high school. I was then given an offer from my depute head teacher,  to go on further work experience at a different primary school as I had previously volunteered at in my 3rd year of school. I took her up on the offer and loved every minute, from that moment on I knew that education was the route I wanted to go down.

After researching my options further, now narrowed down to my course of choice, Primary Education. I decided to apply to all Scottish Universities with Dundee being my first choice as it is close to home. Following my UCAS application I continued to go on school placements to build my experience working with children in a school environment. I went on placement at two local schools, one of which was a school that incorporated children with additional support needs. I learned so much on this placement and gained a whole new understanding of the importance and effectiveness of the inclusion of students suffering with these difficulties. By the end of my year long placement here, I had already received my interview for my first choice university. At the interview, I had to give a presentation explaining, “The teacher that I would like to become…”. Immediately I was swarmed with ideas about how I could portray my response in the most effective way possible. I prepared a poster and asked the children from my Primary 3 placement class of their own ideas of what a good teacher would be. I then incorporated them into my poster and took it along to my interview to present to the university panel and other eager applicants. After the long and worthwhile wait for a response and offer from the university I received a conditional offer to study my dream course at my first choice university. This is what pushed me to achieve my condition of one higher A in my last year of school. I was determined.

After completing my sixth year of high school in 2013 I decided to defer my entry for a year so I would be able to take part in FLAGs transatlantic student exchange. I lived in the USA for the whole school year attending an American High School and living with a typical all American family. Throughout the year I travelled to over twelve different states and experienced so many once in a lifetime opportunities. Aswell as all of this, I made lifelong friends with so many people from all around the globe and enjoyed learning about their amazing way of life and extremely different cultures.

My goal is now to continue working hard and to keep learning about all different walks of life so that in the long run I can become an enthusiastic teacher who can influence future generations in a positive way. I want to help make a change in the world for the better. My main aim is to hopefully teach children abroad or children with additional support needs.