“I really think the teachers played a big part in how our time was shaped here. I think they were just really kind, really supportive.”
Names: Millie and Mareme
Courses studied: Millie – English Literature, Sociology and Fine Art. Mareme – English Literature, Politics and Biology.
Next steps: Millie is heading to the University of the Arts London to study Fine Art (Drawing). Mareme has been accepted into Bath Spa University, her top choice, to study English Literature.
Millie and Mareme have been friends since primary school, and two years at Penwith Campus have only strengthened that bond, closing out with results that continue Truro and Penwith College’s 30-year legacy of transforming lives across Cornwall.
“We’ve been friends for quite a while.” – Millie
“We went to primary school together, since we were really little.” – Mareme
That friendship carried straight through into their course choices, with both studying English Literature alongside their own individual subjects, Millie taking Sociology and Fine Art, Mareme taking Politics and Biology.
For both, results day itself brought more nerves than the exams that led up to it.
“The anticipation was worse, it was way worse than the exams.” – Millie
“I know, that was the thing I was most nervous for.” – Mareme
Both chose Penwith Campus for similar reasons, close to home, offering the right courses, and already spoken highly of by their secondary school teachers.
“It’s quite accessible, it’s quite close to where I live. They did everything that I wanted to go into. It seemed like a really nice environment to be in.” – Mareme
“Mine’s pretty much the same, just because it’s so close to where my secondary school is as well. It’s really accessible, and I just had loads of good things said about it from all of my secondary school teachers.” – Millie
What they most valued once they arrived, though, went beyond the practical. Mareme points to the teachers, and to the wider community College opened up to her.
“I really think the teachers played a big part in how our time was shaped here. I think they were just really kind, really supportive.”
“Everyone from all of the other schools are coming in, people you’ve never talked to before, but who all have similar interests to you in your same course.”
Millie agrees, and adds the thrill of discovering a subject she’d never had the chance to study before.
“Sociology, I didn’t have that as a GCSE option, so to be able to do that at A Level was really amazing.”
Both leave College having grown considerably in confidence, something Millie says would have surprised her past self.
“I didn’t think that I could hack A Levels, honestly, if you’d asked me to do this interview at GCSE, I would have just flat out said no.”
Mareme credits a specific decision for helping that confidence grow, putting herself forward for student ambassador work.
“A lot of what helped me succeed and grow my confidence was doing student ambassador stuff and putting myself out there.”
That advice, take the opportunity, put yourself forward, echoes through both of their messages to future students.
“I would say just take opportunities.” – Mareme
“Just be confident. Once you’re confident, you kind of just focus less on the other little things.” – Millie
With their results secured, the pair are now heading in different directions for the first time in years, Millie to the University of the Arts London to study Fine Art (Drawing), and Mareme to her top choice, Bath Spa University, to study English Literature. For Millie and Mareme, College has been the place where a friendship that started in primary school grew alongside two genuinely different creative and academic paths, proof that finding your people, and finding your confidence, can happen at exactly the same time, another shared story shaped by more than 30 years of Truro and Penwith College helping students find their place.
