Nicole Burgess

BSocSc Sociology (2019)

Nicole is a Project Manager at ReachOut UK. She graduated from Manchester with BSocSc in Sociology in 2019. Here, she talks about what she does now and how she got there following her time at Manchester.

My current role and how I got there

I am currently a Project Manager at ReachOut UK, a charity working in schools in disadvantaged communities to raise the aspirations of young people aged 9-16. My role is to line manager our sessional staff, manage relationships with stakeholders and carry out my own project alongside.

We help our young people grow in character and academic confidence through 1:1 mentoring and team activities to promote leadership, trust and responsibility.

Sociology at Manchester has been crucial for me. I first studied sociology at school, and as someone who grew up in a council estate and felt the effects of what I was learning growing up, I often felt angry. Sociology at Manchester helped me turn that anger into a passion to help people that grew up in similar circumstances to me.

It's important to know the limitations stacked against you in our current society but I have always been determined to prove that it doesn’t have to stop you, and with the additional knowledge gained from studying sociology at Manchester it's given me the tools and the confidence to show others that it doesn’t have to either.

My experience at Manchester

I have always been so passionate about Sociology, and I was told by my teachers at college that Manchester was the perfect university for that. Looking through the module choices, how varied they were and how many opportunities there were to find my passions.

I attended an open day and fell in love with the city and university. Having never moved away before or lived outside of Lewisham I felt quite intimidated when I first applied, and questioned whether I would even get in. But on results day when I found out I was accepted, there was no other place I wanted to be.

When I first got to Manchester, I had really big ideas, big dreams and a desire to change the world. I was so excited to learn about other people, but what surprised me was how much I learnt about myself. In every module I studied, I could feel the passion from my professors, and that inspired me to find something that I felt strongly about.

Sociology is such a build-up of niche topics, and I was constantly reminded by my professors, particularly in my third year, to pick something close to home, something you care about. Once I cracked that, it never felt like work, it really became a passion.

In my second year of university, I attended a volunteer fair and came across a charity that worked with children. I decided to take part and mentor a young person, and eventually went on to run my own projects with them and now I work for them as a full-time staff member. Manchester helped me find my passion but also helped me find the most amazing charity with such a passion for bettering the lives of young people.

My advice for future students

If I could offer one piece of advice to future students, it would be to pick a wide range of modules in your first year. Go for variety! You may think you know what your interests are, but there were so many modules that surprised me and made me feel more open-minded. From then, each year you can narrow down you interests and find something you are truly passionate about.