Old Pangbournian Tim Eilec attended Pangbourne from 2017 to 2022.
Describe your role as an Honorary Academic
In my role as an Honorary Academic I represented the school in a number of competitions, such as the Senior Maths Challenge and the CyberFirst Discovery programme. This level of participation in supra-curricular activities allowed me to broaden my knowledge and skill-set in the subjects I was studying, as well as setting an example for the younger years to encourage them to pursue their interests outside of the classroom.
What life skills did this role teach you?
By representing the College, both reputationally and to the younger years, I had to consistently work with discipline and ensure that I met deadlines. The ability to work independently to deliver quality work within deadlines is something that will be invaluable to me both at university and in the world of work.
How did the College help you to develop as an individual?
The wide range of extra-curricular activities on offer make the school so much more than just a place for academic development. Over the years, I was pushed out of my comfort zone while participating in several school events and activities, and I really believe that this has helped form me as a person.
What are your Pangbourne highlights?
Some of my personal highlights include coxing at National Schools' Regatta at the site where the Olympics was hosted in 2012, and being awarded an Honorary Academic scholarship following my performance at GCSE.
What did you find most challenging during your time at Pangbourne?
I found that learning online from home during the COVID-19 lockdowns was challenging as I found classroom learning much more engaging and I found it easier to get support when interacting with teachers in the classroom. I know that this was a challenge that a lot of my year group shared, so there was a lot of support available for us when we returned to College.
How did you overcome these challenges?
I was able to overcome the challenges that the lockdowns presented to my academic progress by seeking extra support when back at College to catch up on parts of the syllabus that I struggled to understand with the online lessons. Teachers went above and beyond to make themselves available outside of scheduled lesson time to help with any questions or struggles that we had with the lockdown content.
What makes Pangbourne unique?
The Pangbourne experience gives us so much more than just academic support. I do think that Pangbourne has formed me as a person and prepared me well to go out 'into the world' by pushing me out of my comfort zone and encouraging the development of new skills and interests. Due to the high teacher to student ratio at Pangbourne, both academic help and pastoral care is easy to access. This made me feel more like a person than a number and that is something that I don't believe larger colleges provide to the same extent.
What are your plans for after Pangbourne?
I will be studying Computer Science at Amsterdam University with the goal of working in the tech sector as a software developer. I really believe that the Pangbourne experience prepared me and gave me the right start to achieving my goals in the world of university and work.
