|
 |
Phillippa Wells BGGS Old Girl Pippa Wells, a CERN staff physicist and project leader of the ATLAS Semi-Conductor Tracker, managed to balance work and family life by having her three children after she had finished her postdoctoral positions and secured a stable position in her field. For her, it is the logistics of having children, and then caring for them in the early years, that causes difficulties for women trying to make a career out of physics. Gaps in a candidate's curriculum vitae can be off-putting to potential hiring managers, even if those gaps are the result of maternity leave. Nevertheless, Pippa cautions, young girls should not be concerned about this when they are deciding whether they want to be physicists. 'The questions you should be asking yourself as a young woman interested in having a career in physics are, 'Do you find it interesting, inspiring?'' Pippa said. 'And if you find it exciting, don't be intimidated by it.' |
STOP PRESS - OLD GIRL OF THE SCHOOL PIPPA WELLS WAS INTERVIEWED ON WOMAN’S HOUR AS PART OF BIG BANG DAY. SHE HAS BEEN WORKING ON THE ATLAS EXPERIMENT IN CERN, SWITZERLAND |
|
 |
Bethany Staniland In her first year exams, Moderations, at Oxford University (Corpus Christi College), Bethany Staniland gained a "first" and came top in the entire university of those students studying English and Latin. She also has gained an Athletics "Blue" after winning all her three events in this year's Varsity Match: Shot - 12.41m; Discus - 37.71m; Javelin - 41.03m. Her Shot performance places her first in the Oxford University AC All Time Ranking List, whilst her Discus and Javelin performances put her second in the respective lists. In 2008-09, she will be Oxford's Athletics Vice Captain and will also be President of Corpus Christi College's "Legends" - Corpus Christi students, both past & present who have been awarded Blues. She has also taken part in several Cuppers (inter-college) sports, including Rowing, Netball and Hockey. Bethany commences her final year in September 2008. |
 |
Jennifer Lowe My name is Jenny Lowe and I was a pupil at The Girls' Grammar School from 1990 to 1997. Although I enjoyed most subjects at school, I was never particularly academic, preferring to spend my time either in the art room or out on the netball court. Outside of school, I spent most of my free time in various sports halls up and down West Yorkshire practising rhythmic gymnastics. At the age of 15 I was selected to play netball for West Yorkshire along with a number of other girls from the school team. At around the same time, I was asked to join the British Rhythmic Gymnastics National Squad. Attempting to juggle the two sports, alongside firstly, my GCSEs and then, my A-Levels was certainly a challenge. Having finished my A-Levels and retired from gymnastics, I went to study Law at Newcastle University. Despite spending more of my first year in the student union than I did in the lecture theatre and library combined, I left Newcastle with an upper second class honours degree and an award for 1st Team Netball Player of the Year. I spent the next 2 years trying to decide what I wanted to do next, whilst travelling and holding down a multitude of jobs to fund such travelling. It took me these two years to decide what I knew all along, that I wanted to be a lawyer. I then embarked on the long road to qualification, qualifying in 2006. I am now a commercial property solicitor for a law firm in the City. Despite it being more than 10 years since I left The Girls' Grammar School, it is fair to say that I owe much of my success to the school, its facilities and the quality of teaching available. My time at The Girls' Grammar School taught me the importance of doing what I enjoy, building social skills and friendships and having the confidence to speak up when I don't understand. I have no doubt that The Girls' Grammar School provided me with both the opportunities and the necessary foresight and confidence to be able to recognise and grasp such opportunities, without which I would not be in the fortunate position that I find myself in today. |
 |
Katy Deacon née Linforth Katy won the prestigious title of IET (Institute of Engineering & Technology) Young Woman Engineer of the Year. in 2007. Katy, who beat four other finalists to claim the award, works for Kirklees Council, Huddersfield, where she helps spearhead the council’s drive to make greater use of renewable energy. She has worked on projects installing wind turbines and solar power systems for schools and colleges. Most notably, Katy has created a renewable energy tool kit to aid architects, engineers and developers to make best use of integrated renewable energy technologies in building development. This particular project proved so successful that it was nominated for the Best Environmental Initiative of the Year 2006 at the NICEIC Electrical Industry Awards. Katy was also the recipient of the 2004 Mary George Memorial Prize, which is awarded by the IET to a successful female engineer who shows great promise and potential within the profession. She has completed her MSc in Engineering; she is working on obtaining Chartered Engineer (CEng) status and has also applied for sponsorship for a three year MBA. |
 |
Margaret Groves née Naylor “What a difference an education makes. Attending BGGS all the way through primary and secondary school was my everyday life until 1976 when I graduated with two As and a B at A level. Sure, the centenary celebrations in 1975 were special, but I have to say I never truly appreciated what a unique place BGGS was until later in life. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do for a career. The educational experience at BGGS was so wide-ranging and so stimulating that I was interested in languages, sciences, music and Latin. In those days we had to choose either languages or science so I picked science subjects at A level. I got a place at my first choice of University, Leeds, to read Biochemistry, and went on to work in medical research, earning a Master of Philosophy research degree in the process. I continued in medical research and information and after living in Munich, Germany for 8 years and having two wonderful children, I ended up in Portland, Oregon, USA. Concerned about re-starting a career in an unknown country, I found that my high standard of education put me a cut above the rest. I completed a second master’s degree with ease and it didn’t take long to prove to employers that I had rare skills in writing and research. Looking back on my days at BGGS, what seemed at the time to be just a regular school proved in the end to be a firm foundation for excellence. I am so grateful for this as I continue to be admired for skills and principles I learned in those austere classroom and wondrous science labs, over 30 years ago! Thank you, BGGS!” |
 |
Rachel Midgley After five fun years at Bradford Girls Grammar School, Rachel Midgley left with eight grade A ‘O’ Levels and five grade A ‘A’ Levels, to pursue a medical degree at the University of Birmingham. Desiring to lengthen her time as a student as much as possible, and to defer the point at which she would have to pay back her mammoth overdraft, she added an extra year into her curriculum to qualify with a Bachelor of Science as well as Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery. After working as a junior doctor for three years and obtaining her Membership of the Royal College of Physicians, Rachel became restless in her pursuit of learning and embarked upon a three and a half year research fellowship leading to the award of Doctor of Philosophy in Cancer Studies. During this period of research, which Rachel combined with some clinical work, it became clear to her that cancer patients were absolutely the easiest to get along with, and that they were hugely grateful for the care of an interested and sympathetic doctor. Her calling was clear and after a further five years of training in the clinical and research aspects of cancer care in Oxford, Dr Midgley achieved her ambition of becoming a Consultant Medical Oncologist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Oxford, combining the direct clinical care of cancer patients for half of the week, with the running of basic scientific research and clinical trials leading to improvements in cancer treatment for the remainder of the week. All this in only seventeen years after leaving school! Phew!! On paper Dr Midgley sounds really quite dull; good student, works hard, devoted to her medical cause etc. But in real life she’s pretty daft, horrendously disorganised (just ask the secretary), drives a bright pink car called Lady Penelope and has a penchant for power tools. |