Tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Sam Mitchell, I’m 17 years old and I have lived in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire my whole life. I went to the National Church of England Academy secondary school from 2013-2018. During my time at KS4 level I studied French, Business Studies, History and IT, which enabled me to gain a more diverse learning experience. I passed all my exams during this time and went on to enrol into Hucknall Sixth Form Centre to study my A Levels. I didn’t have any prior part time employment, so this is my first experience into work life. I felt that with the family style environment at Shredall it’s the perfect place to come.
What A levels are you currently studying?
I currently study History, Law and IT at KS5 level with 1 year of Mathematics. The reason I picked some of these subjects to do at a higher level was because they are an extension of what I really liked at GCSE and what I found interesting at the time.
What are you enjoying the most?
During life at Sixth Form, I enjoy the freedom and independence you attain while studying in that environment. It’s a lot harder than school, but it has a more laid-back feel than Secondary education due to the increase of free time you gain. I really enjoy all my subjects, but the addition of Law was intriguing at first as I had never had the option to do that before and have thoroughly been enjoying it going into my last year of KS5 education. Each subject has its own unique feel to it as you explore lots of different aspects and go into a lot of detail, giving you a good understanding of a field you could pursue.
Do you know what you want to do once you complete your A levels?
After completing my A Levels, I am leaning towards going to University to study History or IT, I am interested in going to Nottingham Trent University as I don’t really want to move far from home. I believe each subject has a wide field that you can go into and will extend even further with new jobs being developed in the future.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
During my spare time I like to game, go out into town or go to football matches with my friends as I have Nottingham Forest season tickets. I have 2 dogs, so I like to walk them in my free time. A lot of my spare time is being spent on the internet and on social media.
What have you enjoyed the most so far?
During my time at Shredall SDS Group, I have really enjoyed working in the operations department as it outlines the key aspects of making everything fall into place. This can also be said for the sales department as it outlines the process of customer to company and I feel that I have gained a lot of experience of how a business is ran from these departments.
What have you learnt?
During my time here, I have learnt all about life in this industry and how many jobs is needed to make everything happen and fall into place as it can appear to be just a Shredding company, but it has lots of different aspects about it which makes it unique. I have also learned the importance of having many departments to manage every bit of a business to make sure nothing is left out and to make sure the company is as well managed as it can be.
What advice would you give to someone who is trying to decide whether A levels are the right path for them?
The advice I’d give to someone is to make sure that you weigh up all the options you have, whether it’s College, Sixth Form or an Apprenticeship and make sure you research all the options, you must find out what’s best for you. This all decides whether you want to continue in a learning environment to gain multiple grades in a more academic place, if you want to gain a certain skill during this time or to gain a certain job role at an early level. I picked A levels as I wanted to continue down an academic path whereas that might not be for everyone, I’d recommend you look at all your options and take a long time to think about all of them, so you know for definite what you want to do.
What do you hope to achieve in the next couple of years?
In the next couple of years, I would like to achieve good A Levels, so I can go to University and study whatever I am most passionate about then I can progress into a job in that field later.
Tell us something most people don’t know about you?
One thing that most people do not know about me is that I’m really interested in History of the time periods around the World Wars, this first came from learning at school but has progressed into wanting to know more context about the history that has made our country what it is today.
