Sheela Steele

2021 Jessie Watson All-Round Student prize winner, Sheela, shares the highlights of studying Geography and graduating at Edinburgh Castle.

My time at University 

I honestly couldn't have had a better time at University.

I genuinely don't think there's a single degree that gives you such a holistic understanding of the world around us. 

Edinburgh truly is the best city in the world to be a student. Initially, I applied to do geography because it was the broadest subject possible, combining bits of every other discipline. I didn't like narrowing down to just one path, but now I've realised it's taught me so much more than just breadth, especially about thinking critically, something I've noticed has helped me during my masters.

Academically, Hamish Kallin and Hannah Fitzpatrick's courses have entirely transformed how I think about the world. Still, even outside of our contact hours, the degree has been such a multifaceted learning experience. My Personal Tutor, Dan Swanton, really supported our personal growth into well-rounded graduates going out into the world.

The most defining aspect of my experience was getting involved in societies, though, and I can't imagine University without them. In my second year especially, I got stuck in. By my fourth year, I was President of the Geographical Society/GeogSoc, Founder and Development Officer of the state school society (The 93% Club Edinburgh, a branch of a more extensive network of state school societies that started in Bristol), and Policy Officer of the Sustainable Development Association, as well as being a member of various others like Edinburgh Labour Students and the Northern Society.

Events like the balls, socials, and even the online events during Covid will be the most memorable bits of uni!  

The highlight of my time at the University

My highlight was definitely the moment GeogSoc, of which I was President at the time, won the UK's Overall Society of the Year.

Running a society during 2020/21 when everything kept changing and plans had to be rethought constantly had been challenging, but I was so lucky to have a committee of my best friends that made it all so much fun and kept the momentum high, so winning was an incredible moment for all of us!

My second highlight was probably graduation! Covid meant we had a slightly different ceremony to the usual McEwan Hall one, and instead, we had a stunning sunset ceremony with our families at Edinburgh Castle. This was alongside the geography online ceremony, where we heard touching speeches from our lecturers and fellow students.

I was especially touched to receive the Jessie Watson All-Round Student Graduation Award - I couldn't have had a better end to an incredible four years!

My experiences since leaving University 

It's been six months since I handed in my final assessment at Edinburgh, and it's been a hectic but exciting time!

After I finished, I began a summer internship with the Civil Service in the Air Quality and Industrial Emissions team within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). This genuinely fantastic opportunity consolidated my plan to pursue a career in policy. I was surprised at the level of responsibility I was given. Because I was placed in quite an underexplored area (emissions from the construction industry), the work felt impactful, and I was in such a friendly team that it was always loads of fun.

After the internship, I had two weeks back home in Sheffield before moving down to London for my masters!

At the moment, I'm in London doing an MSc in Political Science and Political Economy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, having just finished an internship with the Department for Environment! I enjoyed all the political geography I did at Edinburgh and the quantitative bits, so I was keen to explore these even further and pursue a quantitative political science masters.

So far, I'm enjoying it. London gives a very different student experience to Edinburgh, which I don't think can be rivalled, but it feels like the appropriate next chapter in my life, and it's such an exciting city to be living in!

My Covid-19 experience 

In the grand scheme of things, I had a fortunate Covid-19 experience compared to many people, but it was significant in terms of how it prompted me to reassess my outlook.

I think initially; I got a little swept up in the online hustle culture of the first lockdown and over-committed and overwhelmed myself to keep busy while we were all stuck inside.

But I think as things opened up as I moved back to Edinburgh for my fourth year, I unintentionally ended up having the best year of my degree, at least on the whole anyway. The combination of lockdowns forced us all to realise how much we valued social interaction. With the fact that restrictions meant socialising had to be in much smaller groups or outside, it meant I ended up exploring Edinburgh a lot more once things opened up and spending better quality time with friends than I think our pre-Covid social life of going out a lot had allowed.

Doing my studies, societies, and my internship online was undoubtedly tiring, but all the little coffee walks on the Meadows, trips to Calton Hill and wholesome evening plans with my flatmates were a plus I wasn’t expecting to have enjoyed so much.

Alumni wisdom

My main piece of advice would be to get as stuck in as humanely possible (without tiring yourself out!) and take advantage of all the opportunities to meet new people that come your way.

Since graduation, the thing I miss most is the busy-ness of it all, going from lectures with all your course mates in the morning, to coffees in Teviot reading with your friends before a tutorial at Drummond, to a society committee meeting in Pear Tree, to a 4th-floor library session (where my year exclusively worked for some reason), to a society social on Cowgate that night.

Get as stuck in as possible - you won't realise how much you miss it until it's done!

Hear Sheela's story on our podcast

Our University 'Multi Story' podcast is all about the reality of the graduate experience.

In each episode, we meet a different graduate and ask them to tell us their story and to share a place that is meaningful to them.

Learn more about Sheela's experiences in Season 2 - 'Class of 2021'.  Her feature episode explores 'living your core values, postponing adult life and pushing out of comfort zones.'

Access the podcast here:

Multi Story Podcast: Episode 'Sheela – Class of 2021'