EY Student Brand Ambassador

An Ambassador is not someone carrying around a cheeseboard embossed with the company’s logo, nor are they eternally decked out in a promotional outfit. The crucial skill they have is the ability to connect with their peers on a student-to-student level. Every day students are bombarded with recruitment information, but the most successful is that promoted by one of us.

The ability to network and to have existing networks is vital.

I am on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Twitter and a member of  University groups such as the Swimming and Water Polo club with whom I have a senior officer role as Sponsorship Secretary. This has proven my ability to talk to both students and companies, and enhanced my team-working skills. Other societies that I belong to include the Finance, Law and the Bioengineering Societies, which give me a broad range of colleagues across the University.

In addition to my ability to master the crucial skill, I am creative, analytical and committed. This is shown by my commitment to various society events, and the choice of and success in my degree. Bioengineering is both a complex and creative degree, which demands high standards of mathematical analysis but also the creativity to design products such as a prosthetic for a Paralympic athlete. Turning human problems into realistic solutions through a channel of complicated analysis is what, I believe, gives me a competitive advantage for this role.

Finally dedication and an interest in the company. This summer I spent three weeks learning about strategy and consulting to feed my interest in the area. We had a talk from EY and this furthered my knowledge about the company, and I will be applying for the Leadership Academy soon.

To my readers who may be interested, check out this link or ey.com.

Z

Barcelona: A Beach and City Break

Normally when we book holidays we either consider taking a shorter city break or to find a beach resort to relax on for a little longer. Previously I thought that cities or towns with a beach would never live up to the expectations of visiting somewhere like Berlin or New York. Barcelona proved me wrong.

Barcelona is an amazing place to visit for the culture, shopping, beaches, cuisine and the fantastic architecture. From my time there I have come up with a few pieces of advice to make your holiday that bit better.

1. Hotel: When I visit hot countries I like to choose a hotel with a roof terrace. After a long day walking around or sunbathing in the heat it is a wonderful experience to enjoy the summer evening breeze with a cold drink and look out over the city on the terrace. My family and I like to do this after we’ve showered and dressed up for the evening, before we head out for dinner and in my opinion it is a great time to chat about the day or plan the day ahead.

2. Shopping: Although I did not spend too much time shopping I found that Barcelona had a good variety of mainstream stores like Zara and smaller boutiques. Two places I would recommend are the Passieg de Gracia and Las Rambla, the latter of which is beautifully shaded by trees and which has lots of little stalls as well as shops.

3. Culture: Barcelona has so many cultural places to visit but three that stood out for me were Camp Nou, Casa Batllo (Gaudi Museum) and Gran Teatre del Liceu (the performing arts centre). Camp Nou is where FC Barcelona play and both the stadium and accompanying museum are great to visit even if you’re not a massive football fan (i.e. me).

The Gaudi Museum tour includes an audio guide which is well worth listening to, and you can also pay for a tablet which shows you what the rooms used to look like as you move around. This was unique to any museums I had been to before and added a special touch to our visit. I would advise getting there early as it is a very popular attraction and the queues can get very long- not ideal in the heat.

Finally, the Gran Teatre is a gorgeous opera house which stages some impressive shows ranging from dance to, of course, opera. We saw Les Miserables in Spanish which, although we don’t speak Spanish, was just as entertaining as the English version and had incredible music and effects.   

A quick, easy and comfortable way to visit multiple tourist attractions in one day is to hop on a sightseeing bus. This cuts down on walking and also lets you see sights you wouldn’t have thought to visit.

4. Beach: Our favourite beach was in Barceloneta, a short walk from the hotel through Las Rambla. It was surrounded by delicious restaurants and even an ice bar. On top of visiting the beach, the marina area (shown in the main picture) is also nice to visit to see the boats or to go to the shopping centre.

5. Cuisine: As you may know, Spanish food is incredible and in addition to trying the Paella you must try the Pan con Tomate. This is a Catalan speciality consisting of a piece of toasted bread rubbed with garlic and topped with fresh tomatoes. We even make this at home now it’s so good!

If you are going to Barcelona or are thinking of going let me know if any of these tips have been helpful, or even if you have some more for me- Barcelona has not seen the last of me. Happy travels.

Z

Down the Rabbit Hole

Last November I took my mother to the Sanderson Hotel, just off Oxford Street, for afternoon tea. This was no ordinary afternoon tea however, as the theme was the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, so we were expecting it to be out of the ordinary. Little did we expect that every detail of our experience would be so carefully thought out such as the menu pasted into an old book and the sugar cubes placed in a jewellery box.

The menu, as anticipated, was slightly different compared to other afternoon teas, with the same usual constituents such as scones, sandwiches and cakes, only with a more exciting range of flavours. A few personal favourites included the strawberries and cream marshmallow mushrooms, the melting mango cheesecake and the fruity ‘drink me’ potion. As you can tell I have a very sweet tooth!

In addition to soft drinks there was also the opportunity to have champagne, pink champagne and a selection of the most fantastically weird sounding teas. We chose to try the apple pie tea and were not disappointed, we even asked if they sold it so we could take some home.

All in all I would highly recommend this afternoon tea experience. It is not often that you have the time or money, especially as a student, to go for afternoon tea so the special quality of this tea at the Sanderson made it all the more worthwhile. With prices starting from £38 per person, and £30 for children, it is on par if not cheaper than most other London afternoon teas and in my opinion a far greater experience.

The Mad Hatter’s Afternoon Tea would be perfect for a birthday (the reason that my mother and I went), for an anniversary or any other cause for celebration. In my mind all celebrations need great food, champagne and a little reminder of our childhoods.

Book Now

Z

A Quick Introduction

A few hours and a world of frustration later, my blog is finally doing what I tell it to and I can write my first post. To introduce myself without giving away all of my personal information,

I am Zoe a 19-year-old engineering student studying in London.

With this blog I aim to both entertain and give advice to anyone who would like to listen, as well as to get a quick escape from triple integrals and the like. Topics I hope to be writing about include education, health and beauty all of which are important parts of my life and those which I feel I have at least some good tips and tricks.

I look forward to writing my first proper post soon,

Z