I wanted to go back to Wales after I became a doctor.

I loved being in Cambridge for six years, but I just felt like it was time to come home. My family are all Welsh. My mum’s dad was a miner in the valleys, and we go a long way back. So I put Wales first to start my career.

What made me choose Cambridge in the first place?

I’m quite a determined person. Once it was put in my head that I had the potential to do it, I was like, I need to try and go for this. And then, when I looked in more detail, I really liked the Medicine course in Cambridge, so that was it.

My comprehensive school in south Wales was very supportive and encouraging.

Quite a lot of people went on to university, but only one person every couple of years went to Oxbridge.

The Seren Network had a massive impact on me at that stage.

The Seren Network is a Welsh Government scheme to encourage and support students to go to leading universities. They came to my school to talk about applying, and put on evening classes to help us delve a bit deeper into subjects than we’d done in the classroom.

I’d listen to podcasts about medical ethics and take part in discussion groups.

The podcasts also gave me resources to go away and look stuff up in my own time. It all helped me strengthen my application because I knew more about subjects than I did before.

I got a place to study medicine at Christ’s College in Cambridge.

The six-year course is split into three years pre-clinical and three years clinical. I liked the idea of learning all the basics first and then putting it into practice later on.

Before arriving, I was worried that everyone would be very different to me.

In fact I made some amazing friends with similar backgrounds and amazing friends who had different backgrounds. At the end of the day, we were all at Cambridge and doing a difficult degree and experiencing that together.

At first I found it hard to go from being one of the highest achievers at school to a place where everyone was the highest achiever.

I remember getting essays back and really not being happy with how I was getting on, and putting myself under pressure to work harder. But all the time I was also learning to work independently and to structure my learning.

These were helpful skills for life as a doctor.

Medicine is a never-ending subject. There’s always more you can learn, and you almost have to decide what is enough and when to stop.

In the second half of my degree, I got better at work–life balance.

I still worked hard, but I was less harsh on myself, had more of a social life, and then I actually did better. I took up ballroom and Latin dancing as a complete beginner. It was a good escape because you can’t think about anything apart from remembering and dancing the steps.

Cambridge’s college system also helped me a lot.

At Christ’s College, there were 14 of us medics and we used to study together. Moving into the clinical years, I met people from other colleges and we would practise together for our practical exams and share tips and skills. It made sense to pool what we knew. My college tutor was really supportive too. I struggle with anxiety and I could access counselling quickly which was incredibly helpful.

Coming from a state school in a small town in South Wales, applying to the University of Cambridge had once felt like an impossible prospect.

The sense of imposter syndrome that I experienced when I first arrived at Christ’s College never fully subsided. But continuing to do well in exams sort of gave me a boost. When I sat my finals I was awarded the Gold Medal for the highest mark in Medicine. It was a powerful reminder that my place at Cambridge was deserved.

It’s quite a steep learning curve starting out as a new doctor, but I’m excited to learn new skills.

I was apprehensive about starting during such a difficult time for the NHS, but also reassured that the clinical course had equipped me well for what I was about to face. I have already drawn on many of the skills I developed during my final apprenticeship block at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn.

Right now I’d like to be a GP but I’m grateful I’ve got more time to decide.

It’s a privilege to be involved in people’s lives and to be able to make a difference when someone’s going through a difficult time, even if it’s as small as having a chat when they’re feeling a bit lonely in hospital.

My advice to someone considering Cambridge is go for it – you’ll never know if you don’t try.

The worst thing that can happen is that you don’t get in and you go somewhere else – you’ll still thrive and be successful. But the best thing that can happen is you do get in!

At Cambridge, you don’t just get a degree, you gain something else as well.

The community and the friends have been a huge thing. We’ve all been there for each other through difficult times. But Cambridge is also such a unique experience – it gave me belief in myself to not only manage my degree, but to do well, and to take me forward into my career.