Head of School & Captain of Shooting: Livi Gives 100% to Achieve Her Geography Pathway

2023 Head of School and Captain of the Shooting Team, Livi is studying geography, geology, and history. Livi envisions pursuing a degree in Geography at university, having received promising early offers. She expresses her passion for exploring diverse cultures and landscapes, shaped by a lifetime of travel.

Initially met with a bit of skepticism from her family regarding the value of a Geography degree, Livi successfully persuaded them through thorough research into her chosen academic Pathway.

Livi’s approach to her endeavours reflects her commitment to giving her full effort. She acknowledges a fear of spreading herself too thin and prefers dedicating 100% to her pursuits. Collaborating closely with her best friend, the Captain of Small Bore Shooting, proves crucial. Livi values the support and leadership of her friend, who steps in when she is occupied elsewhere, ensuring a cohesive and effective team dynamic.

What do you think that you have learned so far as head of school?

I didn’t think that I could be appointed Head of School so when I got the call from Mr. Harrison, I was like, what? Are you really serious? So, I didn’t have any expectations about the role.

I think a lot of what I’ve learned so far [as Head of School] is about people skills. You’ve got to deal with situations quite quickly and you’ve got to think about people; the pupils as well as the teachers. I think it’s also important to have your ear on the ground the whole time because you’ve got to have an idea of what’s actually happening within the school. It’s getting that balance between being a role model but also being someone’s friend as well at the same time.

I’ve been going around all the houses for lunches and its fantastic getting to know all the younger pupils especially. I would hope they see me as a role model, but then I don’t want them to go, oh my gosh, it’s all scary. I don’t want to be scary to them. So when I go to lunch I don’t go, oh, I’m Head of School. I just sit down with them, have a conversation. I’d rather them be themselves around me and have a proper conversation instead of being like, oh my gosh, who is this?

What I find the most fun is I love going down to all the matches and being there to support the teams. I’ve been to hockey matches and rugby matches and I’m hoping to be at the first home game of our girls’ rugby team in a few weeks.

The most rewarding aspect [of the role] would probably be when something is going wrong and dealing with it; realising that I have learned so much through my years of growing up. I’m still growing and I’m still coming into all these new situations, but it’s rewarding using stuff that I’ve learned through situations to educate people on how to reflect and deal with problems because year nines (and everyone) are still learning.

How different does year 13 feel compared to year 12?

It does feel like quite a big step up, but I think it was already quite a big step up coming into sixth form from year 11. But it does feel like you’re treated slightly differently, which is quite nice. You are more like an adult and everything’s more up to you. It’s your own decisions and you’re less guided, which is actually good because you are leaving in a few months, so you need [to get used to] that sort of independence.

Do you know what you’d like to study at university?

I’ve applied to go and do geography; I’ve got 3 offers at the moment. At four of the universities I’ve applied for physical geography and then one of them is just pure geography. I’ll kind of cut it down as the year goes on.

Why that pathway?

It sounds silly! But its because I don’t actually know what I want to do yet in my life, I can’t choose. I don’t want to go and be a doctor. I don’t want to go and be a vet. Geography is my favorite subject and you can really go and do anything with it. It just gives me that foundation and transferable skills so that I can go into any career really.

How did you become aware of this pathway?

Mr. Winterbottom taught me in year 11 for my GCSEs and I never really knew if I wanted to do geography or not. He encouraged me to look at the different careers that it can lead to. Then I interviewed someone from the UN, and a family friend who’s into conservation, they both did geography and and that gave me an idea that there are careers that I can go into with a geography degree.

What have you done to educate yourself about geography as a pathway?

I did these interviews and I also just did extra reading. I grew up also watching the David Attenborough documentaries and stuff like that. I think I was just talking to teachers, geography teachers.

And I was also lucky enough to get snuck into a geography lecture at Cambridge through connections and I sat there and I was like, I could actually see myself – maybe not at Cambridge, we’ll have to see – but actually just doing that degree. And I was like, okay, I can do this. Meeting the geography students too helped me to visualise myself studying for a geography pathway because I felt comfortable with them.

How is Sedbergh helping you to be successful?

I think Sedbergh is helping me to be successful because it gives you the holistic foundations and the people skills to go on with life. It’s not just academic, academic, academic, it’s really giving you the whole package – people skills and work-life balance and everything. I think that’s quite critical when looking into the future.

What do you think has been the most useful preparation for a Geography pathway?

I think what’s helped me most for the preparation for geography is doing those interviews, talking to the geography teachers. I’ve been mentored by Mr. Barnes who’s been really useful. He [Mr Barnes] sat me down with extra reading articles, helped me with my personal statement. I think that’s been really good.

For my EPQ I interviewed someone in the Netherlands government and learning the key skills of interviewing, and having the confidence to do it, was really good. It’s not just being stuck in books. You’ve got to go and actually do something like that.

I was a member of the National Geographic, so flicking through those articles, looking at all the photography and just having that wider understanding of what actually is happening in the world. I think sometimes you kind of get stuck in a bubble when really you need to have a broader understanding of what’s happening.

What challenges do you feel that you have in your journey?

I guess no one’s perfect and they’ve always got a challenge and that’s just human. I’ve really struggled with my public speaking and so for me it was quite a big thing becoming Head of School. I kind of floated through Sedbergh, under the radar, just doing my academics, my sports, and then all of a sudden I was put on a pedestal [as Head of School] and that’s kind of really taken me out of my comfort zone, which I think is really important. I think you do need that and I’ve had a lot of support from my friends who know that I do struggle and I think that’s been really good and I think my public speaking hopefully has improved.

What is your favorite thing about boarding at Sedbergh school?

My favorite thing about boarding is that you’re always surrounded by friends and you’ve got that support system and that community to always go back on, but you can still get your time to yourself when you need it. But I think that is really important and I think going and looking at university, I think having that boarding and being away from home will help me. I will be more independent and won’t get as homesick as easily.

What is the most valuable lesson you’ve learned at Sedbergh School?

I think the most valuable lesson I have learned is that you’ve got to have that balance. You can’t just be stuck in books or stuck on the sports pitch. You need to be able to balance both because you’ll never be happy if you’ll just get down into a rutt. You’ve got to go out with friends and have that holistic education.

How important is sport to you?

Sport has really helped me. I’ve built this community not just within school but with other people in school and going on tours with a bunch of people that I’ve never met before except for maybe a weekend. It’s just having that skill to get along with them and I captained them and I think you’ve got to learn to deal with a whole group of people. I think sport does help you with that, that you’ve got to deal with the team.

Also in independent sports, such as shooting, it’s not just a team, it’s also talking about you and it’s all mental. It’s not just the skill of it, but it’s also the mental preparation. And for me, I do get stuck in my head quite a lot and I do need to just think, relax. I do use sport to kind of get away from my problems. So I kind of put on my air defenders and focus on looking at the target and that’s how I use it to relax really.