Rachel Egan

The first thing that attracted me to study at Stirling was the beautiful campus and its location. I immediately loved the atmosphere and the amount of green space there was around the university. For my course, Stirling is really well located for getting out to the mountains for bagging QMDs for my Mountain Leader Award but also great for other outdoor pursuits I’m interested in such as kayaking.

Another thing that attracted me to Stirling to study my degree was that along with the Outdoor Education side of the course, there was also the Environmental Science element. There is a lot of freedom in choosing the science modules that you study, so I’ve really enjoyed taking the modules I picked which meant I was able to learn new information that I was interested in across a broad range of environmental and biological science topics.

A huge benefit of studying at Stirling is all the opportunities that can present themselves throughout your degree and student life. Personally, for me, many of these have been because of my involvement in sports teams such as women’s rugby, mountaineering and kayaking. For example, as part of the kayaking club, I’ve been able to complete my foundation safety rescue training awarded by British Canoeing which is a great qualification to have personally as a kayaker but also professionally too!

The three stand out features of this course is the chance to undertake a work experience module and also complete the Summer Mountain Leader award along with a first aid qualification. The work experience module has really been a huge bonus of this Outdoor Education course as it’s given me the chance to independently find a relevant volunteering opportunity in the outdoor sector and gain more experience as a outdoor instructor with it all counting towards my degree. The Summer ML award is also a great opportunity that’s built into this course and another major reason as to why I wanted to study here at Stirling. 

Looking towards my future career, my studies here at Stirling will have a really positive impact on whatever I decide to do. As I mentioned, the ML award and first aid certificate really impacts being able to start or apply to outdoor jobs as soon as I graduate. Having completed these while studying my degree really boosts my CV especially as they are both things that outdoor education employers will be looking for. Having the experience of the work placement module also gives me a good idea about what type of career I want to go into to. Having the environmental science knowledge behind the outdoor educational practice is also going to be super beneficial as it’s also another career path I could choose.

I would definitely recommend any prospective students considering Stirling as an option to come to the campus and attend an open day. I found that this was a great way to not only see the campus in person and have a look around but also get the chance to speak directly to staff members and also current students as well about any questions I had.

Heading into my third year I’m so glad that I did decide to study here at Stirling. I really like how my degree is structured so that I can easily balance my academic life along with my personal life. I’ve made some great friends and memories so far and I can’t wait for the next two years!