Step 1: Stoke-on-Trent

Our journey begins right here at Staffs Uni in Stoke-On-Trent, known for its pottery, coal mining and steel works, but also a thrill seekers destination, as you may be aware it is home to one of the greatest theme parks in Europe, Alton Towers Resort. With exciting rollercoasters and woodland scenery, it draws in an average of two million guests per year! More impressive than this, our step goal today, once completed, will have seen us walk Alton Towers’ longest rollercoaster, Galactica, over 10,000 times! We will be posting other interesting facts and figures throughout the day like this one, we encourage you to follow us on Twitter (@StaffsLSE) to hear more of these, but to also get photos and updates on step goals as we progress.

As the steps add up today, we will be dropping in on some exciting places to discuss where our students have ventured off to with placement opportunities through Staffs. To begin meet Jaime-Lee Cunningham, final year Psychology student here at Staffs, who was given an excellent placement opportunity right here in the heart of the Students Union.

During this two-year period Jaime-Lee was not only elected as Vice President but became President of the Students Union. Like yourselves today, Jaime-Lee was experiencing her very own journey through Staffs, this placement gave Jamie-Lee the confidence and ability to thrive within the environment and to achieve to her highest ability, picking up essential skills along the way like time management and public speaking. As our starting point is Staffs, it seems the right moment as Jaime-Lee says herself in this short clip, that a huge thanks must go to all the people behind the scenes at Staffs Uni that make all the cogs go round smoothly. This enables our students to venture out on these incredible placements that we will be visiting on our journey today.

Blog written by Staffordshire University placement students: Adam Olivier  Level 5 BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science;  Kaliya Rostron  Level 5 BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science; Steven Lloyd-Jones Level 5 BSc (Hons) Biology