ANNE-MARIE: ‘I KNOW WHERE I WANT TO GO’

“When thinking about ambition, I think about the prospect of a bright future. A future I have earned. However, these precious teenage years are not all about education. I want to be a child, enjoying the insensible things children do. Learning how to write essays is important but I want to experience the world; show off my talents; be a good person. Education can take place outside a classroom or exam hall. Places where you don’t have to feel the need to achieve top grades.

“Everyone has some sort of ambition. It may only be small, but everyone, at times, feels that overwhelming sense of the future; the need for selfimprovement. I hope to become a criminal psychologist; educating myself on the minds and thoughts of others. You may want to be a hairdresser or even a marine biologist, someone others aspire to be.

“In the small time I have attended Dyffryn School in Port Talbot, I have actively represented myself and the school. I have been part of the Scholar’s Programme, studying pharmaceutical companies, being awarded a 2:1. I took part in the Young Business Dragon’s enterprise challenge, designing a product to improve sustainability. I am a member of Cymraeg Bob Dydd, promoting the Welsh language and improving my own fluency. However, even though it’s satisfying to receive awards, attention and credit, I find more joy in my sense of personal achievement.

“Aspirations have, and will, always be important to me. I have a clear view of where I want to go and what I want from life. I intend to have a bright, happy future. I would like to look back and be proud of decisions I made in school. I want to be able to know that it was me who got me to where I am today.”