I left Queenswood in the summer of 1999 after seven years. I chose my A-Levels based on the subjects I enjoyed the most because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to end up doing.

As I came to the end of the Sixth Form, my intention was to study Geography at University and work out a career path as I went along! I took a Gap Year before uni, heading out to the French Alps to work as a Chalet Girl – I feel this experience cemented my desire to pursue a degree and ultimately gave me a taste of hard work but some great memories.

Upon graduating from the University of Liverpool in 2003, I moved to Bermuda. I ended up going into reinsurance following a devastating hurricane that hit the island shortly before my arrival!

My experiences in the Queenswood Sixth Form helped hone my work ethic and independent thinking, and studying Geography also assisted my career choice by arming me with data analysis and problem-solving skills while still remaining fairly broad. These are all key attributes that my time at Queenswood instilled in me and I’m grateful for all the opportunities I was given.

I have now had a nearly 20-year career in reinsurance in Bermuda and in 2015 was awarded the Bermuda Insurance Institute’s Young Industry Leader award. This recognizes an individual’s contribution to their organization and the reinsurance industry through professionalism and ethics as well as technical expertise. The opportunities I was afforded at Queenswood built my leadership skills and I am now a recognized reinsurance underwriter in Bermuda, the US and London markets.