“I came here when I was six, from Somalia. I’m the oldest of eight siblings. I’m seen as honest, motivated and bold, although my little siblings think I’m bossy! When I moved here I didn’t know the language. I learnt everything from watching TV, it’s why I love it, it really helped me adjust. Also my teacher, Joe, made a huge difference to my life. She would take me aside everyday and practice my reading with me.
When I was 13, my grandma was very ill, so I went back to Somalia. I stayed there for two and a half years, missing my GCSEs. I had to catch up on everything when I came back, which was really difficult. I failed year 12, but I didn’t give up. I knew I needed English and Maths to go to Uni, so I wasn’t going to stop there.
Through the years I did course after course and I got seven GCSEs, but I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I’m fine now, I’ve figured it out, and a lot of that was through Babbasa. I first went to their Ask About Me event, and I had the chance to talk to Law professionals. I got really interested in doing law and pursued a Law course at the time. Babbasa then set me up with Susan Heenan, a law lecturer, as a mentor who helped me make a lot of decisions.
My advice to other young people would be to not give up. I’m starting Uni in September and will be doing an LLB at UWE. I’ll qualify in three years, then I’ll do an LPC or a masters. The end goal is to become a Solicitor, but if I had given up when I failed I wouldn’t even be going to Uni in September”