Name: Ben Knott
Studying: B.Sc. (Hons) Zoology (3rd Year)

Ultimate ambition: To travel lots with my job!

Life at University
I am a mature student and having spent so long doing jobs I did not enjoy, it has been great to come in every day and enjoy what I am doing. The lecturers are very enthusiastic about what they do, and it comes across in the lectures they give. The practical aspect, lab work and fieldwork, is great fun too. I have quite varied biological interests at the moment.

I have been doing an ecology project over the summer, helping one of the lecturers with research and my third year research project is going to be in molecular science. Biology can be surprisingly relevant to everyday life. Little facts spring back when you need them.

Ben studying pollinating insects

Background
I chose to study Zoology because I have had a lifelong interest in animals and a natural fascination with everything to do with biology. I spent several years doing other things before deciding to study Zoology. After finishing A-levels I went to university to study ship science, but didn’t like it, so left and spent several years working for a geophysics company. I went travelling for a year and then came back to London and worked in administration. I decided after six months that I wanted to go back to university, so spent a year saving before starting my course.

Future
I would like to do a Ph.D. I am not sure exactly what area yet, but probably something ecological, possibly with a molecular side to it. My field of interest is narrowing slowly and hopefully the work I am doing over the summer and my final year project will help me decide. I would ultimately like to travel lots with my job, and see the world.

Advice
Do something you enjoy! I t makes such a huge difference that every lecture I have been to has been interesting because I enjoy the subject. It makes the whole revision thing so much easier. Having come back as a mature student I have found that it is never too late to come back and do a degree. It is different from working, I have less money, but am doing a terrific course so it all seems worth it. It has not been too much of a change, it seems as if my old life was the change and this is what I should be doing!