Georgie's passion for rural enterprise and land management

Meet Georgie Lee, a first year BSc (Hons) Rural Enterprise and Land Management (REALM) student. With a real passion for her subject and enthusiasm to learn, she shares about her first term at Harper and how she is adapting to online learning. 

“Rural Enterprise and Land Management is a very current degree that’ll keep you on your toes, with a diverse range of interesting and engaging modules,” Georgie explained. 

Being engaged was important for Georgie as she wanted to feel passionate about her future education and career path. She said: “I became interested in studying REALM after looking at several different degrees in business, law and even chemistry! However, the content of those courses didn’t spark a greater interest for me; I left many a university open day feeling flat because I had not yet discovered a degree I was passionate about. 

“Then I found Harper. I remember one week where I must have met four or five Harper graduates by chance and got chatting. So I searched for the institution and found the Land and Property section on the website, looked at the modules and thought ‘I really like this, I want to know more’. Then I watched the RICs video and I was sold; within two weeks I drafted up my personal statement.” 

With a successful application, Georgie joined Harper Adams in late September. She commented: “My first term has been brilliant! It’s had it’s up and downs due to Covid-19, but I’ve tried to make the best out of a bad situation and make the most out of my first year. 

“The teaching staff, the SU and the support staff have really done their utmost to ensure all that we can do, we have done. The Harper spirit is real, even when we are not on campus.” 

Georgie was personally impacted by the virus, having to isolate for two weeks. Fortunately, she was supported by friends who brought food to her door and her roommates with each other’s company. She was also able to attend lectures online and complete a law assignment with materials from the online library. 

Despite this, Georgie has continued to enjoy her university experience sharing highlights such as the writing and filming of a video challenge, BML Auction House, where students come together to highlight the ways in which an auction house works. 

Georgie said: “I love this kind of thing and everyone was keen to get involved - we were all really proud of what we managed to achieve. It was an interesting way to learn more about auctions and it also gave us all a chance to get to know each other outside of tutorials which hasn’t been as easy with Covid regulations this year.” 

With the current lockdown measures, Georgie and her classmates are working online to continue their studies. Talking about her experience, she said: “Online teaching has both positives and negatives - to make the most of it you need to look at online teaching through the ‘glass half full’ approach. 

“You can pause, slow down, speed up and rewatch lectures in your own time so I’ve found I’ve gained a lot more from online pre-recorded lectures than if I was to be in a lecture hall. 

“In addition, the ‘there’s no such thing as a stupid question’ still applies and whether via email or in live tutorials, lecturers have been great at getting back to any questions.” 

Despite being in the early stages of her studies, Georgie has a clear vision for the future. She commented: “After I graduate, I plan to work hard and pass my APC to become a chartered surveyor and then hope to grow within the industry constantly learning more and developing my skills set. 

“I’d love to work in Yorkshire - whether that be on placement or after my degree - and, of course, have a black lab, nice house and a prosecco fridge!” 

To find out more about our land and property courses available at undergraduate level, please click here.