Featured student of the month – Catherine Teward

Posted 1 November 2011

A monthly special featuring a current student from Harper Adams.

Agriculture student, Catherine Teward, has found her love of social networking sites invaluable when it comes to making industry contacts for her course at Harper Adams.

Catherine from Baldersdale, County Durham, was first attracted to the University College thanks to its 93.8% graduate employment rate and links with industry.

She has since been built on these foundations by making her own contacts through sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn.

The 21-year-old, said: “These sites are brilliant for making professional contacts. I’ve approached people to help me with assignments and had various topical debates with people from all over the country.

“I’m also following other young farmers, it’s nice to hear what they have been doing and what stories they have to tell.

“I really recommend that students use social networking on a professional level, I’ve had extremely positive experiences thanks to it all.”

Catherine, now in the final year of her BSc (Hons) Agriculture degree at Harper Adams, recently returned from a placement year at Andersons Northern in Yorkshire in a trainee consultant role.

She added: “Placement was by far the best experience of Harper Adams yet. I really enjoyed meeting new people and the mix between being on farm and in the office.

“I’m definitely considering consultancy work once I’ve graduated, with the aim of having my own farm in the future.”

As well as studying, Catherine is also a student ambassador, helping out at open days and events.

She added: “I’ve always lived on a farm but never considered agriculture as a career because I just didn’t realise the opportunities available to me before now.

“Future students should jump in at the deep end when they come to Harper Adams and take advantage of the fantastic opportunities available to them.”

You can follow Harper Adams here  – twitter.com/harperadamsuc