Graduation Reflection by 2015 Scholar Kate Byrne

As we meet with the end of the scholarship year I have found myself deep in reflection.

We have been inspired, mentored, coached and developed by some of the most impressive and accomplished minds in the UK.

We have been moved to think differently, dream bigger – encouraged to figure out the “what” and the “why” and given invaluable tools to realise the “how”. The greatest gift of all however for me, has been the one not listed.

The incredible group of talented people who you bare your soul to. The ones who
go through the process with you and bring new light to your life in the most
unexpected ways.

There is the wise owl one always helping us reach our hidden depths , the
Mamma one – with the burning intuition, the meticulous organiser one, the
ridiculously kind literary one, the one with the sharpest wit and win-or-die
mentality, the sartorial entrepreneur one – so abundant of energy, the precocious
principled one pipped to be CEO before any of us (informally known as the “Triple
Threat”), the simply “perfect” one, the Queen one who impresses us all with how
effortless it seems to be queenie – realising her powers with regal elegance, the
radiant one, the comedienne one who wears her talents so lightly, the fearlessly
feisty one, and the cheeky chappy one whose escapades and adventures bring joy
to us all.

The tirelessly curious one, the warm joker one, the hipster one, the would be
foodie – funny as hell one, the kick-ass fashionista one – the list goes on and on
and reads like a word cloud of awesome. At the end of our last two boot camps we have closed with a few words to convey to each other our appreciation for what (I truly believe) has been the greatest gift of all – the cohort.

As a new crew emerges..I urge the scholars of 2016 to make the most of this great
gift as you will all of the others.

We have become each other’s friends, mentors, inspirers, connectors, therapists,
personal trainers, pre-wedding nutritionists, focus groups & fan clubs.
We are saving each other fortunes daily through all these additional provisions (!)
As our year together draws to a close – I am amazed at the investment we all have
in each other after our relatively short period of time spent together. I feel
humbled by the talent that arrived into that first bootcamp at Cookham and even
more so by the uniform kindness, curiosity and vitality that I have witnessed in all
bar none.

We have created friends for life – and if the chips are ever down, we can be
guaranteed a solid boot up the ass to replace the Cookham bootcamp as we start
our exciting new chapters – as Alumni.

Good Luck to one and all.

Love, The Irish one

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The Scholarship – a 9 month, free, part time program for 30 of the UK’s fastest rising stars in Marketing, Advertising, Media and Communications.

The Fellowship – Equips CMOs and Marketing Directors with the tools, knowledge and insight to make the move onto Boards and into General Management / MD / CEO roles.

12 month full paid Marketing Apprenticeship for young adults who because of challenging backgrounds, lack qualifications or poor life choices are normally overlooked for this kind of work experience