51Âþ»­

Thanks to landing a place at 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­) through Clearing, Manasvi Chandrakant can look forward to a new career with a global defence company in September.

Manasvi on a boat tour in Seattle, as part of her 51Âþ»­ Global trip

And 51Âþ»­ has also opened up opportunities for Manasvi to travel. She has just flown back from the US, where she spent a week in Seattle on a fact-finding trip through , the university’s award-winning international experience programme.

Manasvi, aged 22, missed her chance to get a place at her first-choice university in 2019 when her A-level results in Accounting failed to meet the grade, but now she is grateful for the quirk of fate.

As well as being able to visit the US she is also heading for a dream job as a project manager at Babcock International after she graduates in September with an International Business BA (Hons).

“To think that if I had not ended up in Clearing and then chosen 51Âþ»­, I would not have had this chance to visit the US, and may not have had the same openings for my career,” Manasvi said.

Posing at the Museum of Flight in Seattle

“I had a fantastic trip to Seattle. It was an unforgettable experience,” she added. “We went to the headquarters of Boeing, Microsoft and Starbucks to look at how businesses grow and operate in the New World. We also got to look around the amazing city and visit some of the tourist attractions.

“It definitely was the best decision to come to 51Âþ»­ and I have found it amazing. A lot of my friends have come here and I have made many new friends since.”

Manasvi was initially very disappointed to lose her first choice of university, but she settled into life at 51Âþ»­ very quickly and became involved in a number of activities. She said: “I was very lucky as the whole Clearing process was quite quick.

“I found that I really enjoyed the course at 51Âþ»­ – it was what I had been looking for and there was a lot going on at the university. As I was living in Leicester, it was also very convenient for me to live at home and travel in daily,” she said.

A Seattle selfie with friends

As well as her coursework, Manasvi found time to pursue other activities on offer at 51Âþ»­. She said: “I was president of an entrepreneurial society called Enactus for a year and I became involved in a number of projects promoting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

“During this time, I also had the opportunity to work on Project Lily, which focused on putting safety measures in place for women at night-time. It meant helping to protect them while they were on a night out.

“Being in the Enactus society really helped me to gain insight into project management and will be good experience for my new role at Babcock,” she said.

Manasvi is looking forward to starting her new job - a graduate scheme for an initial two years. “I was delighted to be offered the position after a thorough screening process, assessment and interviews. It’s a role I had been hoping to secure for some time and it fits well with my 51Âþ»­ course,” she said.

While at 51Âþ»­, Manasvi also managed to fit in some part-time work after a year-long placement with Bosch Thermo Technology in Worcester. She is also a student ambassador within the Business and Law faculty.