Natalia Kele Ehenulo

Tell us a bit about your experience at ¶º±ÆÖ±²¥â€¦.

I began my studies at ¶º±ÆÖ±²¥ in September 2019 where I completed my undergraduate degree in BSc Business Economics. Over the past four years I have obtained knowledge from all areas within the business school- finance, economics, trading, business and so forth, bridging my knowledge of Business Economics. Through my course I was guided into analytics by taking modules such as Econometrics, FinTech, Applied Economics where I applied my research skills in conjunction to my analytical skills augmenting my interest in Data Analytics. Through my experiences between interacting in modules and with lecturers my interest spurred from there. Since I decided to continue my education at ¶º±ÆÖ±²¥ by undergoing a masters in MSc Finance. Many of the modules taken directly link to data analysis. Credit Risk Analytics and Research Methods are a few of the modules which have allowed students to create their own analytical models, predict trends, regressions and test hypothesis’. The interactive nature of the classes has allowed me to excel and grasp a greater understanding of the topics and test my abilities whilst comprehending my real-world role if I was to continue with said career.

Alongside studying I am a member of ¶º±ÆÖ±²¥ Netball club and have been since September 2019. Throughout my 4 years at ¶º±ÆÖ±²¥, I have played for all three netball teams and from my 2nd year onwards I have played for the 1st team within the netball club. This academic year, I not only play for the 1st team but I also captain said team; so far, we are undefeated in the league having won Northern Tier 2A and we're competing in the Conference Cup Final in Leeds against Northumbria Women’s 1s. Hopefully we bring back a win for Bangor! I thoroughly enjoy participating in extra curricular activities, not only because of my love for sport but the social aspect. I have made so many lifelong friends from joining the Athletic Union within netball and other clubs and that have really helped my progression as an individual over the past four years.

Within Netball, for the academic year 2021/22 I was the netball club secretary where I was in charge of the 3rd netball team, making sure match receipts were made for all home games and organising umpires for all three teams for all home games. This took lots of organisation and countless meetings with the rest of the netball committee, ¶º±ÆÖ±²¥â€™s Athletics Union and external agents who we sourced for umpires. A challenge which I thoroughly enjoyed. This academic year, (2022/2023), I am the club Treasurer; my role entails me to be in charge of accounts, budget forecast for the academic year, keep track of all ingoing and outgoings in the grant account and the fundraising account, request forms from the AU for expenditure, financial claim forms, ensuring all affiliation costs are sorted out and constant communication with the club captain. This role is perfectly links to my degree where I can apply my analytical skills.

What has been the best thing about studying at Bangor?

The constant interaction with lecturers. It can be easy to feel as though you are hidden as there are so many students, but the lecturers are always willing to offer help; if I have ever needed a meeting, they were always quick to book meetings with me and address my concerns and issues. As a result, I ended up scoring very well in exams and assignments as I was guided in the correct direction. Furthermore, when asking for help, my lecturers provided knowledge that was greater than the needs of the assignment. They would inform me of what said topics mean, and why we are doing this; making skills applicable to the real world; enhancing my employability and my greater understanding on topics which has been incredibly useful for job applications.

Furthermore, the lectures themselves are geared at providing greater knowledge than just simply doing well in the assignment. Particularly as my interests lie in data analytics, a lot of the modules relating to statistics highlight particular aspects which are critical to day to day life of a statistician. This really has broadened my knowledge but provided greater confidence that I will be an excellent statistician from excellent teaching.

How has studying at ¶º±ÆÖ±²¥ helped your employability?

As stated previously lecturers are very focused on making sure our knowledge is not limited to scoring well in assignments but making sure it is applicable in our future jobs; they do this very well as they know the nature of finance, banking and economics is moving hastily. Throughout my four years at ¶º±ÆÖ±²¥, although excel is not performed in exams, lecturers have made us perform tasks through excel as they know this is a common platform many firms use to conduct operations; by getting us up to scratch with these platforms they are augmenting myself and other students’ employability. This has been done consistently throughout my undergraduate and postgraduate years at ¶º±ÆÖ±²¥.

Furthermore, lecturers have also introduced us to analytical software such as Stata where we perform regressions, statistical models. We do not have to do this in our in-person exams, but they know this is software and methods we will have to use when in the real world and I really appreciate lecturers giving us a head start.

¶º±ÆÖ±²¥ are all very good at preparing careers fairs for students. Multiple times a year they will bring in employers where student can talk to them at stalls about careers, expectations, entry requirements and what will make them employable. ¶º±ÆÖ±²¥ have even set up LinkedIn master classes for beginner, intermediate and advanced individuals as well as free LinkedIn headshots. ¶º±ÆÖ±²¥ simply go outside of just teaching in lectures; they are concerned with the greater scope; what will their students get outside of university and where they will end up. I am happy to be a part of a university that cares about their students.

What advice would you give to students studying in the ¶º±ÆÖ±²¥?

Make sure you go out and meet people. Whether it is people in the building across from you, course colleagues or people you have met through clubs and societies; it is so important to meet people. It is most students first time living away from home, and it can be daunting but the majority are in the same boat; everyone is willing and eager to make friends; optimise on this and get outside of your comfort zone. Making friends no matter the circumstances makes studying at ¶º±ÆÖ±²¥ much easier; future students please please please get involved, you will not regret it. Make use of your course friends and lecturers. It is so easy to think you can always do it on your own but your colleagues can be such a safe place. You always have to remind yourself that multiple brains are better than one. Bringing all your knowledge together can enhance your marks and good team work is something that a lot of employers look for; how well will they fit into the existing team. Furthermore, starting university without knowing anyone can be daunting, having a close friend(s) on your course can make lectures less daunting knowing you can experience it with someone else. Make sure to join extracurricular clubs and activities. Clubs and societies have so much to offer from meeting new people, joining committee roles, day trips out and so much more. It is 100% something you should consider. It is also nice to indulge in other activities other than just study. It is obvious in saying you come to university for a degree but university also contains a large social aspect and as it is the first time away from home for many students it can be lonely. By getting involved, you open the door to meeting new people, creating new hobbies which can be great outlets outside of studying and lectures. 

In once sentence, what was your favourite thing about studying at ¶º±ÆÖ±²¥?

Three things for me were making new friends, increasing my knowledge and independence.

What are your plans for the future?

After ¶º±ÆÖ±²¥ I successfully managed to obtain a Commercial Analyst Role for Quark Energy Trading. The job is located in Oxford with plans to relocate to a London office as well with the option for remote working a few times a week. I went through three rounds of interviews via Microsoft Teams; daunting at first but I became confident in my ability and showcased the knowledge I had acquired throughout my studies at ¶º±ÆÖ±²¥. I think I came across genuine, inquisitive and the aspiration to do well and I think that is what landed me the role. Everyone applying for these roles are smart likewise individuals with similar, if not analogous qualifications, it is always good to showcase why your attributes and personality are far more suited to the role than your counterparts; a lot of that comes from sincerity.