This belief stems from my own experience at school: I really struggled through secondary school, which later turned out to be due to undiagnosed ADHD and Dyslexia… However, at the time, it felt like I was just not “smart enough” for subjects like Physics, barely scrapping C grades no matter how much work I put in. I remember asking my secondary school physics teacher for help and being told ‘Just accept you are a C student and Physics is not for you’. This really negativity impacted my confidence, something I still feel the echos of today. Luckily, my parents told me to ignore this teacher and convinced me to give the subject one more chance at A-Level. It was like night and day: My sixth form teacher, Mr Johnson, made each topic exciting, always made time to help, and even ran an after school experimental physics club. Mr Johnson’s passion inspired me to study physics at university, where I gained a first-class masters degree with a specialisation in experimental physics. The rest, as they say, is history.

I have worked with many students who, like I did at their age, believed on some fundamental level a subject was inaccessible to them. Further investigation revealed the vast majority of these students had had a similar experience to myself which had knocked their confidence. But, just like what Mr Johnson did for me, I hope to give students back their confidence and to grow passionate in their work. With the right support and attitude, I believe anyone can achieve their full potential in Maths & Physics.