Warwick Law School student Matilda Nengare who is currently studying on our LLM in International Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation was selected to participate in the postgraduate Sprint Programme at Warwick, a self-improvement programme aimed at female students.

It is a huge achievement to be selected for this highly competitive programme which encourages female students to take hold of their personal development and helps them to realise their ambitions. Warwick values female empowerment and the Sprint programme helps to promote this.

It was designed by The Springboard Consultancy in conjunction with Oxford and Cambridge universities in part to help address the gender pay gap imbalance and to equip students with the skills required to enable them to accelerate their potential in all areas of life including academic, personal and career as well as developing a positive mind-set.

We caught up with Matilda to find out more about the programme and her experience of taking part. She told us, “Every year, I try and do something really exciting and engaging in support of my personal development goals. When I came across the SPRINT programme, I was immediately intrigued. It promised an immersive and dynamic self-improvement experience, and it delivered just that.

“SPRINT is a self-improvement programme aimed at female students, with sessions held throughout the year for both undergraduate and postgraduate students. I highly recommend it. The programme sessions focus on building a holistic life, focusing on issues such as confidence and self-advocacy within the workplace, career goals and reflections, health and wellness and a good work-life balance.

“My favourite aspect of the programme was definitely hearing the lived experiences of women in other fields and at different stages of their lives and careers. Particularly when working within male-dominated fields, I think it is important to have these reference points and female perspectives. I found the sessions on building community particularly helpful, and I am sure others who struggle with networking will find them just as useful.

“I was assigned a mentor who was really aligned with my needs, and who went above and beyond to support me, helping me to gain clarity on developing my career further after graduation.

“During the sessions, you keep a journal/workbook, reflecting on the different sessions, your feelings, action points, goals and accomplishments. Writing everything down and reflecting on it in retrospect is a great way to see just how far you have come and how aligned your dreams and goals are. It forces you to interrogate where you are in life, how on-track you are with your goals, as well as to better understand your strengths, limitations and needs.

“Building resilience and confidence, and following through to match words with actions, are daily undertakings and a lifelong journey, and I am very glad that I set time aside to invest in myself in this way. For anyone seeking to reflect on their life, determine goals and gain motivation and inspiration for everyday life as well as larger dreams and goals, I would greatly recommend applying for the SPRINT programme. It is a comprehensive self-reflection and development guide, and a wonderful experience.”

They also run UG programmes twice a year alongside the PG programme. Find out more about Sprint at Warwick: https://warwick.ac.uk/services/skills/personal/sprint