Today we are celebrating some of our female OCs on International Women’s Day

Grace Eccleson (OC, 2009), went on from Colston's to train at Arts Ed. She worked in the West End and toured both the UK and internationally as Grace Eccle.  Grace’s married name is Grace Kelly and she is now working full time as an illustrator. Grace says “Both my careers were helped so much by the teachers at Colston's. I'm really grateful.”

Do have a look at Grace’s website at www.pencilandgrace.co.uk. Her illustrations are fantastic. She can also be found at @pencilandgrace

Amelia Johnson (OC, 2023) says “Since leaving Collegiate in 2023 I have entered the next important stage in my life, university. I started my first year as a mechanical engineering student and it has been nothing short of amazing. As I walked into my matriculation on the first day with a lecture theatre of about 250 first year engineering students there were a lot of men. Luckily for me it was easy to make friends as I walked up to the small group of girls and I have sat with them ever since. Although I feel that being a woman in engineering is super important as within this discipline women are still under represented. I feel by pursuing this degree I am making a contribution to the growing number of both women in engineering and women in STEM.

I think the part of my journey at University so far that I am the proudest of is Leicester Racing. Leicester Racing is the Universities formula student team which is a project that is student lead. It involves building a race car to compete at Silverstone in various races and challenges. As part of the Powertrain Team, I work mostly in the garage assembling the fuel lines on the car. Learning hands on skills like how to use common garage tools and techniques. Also, terminology within the garage like key components on the car and the engine is a great way to link the theoretical engineering concepts learnt about in lessons to real world scenarios. Being led by fourth year students is a great opportunity to network and learn more about the university. As a part of fourth year project you get to oversee the second years and I really hope when I get to that stage there will be more women excited and intrigued about engineering because their voices are as valid as anyone else's.”

We’d love to hear your story-please do get in touch at LCarleton@collegiate.org.uk and don’t be shy about letting us know what you are up to.

Happy International Women's Day to all our amazing female OCs!