Hannah England

My Graduate Story

My name is Hannah England. I'm a Biochemistry graduate here from the University of Birmingham.

Whilst I was at university, I really developed my athletics and I was a 1500 meter runner. I ended up going to the London 2012 Olympics and I also picked up a silver medal at the World Championships.

Being a student athlete is really tough. It was hard at school as well when I was doing my A-levels and if anything coming to university was a nice chance to kind of reinvent myself. The people I met here in freshers week just accepted that I wanted to be a student athlete. I was trying to be a bit different. They thought I was a bit strange, but they still supported me, so that made it a bit easier when I came here to Birmingham.

A Day in my Life

The scholarship programme here as well at the university was really great, helping us with our lifestyle. So not just how we could perform as sportspeople, but how we could balance that with our academics.

So towards the end of my time at university, when I came into my third year, I actually had a professional contract with Nike. So I had the chance to be a full time athlete. But it was really important to me to finish my biochemistry degree. I knew that would be a good fallback if I was ever to pick up a significant injury or want to leave the sport and pursue a career that I really enjoyed.

I really like Biochemistry, so it was a tough choice to kind of stay in university and compromise my performance ever so slightly. But if I'm honest, I think the structure and the environment here was really good, and that really put me in the really good place to start my professional career, which I did.

Once I'd finished that last exam, I stayed here in Birmingham, but I totally focused on my athletics.

My Journey

So having the Commonwealth Games here on campus was awesome. And also one of the most surreal moments for me as a sportsperson - I got asked to be mayor of the Vale, which was just totally bonkers. So that was a real special moment for me to have the chance to really be involved in a games, but particularly to be involved in a way that was connected to the university.

My Birmingham Experience

I would recommend studying at the University of Birmingham to anybody. I love it here. I think it's a wonderful city. That's what attracted me to it at 18. Got so much going on in the city.

And then from a sporting perspective, to have the facilities we have here, to have hosted the Commonwealth Games, there is everything here you need to be the best sports person you can be. So if anyone's looking to combine the two, I definitely think Birmingham is a good place to do it.

Birmingham’s Impact

The scholarship programme at the university was really great, helping us with our lifestyle and balance between sports performance and academics.

My Achievements

I ended up going to the London 2012 Olympics and I also picked up a silver medal at the World Championships.

Advice for Students

To the current athletes here, the student athletes, I just say it is tough trying to combine the two things, trying to be true to your studies and treat yourself in your sport as well. I think excellence in both does come when you can have a balance.

You could be an ordinary student if you wanted to. That's always an option. But, hey, why be ordinary when you can try and do something really special?