Mason (Shattock Scholar)

The Shattock Family Scholarship, which I have held this year at St Chad’s, has made a real difference to my time here, and I don’t take that for granted.

This year I have thrown myself fully into life at Chad’s and at Durham. Within
College, I became Assistant Wellbeing Officer and got properly stuck into JCR life,
and I was proud to be asked to give a speech at the Burns Night College Formal,
which is a memory I will keep for a long time.

Alongside my law degree, I took on the role of Profile Editor at Palatinate, the student newspaper, where I have had the opportunity to interview a range of interesting people, including the Governor of St Helena, Nigel Phillips CBE. This scholarship also gave me the freedom to get properly involved beyond College, including at the Durham Union, and to take part in a range of societies and events across the University that I would otherwise have
thought twice about because of the time and cost involved. Between all of this, it has
been one of the busiest and most rewarding years of my life so far.

It hasn’t all been easy. Coming from a working-class, state-educated background,
adjusting to university life at somewhere like Durham was a bigger step than I
expected. What has made all the difference is the support I have found here, both
from Chad’s and from the wider University, which has helped me settle in and grow
in confidence rather than feel like I didn’t belong. The Shattock Scholarship has been part of
that support, easing the pressures that come with university life and giving me more
freedom to get involved in the things that have meant the most to me this year,
rather than worrying constantly about money.