Jessica White, Assistant Auditor, National Audit Office

Medical Microbiology and Immunology BSc Hons (2007)  

Originally from the Newcastle suburbs, I always knew I wanted to attend Newcastle University – why go anywhere else when you have an awesome university and the best city in the country on your doorstep. I fell into my course of Medical Microbiology with Immunology quite by accident and had no idea what to expect when I began.

 

The first year programme was common to all the biomedical sciences. This allowed me to sample all of the degrees on offer, although it did pose some tough choices as to whether to stay with my original choice or defect to another course. The flexibility in this was great, especially as I didn’t know what to expect.

 

As the course specialised in my second and third years I became more and more interested in the subject matter. With fantastic lecturers and support it was always easy to overcome areas of difficulty and concentrate on the fun subjects!

 

I graduated in 2007 with a first class honours degree and changed career path completely. I am now working for the National Audit Office, which audits all of the government’s spending. Through the National Audit Office, I am training for the ICAEW qualification to become a chartered accountant.

 

While I don’t often get to use my scientific knowledge directly, (though for a recent Value For Money study concerning animal health I was very much in demand), the wider skills I learned at Newcastle University have proven invaluable.

 

My day-to-day job constantly challenges and interests me. I get to travel all over the country and there are fantastic opportunities to travel abroad. The inner workings of government bodies will never get boring and have certainly challenged my views on how the ‘system’ operates.