Cary Buchanan

We caught up with ex-student Cary Buchanan just three weeks into her new job in London.  Enjoying the buzz of the city and working in a company that researches the sustainability of the built environment, she says her interest in geography can be traced back to her days at Shimna College. 

                  Cary and her family originally chose Shimna for many reasons, such as its reputation, academic results and closeness to home, but mostly because they wanted to support integration.  Given ‘the way society was’, they thought that integrated schools were a ‘positive step forward’.  Cary had attended a ‘fairly mixed’ primary school, and knew she wanted to continue her education in a diverse community. 

                  When she transferred to secondary school, Cary thought she wanted to be a vet or a teacher – ‘the usual first year ideas!’  By fifth year, however, when the time came to choose subjects, she had no idea what sort of career she should aim for.  Geography was already her favourite subject, and after studying a wide range of GCSEs, she settled on biology, geography and maths for A Level, with an AS in psychology. 

                  Cary’s interest in geography grew during her A Levels, which she puts down to ‘how well it was taught’ as well as her own love for the subject.  When Cary received the Jean Forbes Award for Environmental Studies she met Jean in person.  Jean was ‘absolutely lovely, passionate, enthusiastic’ and very encouraging about all the possibilities that university would hold. 

Cary’s choice of university came down to a final decision between St Andrews in Scotland and Queen’s in Belfast.  This was quite a dilemma, as Cary was torn between wanting to broaden her horizons and not wanting to leave her friends and familiar surroundings.  In the end, Cary decided that although for her, staying in Northern Ireland would have been an easier option, she couldn’t miss the opportunity to study at St Andrews. 

Her degree in Geography and Environmental Biology was a very happy time for Cary.  She loved living in Scotland, which was ‘brilliant’, and she’s glad she took the plunge and studied further afield.  While she was at university, Cary was able to really focus on the issues that excited her about geography, learning more about climate change and how governments and society can respond to it.  She had the chance to see cutting-edge research up close, and had some excellent teachers.  

While she was at school, Cary liked ‘rivers, tectonics and other physical geography topics’, but now she’s now fascinated by the ‘bridges in between physical and social geography’, like policy and sustainability targets.  After graduating in June she was delighted to get a job on a graduate scheme with a company that works in this area, researching how buildings and urban environments can be made more environmentally friendly.  They are currently involved in the Olympics redevelopment, among other things.  Cary thinks that sustainability will be one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy in future years, as producing the right balance between economic, social and environmental priorities becomes ever more urgent. 

London is ‘a big change for Northern Irish people’, but Cary is enjoying the buzz of being in such a huge city, as well as the career advantages of being where so many companies are based.  She loves that there is ‘so much going on’.  Still in contact with many of her classmates from Shimna, Cary says that not getting the 11+ marks needed for grammar school was ‘a blessing in disguise’, as she feels that she personally  ‘wouldn’t have done as well’ in the grammar school system.  She thinks that small class sizes benefitted her enormously, and says ‘Shimna is living proof of how much a good school can do for people’.