‘Bloxham’s Greatest Asset is its People’

Old Bloxhamist Louis Harris (Sy 04-11) is currently pursuing a career in Land Development (Residential Sector) having achieved a BA in Geography and Planning from the University of Birmingham and a Masters in Real Estate from the University of Reading. A keen sportsman, Louis thrived at Bloxham and took advantage of all the opportunities the School had to offer. 

Louis received a Raymond Scholarship in the Sixth Form which enabled him to complete his education at Bloxham. Here he reflects on the impact this had on him and the many ways in which he values his time at the School and the friends he made there.

Bloxham provides an outstanding offering and I consider myself extremely lucky to have had the chance to experience it, but I think its greatest asset is just the people that it produces. I have always had the sense that people who went to Bloxham were good all-round, down to earth people.

What were your highlights of your time at school? 

I got the most out of playing sport at school. There was some form of training every day and, because as a day pupil we stayed until 9.00pm, there was free time after lessons and in the evening to play sport with my friends too. We formed really strong ties and continued to play sport together after leaving school.

What A Levels did you do?

I studied PE, Biology and Geography. PE was a natural one for me and Biology is linked with sport in terms of the body and how the body works, which I found really interesting. Then Geography. I’ve always enjoyed the outdoors and so learning about how physical geographical features are formed and linked to human geography topics such as population was a natural fit for me.

What university did you go to and did you take a gap year?

I studied Geography and Planning at the University of Birmingham. I had an amazing time there and I actually lived with an Old Bloxhamist. I ended up playing a lot of sport which is taken quite seriously, and I gained a great deal from that.

I finished at Birmingham and then took a gap year. I travelled around South America with a couple of other Old Bloxhamists for about four months. Prior to travelling, I spent two terms working at Bloxham as a hockey coach. That was another great thing about the School: giving me the opportunity to come back and get experience coaching. I learned so much from it in terms of being able to take on a session with loads of students of different ages, different abilities, and the experience of being a staff member.

What career path have you taken since finishing university?

I took a Masters in Real Estate at the University of Reading as I was interested in a career in property, I also did a couple of internships and decided that was the route I wanted to take.

I work in land development buying up development sites and taking them through planning applications and looking through schemes mainly in the residential sector. Sometimes, due to the size of some of the schemes, there will be a commercial element or office, retail or industrial element. I love the variety the job brings; some days are behind a desk but there are a lot of site visits. I like to be out and about and meeting people.

When you were at Bloxham you were the recipient of a Raymond Scholarship. How has that impacted you?

I received the scholarship for my Sixth Form at Bloxham. It was at the time of the recession which hit my parents pretty hard. To be told that you were going to have to leave your friends and everything that you know and go somewhere different was very hard. I was really happy at school and had everything I wanted with all my closest friends and some great opportunities and experiences. I was devastated that I was going to have to leave.

But then I was offered a Raymond Scholarship which was a massive thing for me. Looking back on it, I’ll always be grateful to the School for the award. I gained a huge amount from those final two years which set me up very well for university and beyond. I definitely realised the impact of it at the time.

Have you kept in contact with friends made at school?

Bloxham gives you amazing opportunities to study, play sport, get into music or whatever interests you. It’s an outstanding offering and I consider myself extremely lucky to have had the chance to experience it, but I think its greatest asset is just the people that it produces. I have always had the sense that people who went to Bloxham were good all-round, down to earth people and that stretched across all age groups.

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