Pastonian 'Poddy' podcast launches third episode!

In the latest episode of the Pastonian Poddy, our Development and Alumnae Relations Manager, Emma Hanbury, speaks with St Mary’s alumna and civil engineer, Lexi Markle, about her latest projects and how St Mary’s gave her the confidence to thrive in a male-dominated field.  

Lexi took a break from her busy schedule as a graduate civil engineer for Blackwell Earthmoving, one of the UKs largest earthworks contractors, to discuss her journey at St Mary’s, from her first nervous days, joining year 9 mid-way through the term, to quickly feeling at home. She reflects on how her early passion for scientific experiments led her to choose STEM subjects at A-level, before studying Civil Engineering at Loughborough University. Yet she did not always have a set career in mind and advises St Mary’s girls in a similar position to follow their passion, be open-minded – ‘it always works out in the end’.  

Lexi attributes this self-assurance in part to her time at St Mary’s, where small classes of girls helped to build the confidence in STEM subjects to later succeed in male-dominated university classes and her career since. Describing a day in her life as a graduate civil engineer, Lexi paints a varied schedule, spent running between sites, taking calls and writing and checking documents as part of the HS2 project, a new high-speed railway linking up London, the Midlands, the North and Scotland.  

As a STEM ambassador, Lexi ends the podcast with a call to empower more girls to study sciences, both at school and beyond: 

‘St Mary’s gives you all the skills you need’ and engineering ‘needs a more diverse workforce’.  

Listen below to hear more about Lexi’s journey:

https://pastonianpodcast.podbean.com/e/pastonian-poddy-1625334407/

You can visit the Pastonian Poddy here to subscribe to our podcast on your phone.

Emma is looking forward to learning what have been the pivotal moments that have made these alumnae choose a specific career path and what amazing careers and lives they have been able to pursue. Why not get in touch and tell us your story?

Find out more about our alumnae and our Pastonian Association. 

You can find out more about STEM opportunities at St Mary’s here, and read about our latest STEM lab, which will help junior school pupils to reach their full potential in the sciences here.