Stacey Tideswell (Human Geography, 2013, Grizedale) tells how her time at Lancaster taught her to embrace the opportunities to travel and learn to find opportunities in all that life presents. She has also been part of the BBC programme that has documented her life at 7 year intervals and has allowed her to have film evidence of all her achievements to date.

"I studied Human Geography at Lancaster, graduating in 2013. One thing that drew me to Lancaster was the college system (I was in Grizedale), to me, a shy overwhelmed teenager, the colleges made a big university campus feel smaller and more personable, which helped me to grow as a person in confidence. I loved my three years at Lancaster; I got to do some amazing things and meet some truly incredible people from all over the world. I believe my time at Lancaster really helped to shape my life in the years since. It is thanks to Lancaster that I had the opportunity to go and work overseas. I remember attending careers talks in my final year, and happened upon one for teaching English in China, something that I had never thought about before. Before I knew it, I had applied, been successful in my application, been allocated a school and two weeks after my graduation, I was on a plane to China. China was incredible: I initially thought I would only stay for one year, to give myself some life experience before returning home. Pretty soon, that one year turned into seven, before I ultimately decided to return to the UK in February 2021. I was lucky enough to have my return to the UK and leaving China documented on the recent BBC show 28UP Millennium Generation – a remake of the original UP series. My final day as a teacher in China was filmed, and now looking back, I can't believe I made it through as there was lots of tears shed. Being a part of this show is incredibly special, as I get to see my life documented every seven years, even though it is only a snapshot of my life at the particular time it is filmed. If you look closely enough there is a little footage shown in 21UP of my graduation from Lancaster as well.

Now, it is almost a year since I returned to the UK, and I feel like I have settled back into life here again, starting over in my hometown. I really do now believe in the phrase “there’s no place like home” after being away for over seven years. I now have a job in residential care, something I didn’t expect to do, but it is something that I am loving and have a passion for. At the moment, I have no set plans for the future, I take each year as it comes, something I learnt during my time in China. life can be uncertain and unpredictable, and I want to live in the moment and take each year as it comes."

All episodes of the BBC Millenium Generation series featuring Stacey are still available to view through the iPlayer (as at 31/3/2022)