Meet Charley

Growing up it was my Grandad who made me excited about history and archaeology. Together we visited some of the world's most interesting places, from Stone Henge in the UK to Chichen Itza in Mexico.

I'd never considered it could become more than just an interest. When my friends were going off to uni, I took a different path and ended up working in an opticians. I soon realised I needed to make a big decision, stay where I was working or change things up and pursue a career doing what I loved.

I chose to study archaeology at UCLan, and I haven't looked back since.

One of the best parts of the course is the focus on employability as I was concerned before joining that it would be hard to find a job when I graduate. However, I've seen the great connection UCLan has with the commercial side of archaeology. Many graduates have gone straight into employment and I feel UCLan has prepared us well to do the same.

The four weeks work experience opportunities we get every year really contribute to us being career ready. We are given options of where we can work on dig sites, and become one of the team. It's a great opportunity to experience a real dig and to network with the archaeologists at the site.

There's a range of locations that even include California. I chose to stay in the UK and work at Orkney which is famous for it's Neolithic sites. After three days we discovered part of a wall, which although it might not sound it, was really exciting. It pushed us on to dig further and we ended up recovering human remains and tools as well.

I'm loving every moment and have never looked back since deciding to study archaeology here. I'm even planning on doing a master's in archaeology, something that seemed impossible for me only a few years ago.

I'll graduate this summer and I hope my Grandad will be able to come along and see me start on the career path he inspired!