Yvette White who left The Abbey in 2016, is now a GB Air Rifle Shooter. Look out for her video interview across our social media platform next week, where she talks about her recent Bronze Medal at the British Open Airgun Championships, and her plans for the Olympics. Here is a sneak peak of her interview:

 Any advice you would give younger students/ females who want to go into sport professionally? 

Go into a sport that you enjoy, not just because you are good at it. If you don’t have a passion for your sport it is going to be harder in the long-term when the training sessions get longer and you are having to make personal sacrifices to attend training or competitions. So, you have to enjoy it. Sometimes, that means not training 7 days a week or 6 days a week. So, I only go to the shooting range three days a week, because I make sure that my training sessions are the best quality and effort being put into them. Versus, for a time period I did try going down to the range 5, 6 times a week. The main thing is that you enjoy what you are doing. If you enjoy it and you work hard as well as working smart then good things are going to come to you. Enjoy the moment you’re in, the people you’re meeting and the fun that you are having, not just focusing on the big competitions. 

What are some of your fondest memories from your school days? 

The different activities that The Abbey held, like House Music and Drama, and the Gym and Dance Display. 

What did you study at University and how did you juggle your shooting alongside your studies? 

I went to study Sports, Health and Exercise Science with Business at Brunel University, London. I always had a love and a passion for sport and I knew that I wanted to do it in conjunction with Business so that if for some reason one of the two routes didn’t go well I always had the other one to fall back on. Going to a smaller University like Brunel meant that I had more opportunities to work closely with the lecturers. I did a lot of work with PhD students in their own research in conjunction with physiology and helped them analyse it. 

What advice would you give your 18 year old self knowing what you know now?

 I would say everything will happen for a reason. Enjoy your life, work hard, everything that needs to happen will happen, just try to enjoy yourself the best that you can. 

Any advice for current Abbey students – especially in the Sixth Form who are making choices about what they want to do in the future? 

I would ask them to think about what they enjoy doing, and to go down something to do with that route. If you are going to be studying something for a long period of time, do something that you enjoy because then the work you’re doing you will find rewarding, and even when the job is tough, you’re still gonna enjoy it even a little bit. You don’t have to know exactly what you want to do at the age of 17 or 18, just do the subjects you enjoy and the path ahead will become clearer, and things will work themselves out.