Reflecting on Goonhilly Summer School


June 17, 2024


In 2022, Holly Holmes, a then-Year-10 student from Cornwall, attended a Summer School event here at Goonhilly. Now in Year 12, Holly has kindly taken the time to update us on the impact that her time with us has had on her studies, confidence levels, and plans for the future. 


Thank you Holly for sharing your experiences in this brilliant blog post! We’re thrilled to hear that the experience meant so much to you!

My name is Holly Holmes and I attended the Goonhilly Summer School in 2022 when I was in Year 10.


The Summer School was an absolutely amazing experience which not only educated me but filled me with ambition as to what to go on to do after I left school. I always knew I wanted to pursue STEM but the Summer School really inspired me and made me confident in my decision to choose Maths, Physics and Chemistry at A-level which I really enjoy.


I am now in Year 12 and aspire to study Astrophysics at university and aim for a career in the space communications sector, I really value the inspiration the Summer School has given me when looking at universities as well as the many skills it has helped me to develop.


I was quite shy in Year 10 and the Goonhilly Summer School helped me to really develop my confidence not only socially, but also in myself and my skills. I learnt all about satellite communications as well as many other jobs at Goonhilly and made lifelong friends.


The Summer School developed my research and presentation skills as well as giving me the opportunity to showcase what I had learned at the end of the week through my collaborative presentation. My group’s presentation title was “Going to Mars and Beyond” and I really enjoyed collaborating with my team and using the knowledge I had gained to help me with my research. We worked together on assigning topics and designing the presentation, and then preparing to deliver it as a team to an audience. This was especially rewarding and felt like a testament to everyone’s hard work throughout the week. 


One of the most exciting parts was having a tour of the inside of the GHY-6 deep space antenna, which gave a brilliant insight into the day-to-day life of a Deep Space Mission Operator and what went into receiving signals from space. Learning about the history of the site and how it came to be what it is now was fantastic, as was being educated on different areas of space communications and what career opportunities there are in the sector.


Overall, the amazing team at Goonhilly truly made the experience one that I will value for the rest of my life!


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