Ryan Thorne graduated from the Career Ready programme in 2016 whilst studying at Holyrood Secondary School, Glasgow. Ryan now works for Morgan Stanley, where he was mentored and completed his paid internship while on the Career Ready programme. He also holds a MLitt in International Business from the University of St Andrews.
At school, I lacked self-belief and I was not sure if I had the potential to succeed – but I was always committed to my education: I received seven SQA Highers which allowed me to study at degree level, and I was also a Career Ready nominated finalist in the 2016 Young Scot Awards for Educational Excellence. Coming through school, into higher education and beyond, was difficult because I lacked networks outside of my neighbourhood. This limited my ability to look beyond my immediate set of circumstances.
I decided to join Career Ready in my penultimate year of school. In retrospect, this is the number one decision I am thankful for in life. Without Career Ready, I am not sure that I would ever have fully been able to progress onto university as smoothly as I did. Without a doubt, I am most grateful for the chance to work with my mentor from Morgan Stanley, his wisdom motivated me towards my personal goals.
While there have been many opportunities to work on personal growth since my early days on the Career Ready programme, I do not feel like I could have held myself with such confidence if it were not for those earlier lessons I gained during my internship at Morgan Stanley.
The programme challenged me from day one and raised my aspirations. There was something exciting about meeting new people and, through them, I was able to collect early experiences and lessons about the world of work. These have been lasting and have served me well throughout university. My internship at Morgan Stanley helped me mature and allowed me to look for new opportunities. I also learned more about personal responsibility, a skill that allowed me take ownership and become Career Ready.
Before joining the programme, I had never really encountered new environments and naturally felt a little displaced in the office. Career Ready helped unlock my confidence; to overcome personal barriers; and to become more sociable. When I first met with my mentor, I was apprehensive, but I quickly moved past this and we went on to enjoy a close relationship. I also enjoyed the opportunity to work with other interns since it allowed me to challenge my own views and opened me up to new perspectives.
Career Ready has helped me navigate those big transition periods in life that are often surrounded with uncertainly.
I recently graduated from The University of St Andrews as a postgraduate student in International Business, after obtaining an undergraduate degree there in Geography and Management. I was also delighted to receive an international scholarship at Emory University in Atlanta, U.S. as one of only four Robert Jones Scholars. Living and studying in America was a truly eye-opening experience and one which will stay with me forever.
But now that my studies are complete, I’m excited to be getting the next chapter of my life underway as an Analyst at Morgan Stanley. It feels right to be back at Morgan Stanley to launch my graduate career. I owe a tremendous amount to the people at Morgan Stanley. As a teenager, unaware that I had so much ahead of me, my mentor Andie helped me realise that my goals were possible, and that the corporate environment was one which I could thrive in. So, this is also an opportunity for me to say thank you, to Andie, Morgan Stanley, and all those who first welcomed me at the Glasgow office, in 2015.
Get involved and help more young people like Ryan kickstart their futures.
