Giulia Pia Carleton

Member of The Dean's List, class of 2021

Giulia’s natural leadership skills and inclination to help others are evident from the positive impact she has made during her time at Sheffield.

Taking the lead

Giulia began working at Connect Abruzzo – an Erasmus Plus company – in the summer of her first year and quickly became group leader for a project in Poland. Here, she took on the responsibility of leading a group of five students aged 16-21 with learning difficulties or disabilities on a 3-week long trip to Poland, overcoming communication challenges and learning how to tackle difficult situations on her feet. 

After her success, Giulia gained a place on another Erasmus Plus project, empowering women across Europe about their sexual health.

A helping hand

Always keen to help others, Giulia took on the role of Mentor in her first year which saw her mentor seven students and she was awarded the title of ‘Outstanding Mentor’ twice in recognition of having such a positive impact on students’ lives. She also took on the role of an English-Italian tutor, and later in her final year began working in a COVID-19 testing centre during the pandemic.

Giulia volunteered her time on a European project based in Greece to spread the awareness of the challenges and issues faced by migrants and refugees, and later began working with UN Women UK helping to create a branch in Sheffield.

Giulia also volunteered through the UN online platform, providing support to Rescue Wing, a start-up in Ghana providing women with the knowledge and resources to carry out basic life skills. Giulia was successful in helping the founder access funding and build the company’s personnel by creating teams to help take the company forward.

A stand-up ambassador

Throughout her studies, Giulia has been a dedicated representative for her student community taking on various roles. She became a Brand ambassador for the Students’ Union (SU) whilst helping as an Elections Ambassador, and later became a Consent Champion raising awareness of social issues amongst her student community.

She was also a Deloitte Student Ambassador helping students engage with company, as well as taking on the role of  New Societies Representative within the SU.

Community spirit

Giulia involved herself in University life through societies such as Book Club, Swing Dance and Board Gaming, as well as taking on roles such as Head of Marketing and Publicity for Forge Press student newspaper.

In her role as New Societies Representative at the SU, Giulia saw how some societies were struggling with funding. She took the initiative to set up support groups, worked alongside Finance to create access funds, and within two weeks saw 50 applications from struggling societies.

Back at home in Italy, Giulia has continued to be an active part of Mastrogiurato di Lanciano cultural association and the Legambiente environmental not-for-profit organisation in Italy, helping to teach local students about caring for their surroundings and environment.

Next steps for Giulia

Amongst all of this, Giulia successfully secured a place on FDM’s 2-year Technical Operational Graduate Scheme joining them as a Junior Consultant specialising in IT Infrastructure and Cloud Computing.