Ndanu Brown: The idea of analysing crime scenes was so interesting, like real life mysteries

I never really enjoyed school back home in Kenya, I’d lost interest and felt directionless. My Mum wasn’t having that though. 

She encouraged me to do something with my life and find a focus, and pushed me to go and live with her sister in London. I’d visited the UK before, staying for a week here-and-there.

But this time, getting off the plane, it felt different. I knew I wasn’t going back and I thought. ‘I’d better make the most of this’. So I enrolled at college, did pretty well, and soon it was time to think about university.

I’ve always enjoyed watching crime shows like CSI, where detectives track down criminals from the clues they leave behind.

The idea of analysing crime scenes was so interesting, like real life mysteries, and after a real life CSI team came and gave a demonstration at college, I knew that a course like Criminology would be perfect for me. But where?

In Kenya I was born by the sea and so the idea of studying on the coast here in the UK felt right, like a home away from home.

The University of Portsmouth had a brilliant criminology course and the campus was only a walk away from the beach. I couldn’t ask for a more perfect place!

Now I’ve been here three years and have learnt so much. The University even helped me get an internship with Southampton Police, shadowing CSI teams, which has given me a real taste for what’s to come.

Not that I’m waiting until I graduate. I’ve always wanted to help people and just because you’re studying it doesn’t mean you have to ‘only’ be a student. In reality you can put your learning to work way before graduation.

For instance, I volunteer at Portsmouth Abuse and Rape Counselling (PARCS), providing counselling for victims of rape and abuse – and also at Circles, helping sex offenders rehabilitate back into the community.

It can be quite heavy going but putting what I’ve learned to real use is a good thing. The experience helps my studies too, it’s given me a much broader appreciation of the field and a real world insight.