17 April 2023 , 11:48
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A 20-year-old man who was discouraged from applying to the University of Cambridge by people who said he had no chance of getting into the prestigious institution is now a law student there.
Callum Stevens, from Bolton, Greater Manchester, had been told he should not aspire to study at university - let alone one of the best in the world - because of his background, but he did not allow people to bring him down.
His mum Maria gave birth to him at the age of 16 and looked after him as a single mum, with the help of Callum's grandma, but neither of them had attended university.
Callum, who is proud of his roots and said he would never change where he comes from, did not accept that his postcode should determine the chances he had to go to university and study to become a lawyer.
Callum as a little boy with his mum Maria (Callum Stevens/Zero Gravity)He told Metro: "The primary barrier that my place of upbringing put before me was mindset. It's all too easy to accept the system’s failings and believe that your life is predetermined by your postcode."
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He became passionate about law following a work experience in Year 10 and started thinking he wanted to study it at university, to work as a lawyer in the future.
Callum student said he first decided to apply to Cambridge University as a joke as people often told him: "People like you don’t go to places like Cambridge."
He described the negative comments as "disheartening" and "difficult to overcome" as people showed "a lack of understanding".
Thanks to the input of the Zero Gravity social mobility tech company, which mentors high-potential, low-income students to achieve their dreams, Callum got into the Holy Cross College in Bury where he got A*s in Law, English Literature and Mathematics.
He then started thinking about university - and said he did not consider Cambridge as "a serious option" due to other people's expectations, but at the same time he was "obsessed" as he wanted to prove that he could make it - and also somehow change people's mindset.
The sixth former was matched with a mentor who had recently graduated in law from Cambridge through Zero Gravity and was helped through the application process.
Callum grew up in Bolton, Greater Manchester (Callum Stevens/Zero Gravity)The platform's charity arm also gave Callum a £1,000-a-year scholarship for the duration of his course to support him through his studies.
Callum is now in his second year and is starting to think about his graduation, that will be attended by his proud mum.
He said: "I have worked so hard to get to where I am and graduation will be the end of such an important chapter in my life.
"With that, though, comes the excited anticipation of what’s next and the beginning of a journey from legal studies to practice."
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The student added that attending Cambridge University opened up many opportunities that would not have been available to him otherwise.
Callum added: "I hope that no matter what I go on to achieve in life, I will make an active contribution to bring those opportunities to those from upbringings like mine."