We’re proud to take part in this year’s #NoWrongPath campaign to raise awareness of a range of career routes and pathways that will always remain open to realising potential, no matter what results day brings.
Launched in 2017, No Wrong Path is a social media movement by Developing the Young Workforce (DYW). It has won awards and offers inspiration and reassurance to young people getting their results. This year, Results Day is on Tuesday, 5th August and we’re sharing stories from our team, mentors and supporters to show young people there are always options, no matter what news the day may bring later this week.
Next up is Becca Finch, who has been a committed MCR Pathways mentor for two years, and is now mentoring her second young person after her first left school to begin at College this August.
“I left school at the end of 5th year with 3 D’s at Higher level, and a C for National 5 biology. I have always been interested in psychology and wanted to help people. After being a patient under mental health services since my early teens, I felt like I had been let down and I didn’t want others to feel the same way.
“In school I really struggled, I tended to do okay in class assessments but when it came to exams I felt like it was luck whether I would be able to remember the right information or put it together properly. I really loved studying, but I grew up in quite a turbulent environment and studying with music on was an escape from that, and it didn’t really translate into exams. When I was in school I wanted to be a psychologist working within children services such as CAMHS. However, even though I drafted personal statements while still at school, I didn’t apply because the grades I would have needed felt too out of reach.
“I applied to college to study ND Social Science with the intention to focus on psychology.
When I got my exam results, it must have been around 3/4am and I can remember just bawling my eyes out because I was so disappointed that I had put so much work in and came away with 3D’s and a C. I remember my mum waking up and telling me to go back to bed because I had a place in college anyway outwith my results. I never went back to school because I was too embarrassed to see my teachers, I felt like I had let them down.
“I started college and was really enjoying the different subjects of social sciences. When I was speaking to lecturers about going on to do a HNC or HND before university, one of them asked if I had ever looked into mental health nursing, as the job prospects had more stability and less time of study than being a psychologist. It felt like it was something that was more doable for me, and I had always thought about being a nurse – but I didn’t think it was the right career choice for me because blood (even on Casualty) makes me feel woozy.
“I applied to resit my highers at college instead of progressing to a HNC/HND in social sciences. My aim was to achieve two B’s and a C, to meet the entry requirements for Glasgow Caledonian University, my first choice uni. I was doing well in assessments and I was projected A’s and B’s for the subjects I was sitting. I had conditionals for my first two choice universities and was feeling really positive. I also applied for HNC health and administration as a back up if I didn’t meet the requirements for uni.
“Unfortunately when I got my results, I got BCC, and again I burst into tears. I told my parents I hadn’t met the entry requirements for uni, and I was totally gutted but I knew I had a back up and would get there eventually. A few hours later I got an email from UCAS and my first choice uni had accepted me due to how much they liked my personal statement. More tears, but this time much happier tears.
“I studied for 3 years at GCU, completing 2300 hours of placement in hospitals in Glasgow, as well as passing all of my assignments – and at the end of my degree I graduated with a distinction. It had its own challenges, dealing with my own mental health while trying to support people in crisis was difficult at times, but it taught me a lot about my emotions and others. As well as compassion, communication and trying to treat a person as a whole instead of by their illness.
“Being a mental health nurse felt like my purpose, and in the beginning I really felt like I was able to make a change – but being on the wards and in community settings I realised that the problem is systemic, and I can only help people to feel seen who are in front of me. I accepted a job as a Band 5 mental health nurse in an acute admissions ward, in a mental health hospital in Glasgow. I then also passed my driving test, which cut out about 3 hours of travel time each day.
“Two weeks after starting my job as a registered mental health nurse I was involved in a serious road traffic accident at the end of 2019, where I broke both of my legs and my collarbone. I spent two and a half years trying to save my leg, working through trauma and eventually had my leg amputated in 2022. I spent a year coming to terms with what my life looked like as an amputee. I have a prosthetic, but I have been having problems with it.
“I had my job terminated around the end of 2020, and because nursing has something called “revalidation”, it meant with my long gap in being able to practice I would have to go back to university for around 6-8 months, where I would have 400 of in-class learning and another 400 hours of placement practice before I was able to return to work properly. Nursing was hard on me as an able bodied person, and after becoming a patient of the system – it broke me down to a point where it didn’t feel like the same calling as it had in 2019.
“I am in a phase of my life where I am looking forwards, and it’s scary at 27 (nearly 28) to be unemployed due to disability, trying to figure out my place in the world and looking for a career that suits my needs. Although I am not employed, I find meaningful ways to spend my time; I use my love for research and mental health to produce podcast episodes where I talk about mental health and disability and how it impacts my life, but also looking at what rights exist and hoping to give tools to people to self advocate.
“I mentor a young person one hour of the week with MCR Pathways and I feel like I get the same feelings from nursing that I get from mentoring, just in different ways. I have just ended my first mentor relationship with a young person who knows that whatever their path looks like, they have a one legged cheerleader along the way. I’ve also recently met my new mentee and I’m looking forward to seeing what their path looks like.
“I think it is really daunting for 16, 17 and 18 year olds to know what they are going to do for a career. My career journey has had lots of twists and turns, and at times I do feel like employment-wise I am at the point that I was when I was leaving school, but this time I have 10 years of life experience outside of school working in different roles. It can be hard for me to accept that sometimes, I need to put my health first and figure out how my quality of life looks the more that I add in to a weekly schedule, and that can take time to get things sorted and see what the future looks like.
“At the moment I am happy being nurse Becca to friends, a podcast host and a mentor. I advocate for myself on a daily basis, have helped friends and also learned a lot about advocacy through mentoring and sometimes bridging the gap between teens and teachers. I am looking for routes into employment in advocacy and choosing what is best for me, that may look like going back to university to study law, or gaining certifications.
“I was always someone who was terrified because I didn’t know what the future looked like, and now I can happily say I don’t know what the future looks like for me, but I’m excited to keep going on my own little journey to figure it out. Results can feel like the biggest pressure when it comes to education but there are so many different options to find a career that you love. People don’t have to have it all figured out, they just have to try and I think that’s the most important thing.”
If Becca’s story has inspired you to share your own, there’s still plenty of time for you to get involved, to inspire and reassure young people. We welcome everyone involved with MCR Pathways to share their stories – from young people, mentors, trustees, partners and our wider supporters.
From Monday 4th – Friday 8th August 2025, tell us your name, what you did when you left school and what you do now. Print out and fill in the #NoWrongPath 2025 template below, and send a photo of you holding it to marketing.comms@mcrpathways.org
Download the template – https://www.dyw.scot/uploads/1/0/5/5/105538585/nowrongpath_24_-_printable_participation_template.pdf
Could you dedicate an hour a week to become a volunteer mentor with MCR Pathways, and help a young person get on a path to realising their potential?
Register now: https://mcrpathways.org/become-a-mentor/
