Where are they now? Tara Annison (2010-12)

Tara joined Oswestry School for A levels and lived at Guinevere Boarding House. She has recently been voted Young Leader of the Year in the Women in IT Awards 2019. Here's her story....

Tell us a little bit about yourself, where do you live, work and do you have a family?

I live in East London with my boyfriend Johnny and French Bulldog, Stitch. I work in London Bridge - literally next door to the Shard.

Describe Oswestry School in 3 words.

An international family.

Which House were you in and who were your best friends?

I was head of Oswald House during 6th form and boarded in Guinevere. I lived with a Nigerian girl called Salma Alegeh who cooked the best (and spiciest) Jollof rice and made the tastiest Zobo juice. My best friend Vicky Whittingham didn't officially board but she spent 99% of her time in Guinevere too so it felt like she was our 3rd roommate. Being lucky enough to board meant I had friends from all around the world - Hong Kong, Ukraine, Spain, Germany, Holland etc as well as some locals from the Oswestry area.

What did you study?

I joined Oswestry for my A levels and took Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Psychology. I also got involved in every other aspect of school life; the social enterprise club, fencing, hockey, netball, CCF and anything and everything boarding related.

What were your student hang out spots?

The old 6th form centre which had a tuck shop I used to run and a table football table which Vicky and I revamped, was a busy spot during the day.

In the evenings it was often nice to go into town and (once we were 18) to the Top Red or Spoons, but also Guinevere was always a hive of activity with things going on, or occasionally going to Holbache to watch a film with some of the boys.

Which teacher stays with you to this day?

Miss Jones, Miss James and Mrs Aymes from Guinevere. They made every single day in the boarding house filled with joy and laughter! Whether it was a late night sandwich being brought to you if you were up revising, a paddling pool being introduced during a hot summer day, or just their never-ending humour making your abs hurt from laughing on a daily basis.

How would your teachers remember you?

For getting involved in any and all activities - whether that was joining CCF, creating times table club in the boarding house, joining all sports teams, becoming head of house, and causing mischief with Vicky!

Any funny moments?

Vicky and I were keen pranksters around Guinevere and once cling-filmed Mrs Aymes' car and filled Miss Jones' flat with hundreds of balloons!

Would you rather double maths or an afternoon of art?

As I studied maths and further maths, an afternoon of double or even triple maths wouldn't have been uncommon for me!

Exams: all revision well planned or left until the night before?

Thanks to the help of maths wizz Ruth Reynolds I was always fairly prepared for my exams. I was predicted ABB and left with A* A* B so it paid off too!

What did you do upon leaving Oswestry School?

After completing my A levels I studied at the University of York for my BSc in Mathematics and Philosophy. After completing that I joined the HSBC Commercial Graduate Scheme and moved to Manchester for my first placement. I then moved down to London 6 months later for my second placement but left the graduate scheme 10 months early after being offered a full time role with the newly created Corporate and Institutional Digital department. I then became a Product Owner and later Program Manager for digital transformation projects in the bank.

After c2.5 years in the bank I decided to leave and pursue my career in blockchain and cryptocurrency. As such, I joined the crypto loans platform Lendingblock as a Product Manager and later moved to crypto exchange, the PR9 Network.

I'm responsible for...

As the technical product manager (and scrum master) I lead the development team in the design and build of the product. This involved working with designers to create the visuals for how it will look, as well as working closely with the CEO, CTO etc to define all the functionality and then translate this into pieces of work for the developers.

Much of this is researching the different ways components could be built, understanding the macro and micro picture, and keeping track of the work to ensure all release deadlines can be met.

It means juggling many things at once and ensuring you know what's happening not only in the tech side of the business but also in the non-tech side as this will have an impact on the build too.

I wanted to go into my profession because...

Having heard about blockchain back in 2015 during a cryptography module during my degree, I have become a bit of a crypto nerd. Since leaving the bank I now get to talk about bitcoin all day long, I get to go to conferences and discuss blockchain, and I get to build exciting products for this nascent industry. I also find it super exciting to be at the start of an industry and hopefully watch it grow to be a globally recognised asset class which transforms peoples' access to finances.

My most memorable moment so far is...

Earlier this year I was honoured to win the Women in Technology 2019 award for Young Leader of the Year. I attended the event with absolutely no expectation of actually winning since the shortlist was full of incredibly talented women so when my name was called out in front of the 1,000 strong crowd I was really really shocked!

Is there anything else you'd like to tell us?

After arranging to meet up with Vicky (who was also London based), we were walking down Brick Lane and bumped into Kelly Cheng - another friend and boarder who's from Hong Kong! It was a surreal experience having us all in the same place after not seeing each other for 3 years but it was like we'd only been apart for a weekend and we had a really nice catch up.