Former Pupil Asks Who Do You Want to Be?

Dentist, The Real Housewives of Cheshire tv star and former pupil Hanna Miraftab (1999-2006) delivered an inspiring PSHEE lesson to Year 11 girls at Bolton School. 

After leaving Bolton School, Hanna graduated from the University of Liverpool Dental School (2006-11) with a degree in dentistry before gaining a Masters in prosthodontics and in March of this year, at the age of just 30, became the proud owner of her own private dental practice in St Helens. Hanna has also recently found ‘stardom’ in the ITVBe hit series, The Real Housewives of Cheshire, where she says she is proud to be portraying her self-made success and representing the modern woman of today.  

Following lunch in the dining hall, Hanna enjoyed a tour of the school and met up with many of her old teachers, spending the afternoon reminiscing before giving advice to the whole of Y11. 

To tie in with the girls producing their first CVs and applying for their work experience, Hanna discussed her time at Bolton School, in further education and her career path to reach where she is now with her own private dental practice, Kiln Lane, in St Helen’s. She told the girls that Bolton School gives you a fantastic head start in life and will imbue you with an excellent skillset beyond the purely academic, including how to present yourself, respect for others, good timekeeping and discipline. She lauded the Sixth Form where, she said, teachers have the knowhow to help you get to where you want to go next and said that during these two critical years, the School will provide you with an excellent platform. Talking about the world of work, she told girls to be well prepared for interview and to do your research on the employer beforehand. As an interviewer herself, she is looking for someone who is well presented, articulate, passionate and well prepared with questions. The interview, she said, is your 5 minutes to shine. She also reminded girls that the School will give you some good friendships which can provide you with valuable networks in later life. That very day she had ‘bumped into’ an old school friend, Hannah Bradley, in Reception who was also presenting to students and just months ago had helped her with her house purchase! 

She encouraged the Y11 girls to make the most of their work experience as it will broaden horizons and build confidence. Her parting advice to girls was not to be scared but to think about who you want to be and how to attract things to yourself that will help you in realising those dreams.