From Clearing to the Indian Ocean: Wolverhampton Alumna’s Global Journey

A story about an alumna who joined via clearing and has gone on to international success, living in Reunion

When Catharine Cellier-Smart entered the University of Wolverhampton through the Clearing process in the late 1980s, she had no idea it would set her on a life-changing path spanning continents, cultures, and careers.

Catharine, who grew up in London, originally aspired to study Law and French. But when her A-Level results didn't align, she turned to the university's Clearing options and discovered a new path through a four-year BA (Hons) European Studies course. “It wasn’t what I thought I’d be doing,” she recalls, “but it turned out to be exactly what I needed.”

Her student experience was anything but ordinary. In her third year, she was set for an exchange in Aix-en-Provence, southern France, when her lecturers suggested instead that she could be one of the first students to take part in an exchange to Reunion Island, a small French-speaking overseas department in the Indian Ocean. At the time, in 1990, she had barely heard of the island, and with no internet available, she relied on limited library resources to prepare.

That decision would mark the first of many bold moves. Arriving on the tropical island alongside another student, Catharine was struck by the culture shock. People wearing long clothing in the heat, and unfamiliar dishes like goat being served in the canteen. But it was immersion that accelerated her growth. Rather than take English-language classes, she attended French lectures with locals and mixed with students from across the Indian Ocean, including the Seychelles and Mauritius. “By the end of that year, I was fluent,” she says.

After graduating in 1992, Catharine spent a summer working in a camp in Vermont, USA, then considered a stint at the newly opened Euro Disney. But her heart led her back to Reunion as an au pair, a job she didn’t love, but one that brought her back into contact with friends she’d made during her exchange year. One of those friends would eventually become her husband.

"If it wasn’t for the University of Wolverhampton and that opportunity, I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t have met my husband, wouldn’t be living on Reunion. It changed my life completely,” Catharine reflects.

Her career evolved alongside the island’s development. With limited tourism and no email in the early 1990s, translation jobs were scarce. She worked in bilingual roles across import/export and sales sectors for over 15 years. Later, she completed an MBA on Reunion before relocating to Seoul, South Korea, when her husband accepted a teaching role. Catharine couldn’t work under the terms of his contract, so she immersed herself in Korean culture, learning the language and becoming part of the vibrant expat community.

When they returned to Reunion, Catharine decided to take a leap—starting her own translation company, Smart Translate, in 2011. It took two years to become sustainable, but now she is the island’s only full-time French-to-English translation professional.

In an increasingly AI-driven industry, Catharine remains confident in the value of human expertise. “There’s a real risk when you rely solely on AI,” she says, referencing a recent example where an AI translation rendered ‘cultural diversity’ as ‘cross-breeding’ in a local McDonald’s brochure an embarrassing and damaging error. As a sworn translator, her work involves high-stakes work, such as preparing legal documents, in addition to her other work translating, interpreting, plus voiceovers for documentaries and other professional recordings.

Today, she continues to live and work on Reunion a remote French island known for its rich culture, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and the world’s longest domestic flight route (to Paris). Reunion was also the first place to use the euro, due to its time zone being ahead of mainland Europe.

Catharine has now travelled to 80 countries, is a qualified PADI rescue diver (having dived in 28 countries), and still stays in touch with university friends, including reconnecting with her classmate Kulbir via Facebook who now works at the University of Wolverhampton.

Reflecting on her life, Catharine’s journey is a testament to resilience, openness to opportunity, and the unexpected paths a university education can open. “Every story has a start,” she says. “For me, it started with Clearing and the University of Wolverhampton gave me the start I didn’t know I needed.”

Her story is not just one of international success and personal fulfilment, it’s a reminder that the opportunities we seize can shape a life far beyond what we imagined.

To explore the University of Wolverhampton Alumni Association, visit: wlv.ac.uk/alumni