Class of 2018
PhD
IF YOU STUDIED YOUR UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMME AT YORK ST JOHN UNIVERSITY OR FOUNDER COLLEGES, DID YOU GO ON TO POSTGRADUATE STUDY?
Yes, at York St John University
JOB:
Senior Lecturer in Film and Media and Communications – York St John University
WHY HAVE YOU CHOSEN THIS PHOTO AS YOUR YSJ SNAPSHOT?
This is a photo of me, very tired but very excited, after collecting the final bound copy of my thesis after 4.5 years of hard work and research
WHAT ARE YOUR FONDEST MEMORIES OF YORK ST JOHN UNIVERSITY?
I made lifelong friends within the postgraduate community at York St. John, and continue to value the support and meaningful connections I gained as a result of choosing York St. John as my place of study. As a postgraduate, I was supported to seek out incredible opportunities, such as presenting research at international conferences and organising community-building postgraduate events, which enabled me to meet incredible people, and built my confidence as a researcher.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE YORK ST JOHN UNIVERSITY OR FOUNDER COLLEGES?
I liked the community-focused feel of the campus, and as a local to York I’m very fond of the city itself. I was self-funded, and my income came from retail and hospitality work in York, so in many ways York St. John was a practical decision, too, as the proximity of my workplace to my place of study made the multi-tasking easier to juggle!
WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING SINCE COMPLETING YOUR STUDIES?
Since completing my studies I became a local radio presenter here in York. I started out by winning a competition after my Masters in Applied Theatre – this saw me become the breakfast co-host on Minster FM. The station was taken over in 2020 so we all decided to start our own, 4 years later I am the breakfast presenter on YorkMix Radio and I am also a shareholder in the business.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE YOUR SPECIFIC COURSE?
I studied my undergraduate degree in Film Studies at University of Hull, and at the time of starting that programme had no idea what I wanted to do after my degree. However, throughout the three years of researching and working closely with film, my passion for the subject and its study grew. By the time of my graduation, I had decided to pursue a career in academia, and so the next step towards this goal was postgraduate study. I had liked the campus and the community at York St John when visiting as a prospective undergraduate, and so I reached out to the Media & Film department about an MA, and came in ready with a massive research idea, way too ambitious for an MA-length project. So, that research idea turned into a PhD!
WHAT WERE THE BEST FEATURES OF YOUR COURSE?
I really enjoyed the autonomy of the PhD, and as I was fortunate to work from the graduate centre on campus, I thoroughly enjoyed the sense of community and mutual support that the, at the time, relatively small number of postgrads had facilitated in that space. I loved – and still do – the opportunities to listen to and discover other people’s research at events across the campus, the country, and beyond on a few occasions!
WHAT ONE PIECE OF ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A CURRENT STUDENT, OR ONE ABOUT TO GRADUATE?
Everyone’s journey through study, research and work is different, so I don’t think there’s a single useful piece of advice that will be helpful for everyone. However, I would say try to be creative in your pursuit of whatever motivates you. What motivated me was a desire to teach and learn with communities. When I couldn’t find that in the form of a lectureship, I guest lectured at local cinemas, taught with the excellent campus-based Converge initiative and ran bespoke sessions for community groups. This gave me a way to continue doing the work that excites and engages me, though not necessarily in the form I’d expected.