Class of 2010
Performance: Music
Country: United Kingdom
Job: Programme Manager, Creative Learning – Accessible Arts and Media
IF YOU STUDIED YOUR UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMME AT YORK ST JOHN UNIVERSITY OR FOUNDER COLLEGES, DID YOU GO ON TO POSTGRADAUTE STUDY?
Yes, somewhere else.
WHY HAVE YOU CHOSEN THIS PHOTO AS YOUR YSJ SNAPSHOT?
This is a photo of me at work, during lockdown. I work for a local charity called Accessible Arts and Media, and here I was facilitating an online singing and signing choir, which many years ago, is the same choir that I did my placement with. If I didn’t do my placement with Hands and Voices, I might not be working here now.
WHY WOULD YOU RECOMMEND YSJ TO SOMEONE?
I loved all of my time at YSJ. It’s such a small campus, but everyone was incredibly friendly towards each other. People weren’t competitive, but incredibly supportive on the courses and in the societies. The course itself was perfectly practical- I’m not one to sit and listen for hours on end and they recognised that. It gave fantastic opportunities to students, such as the placement opportunities and encouraging volunteering to get to know the local organisations.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE YORK ST JOHN UNIVERSITY OR FOUNDER COLLEGES?
York St John instantly felt like home when I came to look around. It was small, everyone was really friendly and welcoming and it is really close to the city centre. Everywhere was easy to find, which was a bonus for me as I have a terrible sense of direction!!
WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING SINCE COMPLETING YOUR STUDIES?
Straight after finishing my degree, I went to The University of York to study the MA: Community Music, whilst working for York St Johns as a support worker in disability services. In 2010, a friend from YSJ, contacted me to say that there was an opening at Accessible Arts and Media and I went for it and started as a project assistant on a 5 hours a week contract and I have stayed there ever since!! I moved through working as an assistant, through to a project leader and then started to specialise in accessible communication. I became a Sign Supported Communication tutor, through Signalong, and then started delivering training. I am now the programme manager for our projects that work with people with disabilities. And after all these years, I still facilitate Hands and Voices, the project that I went on for my 2nd year placement.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE YOUR SPECIFIC COURSE?
I chose Performance: Music because I knew I wanted my career to be in music, but more specifically music therapy type work. The course was practical, included lots of ensemble playing and the opportunity to get to know local organisations. There wasn’t much theory based music learning, it was very much ‘this is your task, off you go and explore’. type work which worked really well for me. I also loved how many ensembles there were to get involved with, and ensembles run by students were very much encouraged which I valued a lot.
WHAT WERE THE BEST FEATURES OF YOUR COURSE?
I would definitely say the performance aspect of the course. Every semester you had a group assessment and a solo recital. The group assessments were all super fun and it really tested your creativity and imagination. I remember for Experimental Music working as a group to find sounds from our theme of the elements- in the end we combined wood and fire and tried to burn a violin in the quad and then put it out with water (with the tutors permission of course!).
HOW DID STUDYING AT YSJ HELP IN YOUR CAREER SEARCH/SUCCESS/CURRENT ROLE?
My 2nd year placement was with Hands and Voices, and I didn’t really leave! I learnt about many organisations and charities and found the one that best suited my skills and passion
WHAT ONE PIECE OF ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A CURRENT STUDENT, OR ONE ABOUT TO GRADUATE?
Get stuck in! Follow your dreams, find the organisations that you like the look of and volunteer and make yourself known. You never know where it might lead.