The Diamond Dragon – Alumni Stories, James Nicholson

We always love hearing what our alumni are up to, so we were delighted when we recently had the chance to catch up with James Nicholson.  James is a double former student; graduating with a degree in English Language and Linguistics in 2014 before returning the following year to complete a PGCE in Primary Education. After working as a primary school teacher for several years, James is now pursuing a career as a children’s author.

James didn’t take the conventional route to Higher Education; instead he left school at sixteen hoping for a career working with animals. ‘I started an apprenticeship with a veterinary practice and during my time there trained to become a veterinary nurse. Many of my friends from school were going to university, some to York St John so I started to become familiar with the city and the York St John campus. I enjoyed my work as a veterinary nurse but I felt it was becoming quite repetitive. Although I was interested in primary teaching I wasn’t sure that it was the right path for me, so I started to explore a wider range of career prospects.’ English was James’ favourite subject at School and so, after completing an access diploma at college, James applied to study English Language and Linguistics at York St John.

Although he was not that much older than other students James was self-conscious about being a mature student at first. ‘During my first semester I think I was trying to overcompensate by trying a bit too hard to fit into the stereotypical student lifestyle. But I wasn’t achieving the grades that I knew I was capable of so towards the start of the second semester I started to gravitate towards other students who were focussed on doing well with their studies, which really helped me.’ James also remembers fondly the support he received from academic staff at the University. ‘I had no hesitation in being able to approach the lecturers and other staff, they were really helpful, and encouraging throughout my time at York St John. With hard work and the support of my friends and the staff I was able to graduate with first degree honours, which I never thought would be possible when I first enrolled.’

Throughout his studies the idea of becoming a primary school teacher remained at the back of James’ mind, so he spent some of his second year placement volunteering at a local primary school. ‘The initial placement was for six weeks, but I knew that the PGCE programme at York St John was really competitive, so I stayed on and volunteered at the primary school for more than a year in total, giving me some really valuable experience to support my application.’ Meanwhile James was busy with his third year dissertation and this proved to be a defining moment. ‘I was exploring a comparative analysis of a child’s perception of writing, and part of this was gathering data from interviewing children. During these sessions I would often read books with the children I was interviewing and became interested in children’s literature. I started to think this would be something I would love to do in the future.’

James’ application to study a PGCE at York St John was accepted and, after another year at University, James was ready to start life as a primary school teacher. ‘I initially started out as a supply teacher back home in Redcar so that I could get a feel for the different schools in the area before starting a job at a local primary school.’  During this time the idea for writing children’s literature continue to grow, and James started to invest time into researching the idea further, buying a range of children’s books to read and joining a society for children’s book writers, where James was able to find an award winning children’s author to mentor him.  ‘I was getting some really useful feedback from my mentor and started sending some of my work off to a few publishers, I didn’t really expect to hear anything back but I was contacted by Black Wolf Edition & Publishing who were interesting in publishing one of my books.’ James’ book The Diamond Dragon, is a picture book for children aged 3-7 and tells the story of a little boy digging for treasure in his garden who,  after finding a piece of coal, sets about trying to turn it into a diamond. The book is set to be published in July this year.

So what’s next for James? ‘I’ve decided this is something I would really love to pursue further, and have ambitions to establish myself as a successful children’s author over the next five years. I will return to teaching when the new academic year starts in September but will be returning to supply work so that I have more time and flexibility to work on my writing.’ James has already written more than a dozen children’s books, and has recently been down to the Winchester Writing Festival for a meeting with another publishing firm to discuss a possible deal for six more of his books to be published.

Do you have a story or update to share like James? we’d love to hear from you, get in touch by e-mailing us at alumni@yorksj.ac.uk.