May alumni newsletter 2022
Welcome to May’s alumni newsletter. In York, we’re keeping our fingers crossed for some sunshine and looking forward to more visitors to campus.
In April, we marked religious holidays, shared information about the first YSJ Teacher education diversity and inclusion conference, and hosted our penultimate webinar with Daniel Fleming. We also enjoyed reconnecting with some of our alumni who have signed up for our alumni mailing list – we hope you enjoy your first newsletter!
This May, we’re looking forward to seeing prospective postgraduate students on campus for our Open Evening, hosting our final alumni webinar with alumnus Simon Clark and continuing work on this year’s alumni magazine.
Eid Mubarak and Wesak
Eid Mubarak! On 2 May, Muslims around the world celebrated Eid al-Fitr, the end of the Holy month of Ramadan. To find out more about Ramadan, please see our website. To find out more about Eid al-Fitr and how it’s celebrated, please see the BBC Bitesize website.
On 16 May, Buddhists around the world will be celebrating Wesak. Also known as Buddha Day, Wesak marks the Buddha’s birthday. Some Buddhists also mark the Buddha’s enlightenment and death at Wesak too. You can learn more about Wesak on the BBC Bitesize website.
Please update your details
We’re always thinking about new ways to make your experience as our alumni better. We want to make sure that when we contact you, that we know you’ll be interested in what we’re saying. To make this easier, we’ve added a new section to our alumni database so we know where you studied. This will help us contact you about campus specific things, including the new Ripon newsletter.
But we need your help.
Update your details to tell us where you studied, that your address is correct and that we’re still sending emails to you preferred email address. It should only take you a few minutes to complete, but it’ll really help us to make your alumni experience better!
Wonderful webinars
Last month we chatted with alumnus Daniel Fleming about his academic journey, his advice for those thinking about studying abroad and how he’s found living in Utah. Daniel shared some fantastic advice, so make sure to watch it when it goes live on YouTube later this month.
This month, we can’t wait to hear from alumnus Simon Clark. Simon will be talking about his teaching career, which has so far seen him work in Switzerland, Mexico and now in the USA. Simon will also be talking about teaching and living abroad, as well as sharing tips for those looking to teach abroad.
Upcoming events
The days are longer and the nights are shorter; it’s the perfect time to start attending events!
This month, there are a range of events happening at our York campus, including a School of the Arts festival at the end of the month, the Archbishop of York’s annual Institute for Social Justice lecture and a poetry event with acclaimed poet Rachel Long. We’ll also be holding our second Yor-K event, including a Korean Music night.
There are plenty of events taking place in the next few weeks, many of them free! So, make sure to check out what’s happening on campus and book your tickets now.
Free teacher education conference
If you work in education, make sure to book your place on the first YSJ Teacher Education Diversity and Inclusion Conference. Including keynote speakers, community groups and more, learn more about best anti-racist and decolonial practice.
The conference is free to attend on Monday 20 June. Find out more and book your place now.
Ripon newsletter
This summer, we’re launching a new newsletter just for our alumni who attended Ripon College or Ripon Campus. We can’t wait to reconnect with our Ripon alumni about the campus they loved.
If you attended Ripon College or the Ripon campus, but didn’t receive the Ripon Cathedral 1350 emails, please complete this form. If you know of someone who attended Ripon with you who doesn’t receive emails from us, but you think would like to, please ask them to complete this form.
Alumni careers
Are you still searching for the perfect role? Careers are a journey, not a destination, so make sure you’re open to different job roles and types; you never know where they’ll lead!
In the meantime, make sure to start your job search in the right place. Whilst general job boards like Indeed are a great place to look, make sure to check more specialist job boards and find out how to succeed at interview:
- Remember to search Prospects for graduate roles near you
- Check out LaunchPad Online for the latest roles from around the world, and local to you
- Use Prospects’ Job quiz to see where your skills, degree and experience could work
- How to ace your next telephone interview via Prospects
- Top tips for your next video interview via Prospects
Plus, remember you can still contact our career team to talk to a professional about where you should go next. Use Launchpad Online to book a slot with a career advisor.
If you’re already thinking about a postgraduate degree, or maybe even a research degree, make sure to attend next week’s Open Evening. Talk to course leaders, find out how to apply and learn what courses we offer at our London campus, book your place now.
A lot to blog about
After so many blogs going live in March, we spent April thinking up some new blog post ideas! Keep an eye out for these blog posts in the next few months:
- Five ways you can support our students
- Five hidden gems to explore during your next reunion in York
- Ten things you might not know about life in York for our first students
A recent reunion
At the start of April, we welcomed a fantastic reunion group to campus, including three previous Students’ Union Presidents! Martin, Paul and Paul served as SU President in 1972, 1973 and 1974 respectively. It was great to catch up with this group, and we can’t wait to welcome more alumni to campus in the next few months!
